You are exhiting double standards on George Kunda…In your blog you write:- “and it’s unfortunate that he attacked TIZ at Manda Hill and TIZ was not there to defend themselves. The fight against corruption was started by Zambians and we wanted political involvement and our late president heard our plea”.

Now when you read parliamentary records, what did George Kunda say in parliament on the legal way forward to try Chiluba? If you have forgotten, Kunda begged that Chiluba be heard by a committee first before removing his immunity. But what did MADMAX Levy do? He was one of those in the crowd that was crying for Chiluba’s crucifixion. Today you are crying foul that TIZ was not given a chance to be heard at Manda Hill? But Kunda knows that is your style of doing things so he was just giving it back to you the same way Chiluba was treated… What’s good for FTJ must surely be good for TIZ and vice versa.

EU fraud: a billion dollar bill

A new report by the European Commission’s anti-fraud unit says the European Union lost a billion dollars last year through crime and corruption.

Cigarette-smuggling alone deprived member states of hundreds of millions of dollars of duty.

Other major smuggling operations involved alcohol and olive oil.

In one case of corruption within the Commission, an official was sacked for receiving kickbacks from companies to which he gave contracts.

But the EU’s budget commissioner, Michaele Schreyer, said there had been some success in tackling organised crime.

The commissioner responsible for reform, Neil Kinnock, also published what he called a “whistleblower’s charter” offering guidelines for EU employees wishing to report suspected fraud.

Tax evasion

“Criminality cannot be brought down to zero,” Ms Schreyer told a news conference in Brussels.

“But we cannot tolerate tax evasion, customs fraud or taxpayers’ money disappearing into the pockets of individual criminals and international organised crime.”

The report said the Commission had investigated more than 5,000 cases of suspected fraud, and that its suspicions had been borne out in one in five cases.

It said the Commission had managed to persuade authorities in the tax haven of Andorra, near Spain’s border with France, to stamp out rampant smuggling of cigarettes into the EU.

This is estimated to have saved the EU 75 million euros in lost customs duties in 1998, along with 300 million euros in VAT and excise duties.

Whistleblowers’ charter

The report also said that the Commission had uncovered a systematic diversion since 1991 of large amounts of subsidised beef to Iraq, in violation of a UN embargo.

In a serious case of alcohol smuggling, a big crime syndicate diverted 1.5m litres of contraband from the EU to Eastern Europe, some of it falsely declared to be tomato sauce.

Anti-fraud officers are currently investigating allegations of corruption within the EU office in Stockholm.

Mr Kinnock said his “whistleblowers’ charter” would foster transparency and assert the need for accountability.

“I have long held the view that conscientious and responsible whistleblowing in public and private sector organisations is necessary and justified,” he said.

Mr Kinnock was one of only four commissioners re-appointed to the new European Commission after a whistleblower’s revelations of cronyism and corruption led to the resignation en masse of the former Commission in March.

He said the new charter would provide better safeguards to protect whistleblowers’ careers.

Earlier this week a report by the European Court of Auditors said that the European Commission had misspent about five per cent of its budget in 1998. It noted weaknesses in accounting systems, and other management problems.

After publication of the report, the Commission’s spokesman, Peter Guilford, said the new EC president, Romano Prodi, was sweeping a new broom through the organisation.
BBC Report Archives.1999 November 19th

What background in Architecture is this Lifuka talking about? Its either you are a fully graduated Architect or you are a Technician or just a bum. Which University did you go to? I have never seen your name on the Register of Architects in Zambia. The rest are pieces of paper for one day courses/seminars-we call them attendance certificates… What post graduate certificate in Project management are you talking about? Emphasis in what? Process Management? Human Management? or NGO Management or even TIOZ management!!!!Just Goes to show why you are now with TIZ because you have nothing solid to stand on. An educated professional Industrial Architect cannot opt for NGO work leaving such a highly paid job. You are disgracing the well meaning Architects in Zambia. You can fool some people…not all the people…

RUEBEN LIFUKA has a background in architecture and worked at the National Heritage Conservation Commission before establishing his own Environmental and Project Management consultancy firm (Riverine Consulting) in 1997. In 2003 he established a second company, Dialogue Africa, which focuses on performance management and personal development. Lifuka undertook post graduate studies in Project Management at Cambridge University, UK, and is currently pursuing an MSc in Integrated Environmental Management via distance learning from the University of Bath.

Alongside his work as an entrepreneur, Rueben has been very active in civil society and development work. In 1998, he joined the Zambia Association for Research and Development – ZARD – which leads gender research in Zambia. In 2005 he was elected Board Vice President for Transparency International Zambia, and he is also a Board member of the Citizens Forum – an interest group pushing for constitutional and governance reforms in Zambia. In addition, he is a founding member of the Civil Society for Trade Network Zambia, a research and advocacy network on matters of trade and development.