A legal practitioner has said government may not benefit anything from the Financial Intelligence if the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) and Law Enforcement Agencies ” live in a community that is divided”
PF Chairman of the Legal Subcommittee of the Central Committee Brian Mundubile says unless the FIC and agencies of law enforcement harmonise their operations and stop jeopardising each other’s work otherwise their intended “congruent goals” may not be achieved.
Speaking in Kasama today, Mr. Mundubile said, if the FIC and Law Enforcement Agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) the Police and others are divided, their operations are likely to leave room for corruption, loss of credible evidence and that some people being investigated may even flee the country.
According to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2016, in 2(a) a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) is an individual who holds ,or has held public office and includes a Head of State, Minister or Deputy, a Politician or a political Party official including a Judicial Official, a senior official of Quasi – Judicial body, a Military official, a member of an administrative, management or supervisory body of a state owned enterprise.
This also includes an individual who is or has been entrusted with a public function by the State, public body or local or international organisation, an immediate family member of a PEP or their close associates and this should not be misconstrued in a narrow sense even to the extent of believing that a PEP is a politician.
Clarifying on the functions of the FIC, the Legal Chairman of the ruling PF said, as per 5 (2)e of the FIC, its mandate is to educate the public and reporting entities of their obligations and inform them of measures to detect , prevent and deter money laundering and financing of terrorism *but this does not mean jeopardising the work of Law Enforcement Agencies to the extent of alerting culprits in the investigations Hon. Mundubile emphasised, adding, “because even if they are not named , they know themselves and their activities and could easily destroy evidence or flee the country”.
According to the annual report of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) , its mandate is to ensure it receives the information it needs to generate financial intelligence for Canada’s Police, Law enforcement and National Security Agencies.
Nada Semaan, Director and Chief Executive Officer reported that over the past year, 2017 – 2028, FINTRAC provided 2,466 disclosures of questionable financial intelligence support of money laundering and terrorist financing investigations across the country
Its mandate as a financial Intelligence unit of Canada, FINTRAC ensures that it safeguards the information that it receives and discloses to Canada’s Police, Law Enforcement and National Security Agencies while the Centre understands that the protection of privacy is critical to maintaining the confidence of Canadians.
It is very particular in reporting on the trends of crime and ensures that the public is not alerted or fore warned
On the other hand, Zambia’s FIC , in its 2028 report disseminated 80 reports of suspected Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
The Drug Enforcement Commission now argues that its concerned with the manner the FIC publishes raw intelligence data to the public which could jeopardise investigations.
DEC says the FIC report should not have been published in the manner it has been in the past few years and feel the information should have been disseminated to the rightful audience in line with a well throughout communication strategy to avoid speculation and undue pressure on the investigative wings.
It says the publication of raw intelligence data actually compromises investigations by law enforcement agencies.
Hon. Mundubile said the FIC and law enforcement agencies need to harmonise their operations in order that investigations are not jeopardised which would result into the country not benefiting anything from the financial intelligence reports. The parties need to coexist so that their overall “congruent goals” are achieved because consequently, that is the desire of the people of Zambia”
This fight cannot yield anything in the absence of political will. PF, being the key to government machinery, should be in the forefront to fighting corruption. Most of the culprit are inside the government. It will be very difficult to face the scourge head on the absence of political will. The fight against corruption needs leadership that is above reproach. Otherwise, it will just be a rhetoric. Nyanja’s say “khoswe akakhala pa mukate sapheka” meaning when a rat is on the bread,it is very difficult to kill it because one will be thinking of messing up the bread. Corruption is very difficult to fight when even those who are fighting it are in it. How do they fight something that affects them. It is a pipedream to think that corruption can be fought in the current compromised…
LET PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES SUBPOENA INVESTIGATE WING HEADS
We have already deliberated on this issue.
Zambia Army, Zambia Police, Zambia Prisons, Zambia Air Force and Zambia National Service are all men and women is Uniform.
Mission Defence and home Affairs.
ACC, ACC, Zambia Police and FIC must divide their roles in a clear and unambiguous manner to curb thieving behavior. I believe they have.
Mission Stop corruption, money laundering and terrorism.
Government must harmonize their works. Don’t scrap any institutions, simply define their roles and reporting structure.
Ati the go tell it on the mountain intelligence is dangerous. We need FIC. Allow the Parliamentary Committees and give them power to question investigative wings and tell the nation why they can’t perform…
Pf wants us to believe that there is a problem between FIC and the law enforcement agencies when infact its the Pf leadership in Government that feels exposed and fermenting confusion between the two. Its clear that there is no political will from the party in power to use FIC report to arrest the criminal financial trends. The confusion is meant to divert our attention to a non issue. The issue is what is the Pf going to do about the criminal trends?
