Socialist Party (SP) President Dr. Fred M’membe has questioned President Hakainde Hichilema’s silence regarding the 2024 Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Report, which reveals K6.1 billion in illicit financial flows.
Dr. M’membe claimed the Head of State has remained quiet because the report does not implicate his political opponents. He argued that if the report had linked the previous Patriotic Front (PF) government, President Hichilema would have commented.
Speaking during Hot FM Radio’s Socialist Hour program alongside SP General Secretary Dr. Cosmas Musumali, Dr. M’membe stated, “It shows what people have been saying—this is a corrupt regime. Key leaders are failing to declare their assets. Why? The FIC Report exposes fraudulent and suspicious transactions. If this isn’t corruption, what is?”
He added, “The report highlights high-ranking government officials, yet President Hichilema is silent. He would speak if this implicated his opponents, but since it doesn’t involve PF, he says nothing.”
Dr. M’membe accused the President of lacking political will to fight corruption, stating, “The UPND leadership is involved, with Hichilema at the helm. If corrupt officials aren’t punished, the blame stops with him. He must explain the FIC’s findings.”
He emphasized the severity of the K6.1 billion loss, stating it could fund the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for three years.
Meanwhile, Dr. Musumali noted a 74% increase from the 2023 FIC Report, which recorded K3.5 billion. He dismissed any UPND claims of outperforming the previous regime as mere rhetoric.
Hmm!
The more M’membe, Musumali and other socialists appear in the Zambian news, the more they will continue to fan away foreign investors and their capital, and the longer our country will continue to remain on the runway, unable to take off economically.
First and foremost, the FIC report refers to events in 2019.
Question: Was President HH or any of his colleagues anywhere near the seat of power at the time?
The answer is a resounding NO.
President HH came into office in 2021
The report has NOTHING to do with HH and therefore why should he bother to comment about it.
Therefore, this accusation by Fred M’membe is a load of rubbish
When you actually look back to the times up to 2019, it was Fred M’membe and his companies who were tax evading taxes and failing to pay employees contribution to NAPSA.