KBF CAUTIONS DEC, OTHER INVESTIGATIVE WINGS AGAINST PREMATURE PROSECUTION

By AARON CHIYANZO THE law enforcement agencies should be cautious when freezing accounts of individuals because thorough evidence of wrong doing is needed, Lusaka lawyer and UPND Alliance partner Kelvin Fube Bwalya has said. He advised the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), Ant-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other agencies to be thorough and cautious in deciding to freeze any account. Mr Bwalya said law enforcement agencies should understand that it was costly to injure the reputation of business persons or a company. He said during the Crossfire Programme on Spring TV that law enforcement agencies should keep in mind that reputations were hard to build but easy to destroy. Mr Bwalya said as President Hakainde Hichilema had directed, proper investigations must be done before action was taken. “Don’t attack a company, the closing of accounts of people and things like that, we must be careful,” he said. Mr Bwalya said thorough research must be done before law enforcement agencies act. He said it was also safer for judicial officers when they prosecute matters that were well investigated. Meanwhile, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has reportedly frozen Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) liquidator Milingo Lungu’s bank accounts following some alleged suspicious transactions. The DEC has also reportedly frozen bank accounts belonging to businessman Valden Findlay and seized four vehicles belong to Mr Maxwell Chongu, a member of the Patriotic Front in less than two weeks. The actions have been received with mixed feelings by stakeholders with some warning the new regime against witch-hunt.