Finnish envoy urges Zambians to keep their eyes on the ball
By Staff Reporter
FINNISH Ambassador to Zambia Timo Olkkonen says while the government has the powers to decide whether or not to abolish the Financial Intelligence Centre, it is imperative to “keep the eye on the ball” concerning the evidence and facts which the Centre has published.
And Ambassador Olkkonen says in the face of Zambia accumulating rapidly new debts, accountability in the utilisation of national resources is tremendous.
A fortnight ago, information minister and chief government spokesperson Dora Siliya said the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC’s) 2017 Trends Report was only raw data and should be treated as a rumour.
And on a recent Prime TV special programme, PF deputy media director Antonio Mwanza called for the dissolution of the FIC Board and arrest of its director general Mary Tshuma for sharing intelligence information publicly.
In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Ambassador Olkkonen explained that on the issue of the FIC Board itself and its abolishment, he did not have an opinion “as such” as it was a government established institution.
“Obviously government has the powers to decide what to do with the institution. But I think what is important will be to keep the eye on the ball on the evidence and facts that have been provided in their (FIC) report. If the evidence and the facts are there, then it’s important in this circumstance to follow those up. So, everybody recognises, including His Excellency the President, that corruption is a very important issue and it needs to be tackled. His Excellency has also been referring to the independence of the investigative organs like the Anti-Corruption Commission and the DEC (Drug Enforcement Commission) to follow up on these cases. If the evidence and the facts are there as reported by FIC, then I think the most important thing in this matter will be to follow those issues up,” Ambassador Olkkonen noted.
Asked how critical the aspect of accountability on national resources use was, the envoy pointed out that “accountability is tremendously important and I don’t think anybody denies that.”
“You need to have checks and balances of how public funds are being used because those resources…. We know that Zambia has an issue about accumulating rapidly new debts. So, I think that spells even more need to use the resources available as efficiently as possible and avoid any waste of public resources. So, the issue of accountability is extremely important; for example, to follow up the issues highlighted in the Auditor General’s report and all these things. So, there is a lot of discussion around this topic but it would be very important also to see concrete steps being taken in also in matters of corruption,” said Ambassador Olkkonen.
