Claim
In an article published in the Lusaka Times website on 11th May 2022, Patriotic Front Chairperson for Information, Raphael Nakachinda claimed the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was investigating Zambia’s former President Edgar C. Lungu in order to incriminate him. He further claimed that investigative officers from ACC were sent to Rwanda in April to establish facts on the properties that are owned by former President Lungu. The article was widely shared on other social media platforms, including the Patriotic Front Facebook page. It attracted a lot of reactions and questions .
Rating Justification
The Fact Checking process has established as false the claim by Raphael Nakachinda that ACC sent investigative officers to Rwanda to investigate properties believed to be owned by the former president, Edgar C. Lungu in that country.
In a statement verified by iVerify , ACC refuted Mr Nakachinda’s claims. The Commission explained that the acting Director General and two other officers who were in Rwanda went to attend the Commonwealth Anti-Corruption Commission Agencies Conference. The Commission disclosed that they will soon issue a statement on how the meeting went.
The former Head of State currently has presidential immunity and thus , cannot be prosecuted and stand to be trialed. The Constitution of Zambia, Article 98(9) states that: ” (9) Where immunity is removed, in accordance with clause (8), the person who held the office of President or who performed executive functions, shall be charged with the offence for which the immunity from criminal proceedings was removed.”
In addition, the investigative wings in Zambia operate separately and do not receive orders from the Republican President as claimed by Raphael Nakachinda. Therefore, the claims that President Hakainde Hichilema was desperate to link former President Lungu to criminality, the law enforcement agencies are being supervised and directed by the President and and that the ACC has sent investigative officers to look for former President Lungu’s property in Rwanda is false.