@The People,exactly my point.Look at the late Mwanawasa MHSRIP,he was so tenacious in the fight against corruption. We saw a fresh breeze in the fight against corruption. He faced it such as his best friends despised him. That is what political will can do. It does not spare even best friends. The cancer of corruption has eaten the very fabric of the nation. People cannot do clean business unless they bribe someone. We need to resurrect the spirit of Mwanawasa to fight the scourge.The current leadership is too feeble to fight the scourge. It is compromised and lucks the zeal to face the ugly head of corruption. Posterity will judge us harshly if this scourge is not eradicated, not alleviated. The generation that is coming will find it difficult to kick it out if we cannot do it now.
Spot on,corruption exposure is condemned! Someone with 49houses was known a year earlier by ACC,they know them and have evidence, they are still “investigating” or the individuals are too powerful and they’ve been silenced into submission and they throw a public tantrum?
Have Chitalu Chilufya and Amos Chanda fled the country. No. Have they been arrested? No. Are they being investigated? I don’t know
Why do you want to FIC in this? All they are mandated to do is publish the one intelligence Report and hand it over to DEC and ACC for them to act on. Is that difficult? 2017 Report is still gathering dust…this is what happens when the Choir Master has no stomach to fight corruption because he is implicated in it himself.
I suspect the trail leads to the Choirmaster so he rebukes his own highly qualified appointee, the choir gets the tone and begin singing, the country sinks,no food,little electricity, their attention is diverted, bravo ECL,your people are fools and *****s,in the meantime, the 49 property owners toasts and drinks wine peacefully!
I believe the FIC report is made public after the security agencies have had access to it for a yaer! Is one year nor enough time to gather evidence?
For millionth time the Report that is handed to security agencies is an Intelligence Report its never made public its a confidential report …how daft can people be!!
This has now been blown out of proportion. Let FIC and investigative agencies find their own working solution. On this one the PF legal guy has lost it. Let FIC inform the public unhindered.
If the PF was clean they would not be fighting or discrediting FIC. It is like a husband who has been caught by the wife with a side chick at a bar and instead of the husband showing remorse he starts shouting at the wife and asking why she came to the bar without his permission
Seriously Zambia is being run by the mob, what we are having is not leadership material. Everyone is in it to loot resources.
We told you this guy is not “the chosen one” because God gives you the right to think and make your own choice of leadership.
You chose RIFFRAFS instead
We need serious education – even of these clueless party cadres parading as chairmen of something to do with legal affairs. A TRENDS report shows the TRENDS of financial crimes currently going on. They come to the public quite a while after the INTELLIGENCE REPORT that actually details TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT WINGS who actually appears in the financial crimes cited. STOP PLAYING POLITICS AND GET RID OF THE CRIMINALS!!! Iwe Mundubile! Stop it! Stop it!
Which part did this PF lawyer miss in the explanation by FIC? The report for law enforcement is actually detailed and given to them.
The public one is a trend and in general. Nothing stops the law enforcement guys to act. Therefore it’s not true to continue talking as if this has not been clarified
This Brian Mundubile is literally discrediting and chocking FIC to create an impression as if the report has not revealed thefts in PF government. The entire PF is corrupt and competition in thefts has been encouraged by ineptitude of the entire PF regime failure to accept and act on corruption within its ranks. To have people like Brian Mundubile claim FIC can not be benefit Zambia due lack of coordination with other agencies is totally false. CEO of FIC has told Zambians the objectives of FIC and police, ACC, DEC have data available to act on. People like Mundubile will not allow these agencies to act let alone EC Lungu. – Its a shame.
Comment:DEAR COLEAGUES AT LUSAKA TIMES.
I notice that for sometime now, you have been publishing my articles with NO CREDIT (No bylines)
What’s your EDITORIAL POLICY like?
I seek your guigance.
Brian Mundubile, I didn’t know that PF has a fairly reasonable member in you, the rest of PF are just shambolic party cadres and see nothing wrong with stealing and corruption, they even openly and routinely “donate” some of the proceeds of their crime, without accounting for the sources of their cash.
However, Brian, it seems you are not one of the thieves so it is difficult for you to understand why FIC must continue as they have been doing. You see, all the things that you have advised and all examples given about Canada’s FIC would be valid if Zambia was like Canada with respect for the rule of law and uncorrupted leadership and society, but our governance is absolutely corrupt such that when our law enforcement receive the FIC reports, they do nothing until instructed by the…
I would like to respectfully suggest to the PF Chairperson for legal affairs Brian Mundubile to read following:
1. UN Convention Against Corruption (2004), ratified by the Republic on 7th Dec. 2007;
2. Legislative guide for the implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption (2006);
3. Technical Guide to the UN Convention Against Corruption (2009), and
4.Legislative guide for the implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption (2012).
If he manage to understand the meaning of the content, I would expect Mr. Mundubile to apologies to the People of Zambia for his PF induced !mbecility resulting in total incompetence to make public comments on the legal matters.
Why should Edgar Lungu know the names of the so called PEP? Is not the law enforcement agencies who should go and digg out these names? Edgar Lungu is not an investigator, he is head of state. If he is the PEP, then he should wait for the FIC report must release the names after six months by that time the investigative wings will have done their job.
He is the organiser or Il Padrino of the criminal gang