ZAMBIA’s successful fight against corruption will remain a far-fetched dream without exerting corresponding efforts to transform the nation’s underlying culture.
From the onset it is important to outline what culture is.
Remarkably, the term culture refers to basic common beliefs, practices and values that help shape the behaviour of people in a given sphere of society.
From last week’s article this discourse exemplified two common beliefs that perpetrate corruption in Zambia.
One of them is “Tinasiya kumanga bantu, timanga manyumba” which generally refers to Zambia police officers who say they have stopped arresting people and instead have concentrated on erecting their personal houses.
The other one is the common attitude that esteems wrong doers and thieves as heroes while the other one is that a Zambian woman cannot stand up to fight corruption.
Following on, what does culture have to do with corruption in Zambia?
How can President Hakainde Hichilema’s New Dawn Government transform the national culture, align it to fight corruption and subsequently foster socio-economic growth?
As alluded to in last week’s article, in last year’s commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, 2021 Mr Hichilema urged each and every Zambian to stand up and fight against the deadly scourge.
“This theme is a challenge to all of us, the state, government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officers, the media, the private sector and civil society, the clergy, academia, the youth and indeed members of the public,” the Head of State said.
What the Head of state is in essence saying is, all the above systems of the Zambian ecosystem should come together to fight corruption.
In November 2009, during the Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research annual national development conference held in Lusaka, then Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Caleb Fundanga bemoaned the declining levels of professionalism in Zambia.
“You will agree with me that the levels of professionalism in our country has somewhat declined in the recent past.”
“Nowadays, it is not rare to hear of corrupt practices and unethical conduct in the both the public and private sectors.”
“This has no doubt compromised professionalism” Dr. Fundanga said.
How can Zambia transform the national culture?
From the case study scenarios, it appears that from other professional circles, from the Zambia Police Officers, to the clergy, the scourge has known no limits.
While Home Affairs minister Jack Mwiimbu is dealing with a “Tinasiya kumanga bantu, timanga manyumba” culture, Dr. Fundanga also bemoaned the effect of the scourge on other professional circles.
How can such a nation transform its culture?
Zambia has for once to change the nation’s common beliefs, practices and values that have shaped the behaviour of people in their various spheres of life.
One of the surest ways to transform Zambia’s culture to fight corruption is through education.
Strategy could be directed to integrate anti-corruption values into the academic curriculum right from pre-school, primary school, secondary school right through to university.
The government should inevitably empower this anti-corruption education to inculcate an awareness of corruption, its causes, appearances, effects, and how to overcome corruption as well as to strengthen social sanctions.
Of course, the first bold step has already been taken the right tone at the top.
Empowering the Zambia Police Service with additional equipment, motor vehicles a toll free line, investing in a central case management information system, funding police operations to crime scenes will go a long way to address the undesirable culture of “Tinasiya kumanga bantu, timanga manyumba”
Ironically, citizens should stop providing their own transport and paying allowances to law enforcement officers to have their theft and other crimes investigated or expedited.
This has inevitably posed a risk on the ability for the Zambia Police Service to operate independently and also being compromised.
Following on, the New Dawn Government should deliberately create policy both on paper and in real practice that rewards exemplary and ethical conduct while punishing corrupt conduct.
Law enforcement institutions such as the Drug enforcement commission (DEC) Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Zambia Police Service should increasingly embrace quality and performance assurance and review systems.
These systems should closely monitor staff allegiance and behaviour in light of increasing incidences of conflict of interest and double dealing with alleged criminals.
Additionally, the national system should increasingly foster a role-modeling system.
This is where individuals that have exemplified high levels of exceptional professionalism like former Solicitor General Musa Mwenye, Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) Director General Mary Chirwa and Mr Mwiimbu could be publicly rewarded or be given public recognition.
This would go a long way to inspire other professionals as regards exhibiting ethical behaviour, high levels of professionalism, and patriotism in the fight against corruption.
On the other hand the role of women in the fight against the scourge could further be encouraged by modeling women professionals such as the late Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima, Ms. Chirwa, among others.
This is so particularly that Zambia’s traditional culture naturally depicts a woman with a weaker facet and who cannot look into the face of the ugly and deadly scourge- corruption.
This should be able to go a long way to encourage women participation in transforming and aligning the national culture in the fight against corruption to foster socio-economic growth.
On the other hand, the current trend in which national leaders have been asked to declare their assets and liabilities on assuming public office is a giant step in creating a culture of transparency that underpins the fight against corruption.
When all is said and done, the role of transforming Zambia’s culture to fight against corruption entirely rests on how far, how deep and how wide Mr. Hichilema would like the fight against the scourge to go.
Does Mr. Hichilema want a corruption free Zambia long after he’s gone? Or is he fighting corruption as one of those nice things to do?
If Zambia’s culture is not transformed to support the fight against corruption, Zambia should expect a fire-fighting, and patch work fight against corruption that has been over the decades been instituted and then rolled back by successive Heads of State.
For comments e-mail: ntumbograndy@yahoo.com Mobile +260977403113 +260955403113
The author is the Managing Consultant at G. N Grant Business Consultant, a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) holder, with a Specialism in Strategic Planning, and a candidate for the Herriot Watt University (Scotland) Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)