COMMITTEE of Citizens executive director Gregory Chifire has joined calls for the repealing and replacement of the ‘abuse of office’ clause in the draft constitution.
Mr Chifire said assertions by some civil society organisations and political party leaders that repealing of the clause will weaken the fight against corruption are not true as Government is doing a lot to fight the vice.
He said in an interview in Lusaka that the clause has failed to adequately address corruption in the civil service and that it undermines the privileges for civil servants to earn wealth during their years in service.
“In a democratic country people are free to own what they want as long as it is legal, that is called liberalisation of the economy but if we are going to stifle our people with retrogressive laws then we are going to prevent them from investing,” Mr Chifire said.
He said most civil servants have earned their wealth genuinely through their day-to-day work and small businesses.
He said people propagating the debate to enact the law lack patriotism and that the debate is aimed at misleading the public.
Mr Chifire said the law will instead encourage corruption as most civil servants will be tempted to make their money dubiously and opt not to invest their money faithfully and openly for fear of being prosecuted.
“Government is doing a lot to fight corruption and we feel as an organisation that the civil organisations and political parties calling for the inclusion of this law are trying to make political mileage out of this,” he said.
[Zambia Daily mail]
l am shocked by you mr chifire
Who the hell is this Chifire i don’t remember the name from the time i was in Zambia all i read is the nonsence that comes out of his mouth in the papers he must be a very silly chap with no brains.
“Gregory Chifire has joined calls for the repealing and replacement of the ‘abuse of office’ clause in the draft constitution” Times of zambia & Gregory ur all a bunch of garbage.who is callin for relacement of ‘abuse of office’?.it sucks 4 this spinnless ****er to be given airtyme to vomit the as.s shitt he doesnt know on our taxpayers paper.who said civil servants ur lazy!are u saying the same close ‘abuse of office’ is making them to be corrupt? this ****er is goin too far & where does he get guts to sh.it nosense on our taxpayers paper?get a life muther****er…damn yo ASSssssss NGO…
ABUSE OF OFFICE
Official Oppression. – A public servant is guilty of a misdemeanor if, with a purpose to benefit himself/herself or another or to harm another, he/she knowingly commits an unauthorized act which purports to be an act of his/her office; or knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on him/her by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his/her office.
ABUSE OF OFFICE
Misuse of Information. – A public servant is guilty of a misdemeanor if, knowing that official action is contemplated or in reliance on information which he/she has acquired by virtue of his/her office or from another public servant, he/she:
I. Acquires or divests himself/herself of a pecuniary interest in any property, transaction or enterprise which may be affected by such action or information; or
II. Speculates or wagers on the basis of such action or information; or
III. Knowingly aids another to do any of the foregoing.
ABUSE OF OFFICE
Official Oppression. – A public servant is guilty of a misdemeanor if, with a purpose to benefit herself or himself or another or to harm another, she/he knowingly commits an unauthorized act which purports to be an act of her/his office; or knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on her/him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of her/his office.
Koma these rented mobs are really making noise! How can you say a civil servant should be primarily concerned with minting money using the public service advantage?!!! I cant believe my ears, this Chifire should be arrested for alarming/inciting the nation! Yuk!
I wonder why Zambian media houses give their ears to such retards as Cifire who is definately one of those State funded twats sponsored to form irrelevant NGO’s to show solidarity with the ruling party.
It is just sickening to read Zambian papers these days,i just cannot imagine what it will be like when i finally return to Zambia and be engulfed in such kind of crap,i love to be in touch with current affairs but what obtains in Zambian papers and national television is just disappointing and disgusting,sometimes i fear that i will be locked up under the other useless law which bars people from expressing their personal views on the head of state of Zambia,that law is one that should be repealed not this one mentioned in the article above,people should be allowed to call a spade a spade!
No 6 i do agree with you so very much.
Cheers #7
There are a few useless stories in UK papers such as The Sun etc but that cannot be compared to the nonsense we see as headlines in Zambian papers on a daily basis,it’s so disappointing!
Ba Chifire, says ‘The clause has failed to adequately address corruption in the civil service and that it undermines the privileges for civil servants to earn wealth during their years in service’
How is the so called privilege undermined if it’s an honest and genuine way of making money. Why would you be scared to reinvest money that you have genuinely made? What disturbs me is that this is a public man, talking without seriously thinking of what he is saying or supporting.
The price of democracy each person is entitled to his or her opinion I suppose it’s like building a house with every nail, timber and brick having a say.
Am not suprised by this guy’s uterrances. Is this not the chap who was lingering at CBU between 2000 and 2003 pretending to be a student yet he was state sponsored shishushu? Its unbelievable he can insult the people of zambia like this. Gregory, your time is up and you are better off siding with progressive minds.
Twarts like this chifire are just sh.itheads. The man has no grey mater but rather full of c.r.a.p. When he opens his foul mouth only f.a.r.t.s. come out, so just ignore him. Dont pay attention to such di.c.k.h.eads, he just polutes the air. Its a matter of months, he’ll disappear into oblivion, b’coz his sponsor will be fighting for survival.
