Zambia corruption: President Hichilema fires entire anti-corruption commission

Zambia’s President Hakinde Hichilema has taken the extraordinary step of firing the entire executive team of the country’s anti-graft agency, which has been accused of corruption but denies it.

This comes days after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chairman, Tom Shamakamba, resigned from his post.

He and the country’s attorney-general, Gen. Muchende, have been accused of accepting bribes, charges they both strongly deny.

Since Hichilema took power three years ago, authorities have been investigating several officials from the previous administration for suspected corruption.

The shocking allegation now is that ACC officials have accepted money from politicians under investigation in exchange for amnesty.

The whistleblower is a man named O’Brien Kaaba, who was once a director of the ACC.

“The ACC, for example, has reportedly made legally meaningless settlements that have granted immunity to some of the most corrupt individuals and shielded them from justice and accountability,” he wrote earlier this week.

He said the same “immunity agreements” that were in place under the previous ruling party, the Patriotic Front, were now being “used under the current government in a way that shows no will to fight corruption.”

He said corruption was not limited to the four fired directors but affected the entire organisation and that the ACC must be reformed.

Muchende is suing Kaaba for defamation and others may follow suit.

In a statement, the Zambian presidency said the dissolution of the commission was necessary “to resume the sacred mandate of the Anti-Corruption Commission.”

A statement announcing Shamakamba’s resignation was also released by the presidency, sparking speculation that he had genuinely been fired.

Additional reporting by Natasha Booty