Fight Corruption through transparency, accountability and political will – US Envoy

By Kalata News,

LUSAKA – United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales has urged the Zambian Government and organisations to incorporate transparency and accountability as tools for fighting corruption.

He said this during the Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) 2023 Anti-Corruption Conference, held in Livingstone, Zambia in November.

They envoy said that corruption affected all levels of society and all nations and it eroded public trust in government and democratic institutions. It also deepened poverty and inequality, threatened public security, and stifled opportunity and democratic and economic growth.

“No organization or government can fight corruption without three key things:  transparency, accountability, and political will.”

Gonzalez added, “when we speak about transparency and accountability, we must first understand the tools available to prevent conflicts of interest, corruption, and build public trust for and the integrity of government officials.  One such tool is asset declaration; the topic I was specifically asked to speak about.”

He said it was necessary to have accountability officers review the annual declarations and compare them to previous years’ submissions to identify and seek explanations for changes.  He noted that these assets declarations needed to be done electronically to facilitate and automate the content analysis of these declarations and prevent collusion among filers and reviewers.

Gonzales said “I would go one step further in requiring that asset declarations be made available to the public to allow independent civil society to flag issues or conduct targeted audits or investigations.”

He said “a March 2022 civil society review of the Asset Declaration Register at the Supreme Court found that only seven of Zambia’s 25 cabinet ministers and two of the 10 provincial ministers had declared their assets.  This is only a 28 percent and 20 percent compliance rate, respectively.  Where are the penalties for non-compliance by these high-level officials and who holds them accountable?  It is inexcusable that those who are required to make such declarations have not done so”.

“So, wouldn’t it be powerful if President Hichilema, every sitting minister, and every permanent secretary proactively declared their assets now and did so annually for the remainder of their times in public service?”  he wondered.

Ambassador Gonzalez praised Zambia for finally taking to parliament a proposed Access to Information Bill saying such laws helped citizens access information held in government offices.