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By ZamChro Correspondent

Government last week announced its decision to abolish the Task Force on Corruption.

Vice-President George Kunda said in Parliament on Thursday that Government had decided to fuse the Task Force on Corruption into the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in line with the recently launched national anti-corruption policy.

“The Task Force on Corruption shall be transformed into a department of the ACC and under this policy, the ACC shall be the lead institution in the fight against corruption,” Mr Kunda said.

He said the ACC will take over all criminal cases started by the Task Force on Corruption.

Mr Kunda said the Task Force on Corruption has substantially executed its mandate and that most of the cases under its jurisdiction have either been concluded or are pending appeal in higher courts.

“In line with the national anti-corruption policy, Government shall build capacity in the ACC and create specialised departments that will deal with related crimes such as fraud, financial crimes, corruption and money laundering.

“Other cases that were being investigated and prosecuted by the Task Force on Corruption will be fused into relevant departments,” Mr Kunda said.

And Mr Kunda said during the transition period, only one private prosecutor, Mr Mutembo Nchito, who is prosecuting the remaining cases for Task Force on Corruption, will be allowed to continue with the cases under the auspices of the ACC.

“The terms of engagement for this private prosecutor shall continue to be reviewed depending on the volume of work still to be attended to,” he said.

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