Chifire nkazika mu.shi.ndo pansi, you are just a non-entinty wanting to be noted, you have no idea what you are puking.
By the way, what happened to the ultimatum which was meted to Chilufya Sata over the allegation/truth he raised about chadian president coming to meet nyama.soya in Mfuwe? Chilufya refused to apologise, then all zzzzzzzz. This should ring in our minds that Lupiya is trying to dribble us, but he came too late, we are all awake. Akwete amano ayeshilu uyu nyama.soya.
I agree with Chifire 100%. If someone is going to steal they will anyways, but at least when its done in plain site we can investigate further into how the person made his money, instead of him/her being afraid of stigma and therefore banking Zambian money in Kenya or South Africa. The clause is primitive and should be removed, and you know what be it in America, South Africa, England you dont see this counter development nonsense.. In China you have cabinet ministers owning hotels, in the mideast you have people who deal with their respective governments on a daily basis owning planes, every developed country has honest hardworking people not being stigmatized for earning money. Only the guilty are afraid of this clause, Lets promotes the motion honest workers have no reason to hide.
#14 you are an a.s.s!!!
……….Who is advising this guy?
Please Ba Chifire get a life for yourself,nangu ni sebana wikute but yours is too much! Get back to C.B.U,finish your degree and get a decent job and life rather than been used filthily by skewed politicians!
#15, can’t stand anyone with a view contrary to yours?
Iwe Chi #14 no wonder ndiwe chifontine,
Number 15 and Number 19.. Let me put it simply… We have the Drug Enforcement Commission, We have the Anti- Corruption Commission, We have Transparency International, we have the Task Force on Corruption, we have the office of the DPP, and we also the AG, We have a donor community who will pull out at a sniff of any corruption getting involved on how many is used, and so My friend Galedu, am I missing anyone owls watching over us? All I am saying is any more “big brothers” and the natural flow of economics shall be too stringent for any honest business man to even consider a luxurious reward as a motivating factor to do work be it in the formal or the informal sector. Thank you.
Number 15 and Number 19.. Let me put it simply… We have the Drug Enforcement Commission, We have the Anti- Corruption Commission, We have Transparency International, we have the Task Force on Corruption, we have the office of the DPP, and we also the AG, We have a donor community who will pull out money at a sniff of any corruption in our cookie jar and even toying with our inner workings of government, so My friend Galedu, am I missing anyone owls watching over us? All I am saying is any more “big brothers” and the natural flow of economics shall be too stringent for any honest business man to even consider a luxurious reward as a motivating factor to do work be it in the formal or the informal sector. Thank you.
Cifire knows that his sister Angela has abused her office, so he is supporting this MMD rubbish
awe kwena yashupelyashi. I would have loved to see article 37 of the ACC Act to be adequately enforced and if possible vary the article by adding extra clauses that will stiffen up the law. Zambia does not need to to have a weak legislation in order to deal with corruption which has become endemic. Ba Chifire you are totally off the mark and if you are truly a Zambian, you have to be sincere and appreciate what the ACC Act has done so far. Bushe chashupashani pa zed???????
Some of these Non Governmental Individuals NGIs like Mr Chifire are so useless that they irritate me.I think we ve been taken for a ride for a long time by these NGIs
Who is this evil man by the name of Gregory Chifire? Always he speaks nonsense. On whose pay list is he? MMD!!! Dirt politics. Zambia will continue lagging behind in development.
this boy has no morals he supports anything that is nonsense…
If the LAW is not working then WHY have many people been taken to court and found GUILTY?
Mr Shitfire.
What LAW will replace it if you say it will be repealed and adjusted.
Do you along with Senior Shitizen know more than the Public?
Have you seen such adjustment text?
It is really surprising that people like Chifire can try to justify simple and straight forward things. We all know understand what the clause stands for. It is not burring anyone to invest and accumulate wealth, the clause simply and insures that public offices are not abused by those that hold them, and that they will be answerable for abusing those offices. People who are supporting the removal of this clause, do not just want to be accountable and responsible and it is a shame that Chifire thinks otherwise. We have so many unwise characters in the leadership positions. We have seen how offices are being abused by senior govt officials and politicians. It is very wrong for people to go scot-free. This simply shows how they are not willing to fight corruption and protect themselves.
I hope Chifire is saving whatever crumbs he gets from licking MMD’s boots.
This twit called Chifire was in my class at CBU in the year 2001. He flunked out of Business school in his second year. Since then he has been a sufferer, look at the following
After flunking, he ran for the office of MP for Nkana constituency as an independent. He got a grand total less than 20 votes in the 2001 elections. His inspiration was his once upon a time close buddy Levy Ngoma, who after expulsion from CBU successfully ran for the office of MP of Sinda constituency.
