the Government to evaluate the work of the Task Force on Corruption considering the huge amount of money that is paid to lawyers on the investigative wing.
TIZ president, Reuben Lifuka said in an interview in Lusaka that if an evaluation process was undertaken, the Government would draw up lessons on how best to set up the financial intelligence unit under the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).[quote]
Justice Deputy Minister, Todd Chilembo last week told Parliament that the Government had this year budgeted US$720,000 for legal fees for local lawyers on the task force.
“While we appreciate that fighting corruption is expensive, the results should justify these huge expenses. “We want to urge the Government to conduct a thorough evaluation of using a task force to investigate and prosecute high-profile corruption cases and use these lessons as it embarks upon setting up the serious frauds unit or the financial intelligence unit,” Mr Lifuka said.
He said the TIZ had for some time been concerned with the design of the task force and its subsequent operations especially in terms of securing the services of private legal practitioners.
He said one of the reasons advanced for setting up the task force was that experts from the different law enforcement agencies would be pooled together and, thus, ensure success in the investigation and prosecution of high-profile cases. “The engagement of private legal practitioners is a clear indication that the task force on its own lacks the necessary technical capacity. The payment of $700,000 each year would not be necessary if Government had concentrated on developing the institutional and technical capacity of the ACC.
“This is not to say we do not recognise some of the important successes scored by the task force, but we are convinced that it is an expensive undertaking,” Mr Lifuka said. He said part of the money being paid to private lawyers on the task force could have been used to strengthen the work of the ACC.
“The unfortunate part of this whole episode is that it is possible that despite Government spending such colossal sums on lawyers and other operational costs, little may come out of the several court cases,” Mr Lifuka said.
[Times of Zambia]
500 internal server error nainshupa,i cant post my threads nani uwingangafwa,limbi niba LT balenchinga? Ala mutuuleenii banee!!
I totally agree with Mr. Lifuka but they should not discontinue the cases that are already before the courts of law. Let judgement be delivered particularly Chiluba’s cases must be concluded first. It is Chiluba’s cases that were very expensive but since the trial is complete, let us hear the verdict. He must be jailed like others.
There is nowhere else in the world where any of these fools called lawyers in Zambia can be raking in such grand amounts. True, Zambia is a country of fools.
Reuben Lifuka, ukwina! umwana. They young man is only 40 but looks like he is in his late 50’s.
Just like sales of zamtel…the decision to write off $700,000 in ‘laywers fees’ is ‘final’….so is the GRZ saying…Reuben is one of those guys who are TV/News trigger happy. The guy did architect drawings at CBU…now se what is he is doing… everyone wnat to be a politician… because once you become one… you enjoy as Dr sondashi is plannning.
Nzelu niweka paZed tTAX FORCE HUGE SALARIES NO RESULTS NCC HUGE ALLOWANCES NO GOOD RESULTS ONE GOD WILL SAVE US FROM THESE THEIVES
I agree with one of the bloggers who always says Zambia is a joke. The problem in Zambia is that some straight forward court cases involving ‘special’ people like Chiluba take unnecessarily too long for no reason and this is where all the taxpayers’ money is wasted. There is overwhelming evidence against Chiluba and he should have been behind bars ages ago. Lawyers are having a field day in Zambia because of unsuitable corrupt leaders. It’s criminal to waste these sums of money. Zambia is indeed a joke.
Good afternoon
Of course this is a huge sum of money but as the Deputy Minister rightly pointed out: the results should justify these huge expenses. So there is no need to fire shots at the governement yet.
#2, The Intelligentia. The problem with RB is that he is too desparate to continue in plot one and will do anything expedient for him to continue. So this Chiluba guy is dancing because he has read the mind of RB and is sure that RB is NOT serious about fighting corruption but manitaining himself in plot one. So Chiluba being the crook he is, hhe will manouvre to make sure that RB thinks he can win the presidency for him in 2011 and then ask for favours as well. The signs are already there, Chiluba is laughing through and through. Now he can even speak on policy issues, a thing he could never do if LPM was still president. Circus pa Zed.
Our judicial system needs a complete overhaul. Cases take too long to dispose of. And imagine that after spending all that money, the thieves are still set free! It can be very painful to the honest harworking citizens. No wonder some people tend to take law into their own hands. The system is contributing to anarchy. Compare time the London courts took to close the Chiluba case.
Mr. Hagler no# 3 yes indeed the lawyers atleast most of them are the fools, but the Zambian people in general are not fools. They are suffering from the tyranny left by the British Empire and Kaunda plus his Chiluba counterpart. Confusion also eminates from the false history of Shaka that our children and myself though young and unmarried were taught, not the true history of our beginning civilisation building pyramids and starting tertiary education, but that evil history of loin cloth wearing Shaka Zulu. $720 thousand is $280 thou. of a million. One quarter of that is enough legal fees, then the remaining Three quaters invested in commercial Agriculture can bring inflation down by even two points to 12%. Money is there but wasted on inhuman spending materialism. Hello family Jesus’s…
Looking at the complexity and the profile of the culprits in the Task Force cases, the budgeted US$720,000 is a fair figure.
What is required is for the judiciary to stick to their calenders so that the cases do not drag on indefinitely.
Case management in Zedi is very poor due to the trivial excuses accepted by the courts to adjourn cases.
Imagine the nimber of man-hours lost by people attending funerals on a daily basis which means adjourning cases to another date.
Exactly how is this figure quantified ? 720 K for one year only would be too much but for every year sounds a bild wild. From the way I have noticed zambian cases lawyers and judges love to extend case timelines so as to stay on the money. Litigation in Zambia is a nightmare because before you know it costs wil double. This task force case looks very simple but it seems theres a lot of cowards that would rather get paid than to complete a case expediciously
The Government should spend time and money in capacity building law enforcement wings and coming up with very advanced technological systems that can be used to despose off court cases in timely manner like develop countries have.Its regretable to see much time and money spent to get ride off some court cases especially for highly profiled people who at most times not even sent to jail despite proven guilty. Justice delayed is justice denied.
i can hardly see topics excepts comments can sonmeone assist plss
I conqur with G7. When ba Chiluba was the PRESIDENT, he did not delay to put our loving farther Dr Kunda in mukobeko for the things which he did do or steal. But with ba chiluba, it is so clear that he plundered the country’s resources. But why the delay====================