By CHUSA SICHONE –

THE Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has warned that adopting the current Final Draft Constitution or enacting the Constitution Amendment Bill in its current form risks shielding top Government officials from being investigated on corruption allegations.
YALI governance advisor Isaac Mwanza said in a statement that the Final Draft Constitution whether adopted through a referendum or Parliament had declassified top Government officials from being public officers to state officers.
Mr Mwanza observed that the Final Draft Constitution where the Bill was “plucked” from had declassified the President, Vice-President, Speaker of the National Assembly, deputy Speaker, Members of Parliament and Ministers, among others, from being held as public officers.
He warned that declassifying them was against the spirit of Zambia’s anti-corruption law on whose strength the Anti-Corruption Commission had been able to investigate public officers who engaged in corrupt practices.
“The re-defining and classification of these persons holding the above public office as ‘state officers’ will provide a comfort zone to escape from investigations on corruption allegations.
“The definition itself will pose insurmountable challenges in the enforcement of the existing anti-corruption law unless the Anti-Corruption Act No.3 of 2012 is simultaneously amended during or shortly after the enactment of the new Constitution or passage of the Bill,” he said.
YALI said adopting the Final Draft Constitution in its current form would restrict corruption investigations to junior public officers while their superiors would go scot-free.