Zambian officials detain the auditor general and others on allegations of corruption

On suspicion of corruption and embezzlement of public funds, Zambian authorities detained the nation’s auditor general along with 17 other individuals in the Ministry of Finance. $25 million in payments for bogus activity are said to have benefitted the accused.

The arrests were verified to reporters in Lusaka on Friday by Anti-Corruption Commission spokesperson Timothy Moono. According to him, nobody in the Finance Ministry was specifically targeted by the panel.

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As a result, the commission “has subsequently banned many bank accounts held by persons believed to be engaged in this affair as part of continuing investigations,” according to Moono.

Investigations of the government’s financial management information system for the years 2018 to 2021 were the result of a special audit.

President Hakainde Hichilema has ordered that the ongoing investigations must be performed without interference, according to a previous statement by Cabinet Secretary Patrick Kangwa.

Sampa Kalunga, the spokesperson for Transparency International in Zambia, recently complained on a local radio station that the government’s anti-corruption campaign was “disjointed, antiquated, and does not demonstrate results.”

Numerous earlier arrests resulted in bail, the defendants disputing the allegations, and no convictions followed the investigations.