By NAKUBIANA SHABONGO –

THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has received 413 reports of suspected cases of corruption in the first quarter of this year.
ACC public relations manager, Timothy Moono said out of the cases recorded, 129 reports contained substances of corruption.
Mr Moono said this during the ACC first quarter media briefing for 2015 in Lusaka yesterday.
He said that of the 129 cases, 60 were authorised for investigations, while 56 reports did not have sufficient details of the corruption offences to warrant investigations to be conducted.
He said some of the cases were referred to relevant institutions for administrative action while others were closed with no further action.
“Currently, the commission has a total of 1,151 cases under investigation. The commission recorded 12 arrests around the country and 92 prosecution cases are before the courts of law. We recorded 5 acquittals, secured 9 convictions and 10 cases were at appeal stage,” he said.
Some of the ongoing matters and convictions which occurred during the quarter and those forwarded from the previous year include the arrests of Southern Province Permanent Secretary Annie Sinyangwe, Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Annie Mwewa, and Mwansabombwe Member of Parliament Rodgers Mwewa which are before the courts of law.
Mr Moono reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to the fight against corruption to ensure the country yields results that contribute to good governance and national development.
The ACC also carried out investigations where the commission received 3 complaints of suspected electoral corruption that were unsubstantiated.
Mr Moono said the ACC had monitored various campaign rallies and activities of political parties which participated in the January 20 election to ensure they adhered to the provisions of the law pertaining to electoral corruption.
On the alleged corruption in the procurement of Oil, he said that the ACC was vigorously following up the matter to take note of allegations of corruption.
He said that the Commission sat on various tender committees to ensure that guidelines were followed.
“The ACC acknowledged the allegations of the illegal procurement of oil as the country had a shortage and will take measures to tackle the issue. This was in public domain and we are following it up to ensure transparency and accountability,” he said.
On communication towers, he said that the commission was thoroughly investigating the construction of the towers and how the tenders were awarded.