After finding life hard in Kitwe he relocated to Lsk. He has been sucking up to govt in the hope that he may find favour in their eyes and they may throw him some scraps. He formed an NGO ‘the Committee of Citizens’ in the hope of becoming a govt mouthpiece at a fee of course.
He is a sufferer and a shameless…
#30 Attack the person’s view than bring up his failed academic record at CBU. The point he is making is valid. The Law need to recognise that there are some people who run a part time business and if that business turns out successful why should somebody be subjected to unnecessary freezing of his assets and all that. If somebody has stolen government money, yes he should be prosecuted and nobody is denying that , but don’t kill entrepreneurship please
And Mr. Mumbi said PF leader, Michael Sata, can not make a good president because he has never been ‘even’ a Village Headman before.”
SO KK , FTJ, LPM AND BWEZANI WERE ONCE HEAD MEN? NO WONDER THE WHOLE ZAMBIA IS LIKE A CONFUSED VILLAGE.
#31 MMD Chief Bootlicker- Iwe Chumbwi, the law is not against hard working citizens. It is there to ensure you in MMD especially do not use your positions to accumulate wealth without working for it. Example is where a guy gets K1m per month, the all of sudden this guy starts driving a hummer. Fair enough, but he has to explain how he came to own such an expensive item.If he did not abuse office, but he acquired the money from his hard work, he must back up his explanation. Take me for instance, I got a loan fro Barclays and bought a Corolla which I turned into a taxi. After 3 years I bought a mini bus, then a Rosa. I have a record of how I came to own 3 vehicles and as such, Iam ready to face any GRZ agency if asked to explain my “wealth.” Wa umfwa Nkusa? Art 37 Viva.
Ba #31,
Zambians are not against people making money through legal means when they are in public office. Zambians do want any form of abuse of office when they are servicing the people. You must understand that no one is above the law; not even the law itself. We are saying even the monkeys can be put in charge of a maize field but must know that there are restrictions that come with every game. Whoever abuses office must be charged followed by a good lenghth of time behind bars. Bwana laws are there to ensure fairness and order.
who paid this bastard to say this crap?
To fight corruption, you need to strenghten the arm of [prosecution and come up with stiff punishment and controls. Now to weaken the fight and make it easy to steal as the MMD Govt., is doing. The need to Go, 2011 is a very long time to wait to kick them out. The concerned citizens that have seen wrong in the MMD have a democratic right to kick them out, why do they want to cling on to power? Power has gone to their heads and they think they control resources for their exclusive use. We reject this.
#30 i cant agree more with you. Walasa, your data cant be more accurate that that. To add, after he flunked he remained at CBU in Chambeshi Hostel precisely this time as a shushushu. People need to know the background of this guy in order to understand his present predicament. He has found it difficult to get a formal job as a result he is frustrated and want to get at everyone’s throat.
MMD Chief Bootlicker says:
July 19, 2010 at 10:46 am
#30 Attack the person’s view than bring up his failed academic record at CBU.
From someone who has insulted just about every opposition party and its leader to people here who are against his party.
This cadre cant even remember what he said last week.
Dropping a letter from someone’s name INTENTIONALLY is an insult.
It’s just that cadres like this one and his masters can’t see or remember they have done it.
Talking about Matero degrees is one of Bootlickers favourite taunts.
#33
Well said!
firstly, at a time when there are huge sums missing from ministry of health and the road sector plus other areas still unbeknown to us we need to strengthen the law than weaken it. the emminent fear is not that there are no means for people to earn money legally but that there is rampant abuse of public resources.
secondly, the abuse of office/power clause is not only aimed at curbing theft of funds but also other public resources like awarding tenders irregulary, campaigning with govt cars, enrolling a relative without qualification into an insititution of higher learning, monopolising television/radio time/space by rulling party, police denying permits to opposition, stiffling opposition and preventing it from their mandate of applying checks and balances, list is endless. we need it.
This Chifire guy is a bootlicker and puffing a heap of rubbish. If you earn wealth genuinely, why should you be bothered by the ‘Abuse of Office” clause? Those against it know that they have been abusing their privileged positions and want immunity from the Law. Shame on George Kunda and group of clowns! # 31 also included! Shame on your sorry self!
I wonder how this man’s rantings can ever qualify to be news worthy? The clause should stay. All those against it have alot to hide. They know their time is almost up and they will do literally anything to cover their behinds. Next they will be saying we should legalise prostitution as long as we use condoms.
#30 u r right. Greg inamuvuta maningi sukulu that is y he is ranting senselessly.
I wish he could go back to school than this nonsense he is ranting.
Finish your business with ministry of education.
We can have Anti corrution, donors or organisartion to check the corruption but without backing of the lwa is useless that why wrong practices are enshrine in the law to give them power for courts to held the issue without law the court could not sentence anybody. if honesty saw it necessary to remove it why have their not come to explain why we should remove it.
The guilty are always afraid. Why make a fuss if you are genuine?