Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Threats to Close The Financial Intelligence Centre Nauseating, says Sinkamba

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Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba
Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba
Revelations by the Financial Intelligence Centre that its staff members are under siege from criminals who are trying to influence the shutdown of the institution so that the criminals can freely conduct money-laundering activities, are nauseating says Green Party President Peter Sinkamba.

The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) disclosed this morning that in the last nine months, the centre recorded 35, 783 suspicious cash transactions involving over US$ 1 billion, which are linked to corporate and individual bank accounts, and for this reason the suspects are scheming removal of senior officials and shutting down of the institution.

FIC is the sole designated National Agency mandated to receive, request, analyze and disseminate disclosure of information concerning suspected money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious offences to competent authorities for investigations with the view of assisting with combatting such and other serious offences.

“This news is really nauseating. The trouble is that FIC has no powers to prosecute. It only has powers to receive, request, analyse and disclose such information to other agencies. Of what value is profiling and creating databases of financial crimes and matrices of illicit financial flows, if culprits remain unprosecuted?” Sinkamba wondered.

FIC revealed that 50 per cent of the companies investigated, which got government contracts, are not registered for tax while some belong to politically exposed individuals who front surrogates to conduct business on their behalf.

Speaking at a press conference held at Grand Palace Hotel in Lusaka this morning, FIC board acting director John Kasanga said criminal elements were targeting senior managers at the institution with false allegations in order to get rid of them.

Reacting to the news, Green Party leader said the Party believes that Zambia’s financial, trade, and economic needs are not well served by State agencies spying on people solely for data-basing. He said the Party believes “there is a compelling reason to realign the Zambia Security Intelligence Service (ZSIS) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) towards economic and financial well-being of Zambia”.

He added it is for this reason that the Green Party plans to transform the ZSIS, ACC and DEC into the Zambia Economic and Trade Intelligence Bureau (ZETIB), or in other words to be known as the “Eagles”.

‘This will be a multi-disciplinary intelligence agency, which will investigate and prosecute organised economic and trade crimes, including money laundering and corruption,” he disclosed. He said it will consist of some of the best prosecutors, financial, trade, economic, forensic and intelligence experts in the country.

“This will entail re-orienting, retraining some members of the to-be-transformed ZSIS, ACC, to new order where they are stopped from spying, investigating and prosecuting people solely because they hold different views from the government on political and socio-economic issues but rather focus on financial, trade, and economic saboteurs,” Sinkamba added.

He said highly lucrative fast-track voluntary separation packages will be offered to staff members that opt to go on early retirement and pursue other endeavours.

“ZETIB will recruit best prosecutors, financial, trade, economic, forensic and intelligence experts in the country with all senior management appointments in the system scrutinized and ratified by parliament to avoid party cadre recruitment and also to ensure security of tenure of office,” Sinkamba said.

11 COMMENTS

  1. Ba Sinkamba mwakamba sense apa. Indeed why should we be stuck with wasteful structures akin to the cold war era comrades?

  2. Even if I don’t agree with Sinkamba ,I am happy to hear the alternatives he provides.
    That’s what our country needs to hear everyday.That’s real opposition.

  3. Mr sikamba it is not how qualified ur officers are. Even now officers are well qualified. It is not renaming institutions. It is political will. When leader carry natural Thieving DNA forget. From where we are coming from, we can focus that certain blood in this country is made of thieves and they are proud of it.

    • These are wasted years under Lazy Lungu…how can he have political will when his net worth is increasing doubling every year!!

  4. “FIC revealed that 50 per cent of the companies investigated, which got government contracts, are not registered for tax while some belong to politically exposed individuals who front surrogates to conduct business on their behalf.”
    Next time that Lazy moron is commissioning a Chine project and barking about local contractors just show the fooool the above!!

  5. Sounds a good idea on the surface. Knowing man, not even the highly qualified are immune to wrong doing once in a while. The learned are the most crooked when it comes to white collar graft. That is my thought. Do you think Sinkamba’s ideas if implemented can stop theft and corruption?

  6. Peter, well articulated, thanks. I only have one concern. If it is public knowledge that 50% of companies with govt tenders are not registered, how did they qualify in the first place? So their contracts are effectively illegal or corrupt. What can we do about that? Watch and see if they will correct this? Put more pressure on the agencies to use this and proceed with prosecution. At least we can put that on record

    • Tabby
      What do you understand when we say ECL is corrupt? Did you see those young men so called business men giving him $ 25,000 on the floor of Mulungushi CC for his rugged jacket? Do you think those boys are genuine businessmen?

  7. Why is the Financial Intelligence Centre taking long to probe one Known Privatisation Crook mentioned in the Paradise Papers…Are they waiting for instructions or what is their job description…

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