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!
Wasted my vote in 2021. But not sure of any serious alternative – though leadership movement has started standing out. They are talking of creating state farms to handle the huge unemployment issue, mineral reserve agency, land ownership with titles. Given Lubinda and Tonse alliance are talking about Edgar Lungu
We want to know what opposition will do in government. Leadership movement has started standing out. They are talking of creating state farms to handle the huge unemployment issue, mineral reserve agency, land ownership with titles. Meanwhile Given Lubinda and Tonse alliance are talking about Edgar Lungu
want to know what opposition will do in government. Leadership movement has started standing out. They are talking of creating state farms to handle the huge unemployment issue, mineral reserve agency, land ownership with titles. Meanwhile others are talking about ECL
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.
Does it mean that since 2019, there hasn’t been any other FIC report in Zambia? What about the 2024 one which exemplifies the wrecking of the whole Zambian economy where $3.5bn was flagged? What has the president said about these latest financial irregularities?
As president or even a leader at any level, there is no need to comment on any issue as some of the news items are just designed to distract from concentrating on serious business. As for me I will only listen to leaders who talk about decentralization. We have to many leaders of so called political parties whose only objective is to get to power or bounce back into national leadership with a view of looting resources placed at the centre.