Government says there is need to update the country’s legislation in order to curb the illegal flow of money from the Zambian economy.
Mufulira Deputy Mayor, Beatrice Kapasa says illicit financial flows were not a new phenomenon in Zambia hence the need to ensure right legislations were in place and updated in line with most recent developments and technologies.
ZANIS reports that Ms. Kapasa was speaking during the launch of the “Stop the bleeding campaign” in Mufulira District on the Copperbelt Province, which is aimed at strategizing ways of combating illicit financial flows.
She stated that government had prioritized the need to identify, stop, and eliminate illicit financial flows in and out of the country, by giving effect to initiatives to curb the vice.
Ms. Kapasa said these initiatives were embarked on to strengthen tax compliance, reduce tax evasion, enhance resource mobilization and transparency in public finance management.
She said the “Stop the Bleeding “ campaign is an opportunity for all stakeholders to work together and find lasting solutions to the problem of illicit financial flows.
And the Centre for Trade and Policy Development (CTPD) says illegal sleepages of finances from the Zambian economy has continued to rob millions of Zambians of a decent and prosperous life.
In an interview with ZANIS in Mufulira District, CTPD Head of Programs and Research, Brian Mwiinga said millions of Zambians are living below the poverty.
He stated that the full cost of illicit financial flows is a cancer that is wreaking havoc to the nation and needs to be stopped completely.
Mr Mwiinga said it was sad Zambia keeps losing sums of money through tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit financial flows which deprives government of funds needed to stir the country’s development agenda forward.
Reading about a few people in government who are honest and want to do the right thing instead of the usual corruption is like a breath of fresh air. Nonetheless, it’s so small a noise in the loud hall of a corrupt Government. A drop in the ocean as it were.
Maybe she doesn’t realise that inflated contracts , nepotism ,mis use of government funding as evidenced by the audotor general and favoured contractors are all examples of illicit financial flows