What more must Grandy Ntumbo do before he is reinstated, paid the salary he he is owed, and allowed to resume the public service career to which he dedicated years of his life?
It is a question that goes far beyond one individual. It speaks to the credibility of Zambia’s commitment to fighting corruption and protecting those who expose it.
Ntumbo, the Principal Internal Auditor at the Ministry of Finance, led forensic investigations into the alleged misuse of donor funds and other financial irregularities involving public institutions. Audit reports, together with his account in a recent interview with MakanDay, indicate that the investigations uncovered payroll fraud, fictitious allowances, unauthorised withdrawals from government accounts, and the suspected misappropriation of public resources.
A 2019 special audit into the Ministry of General Education reportedly identified a payroll fraud scheme worth more than K2 million within the Zambia Education Projects Implementation Unit (ZEPIU). It also documented alleged misuse of funds under the World Bank-funded Zambia Education Enhancement Project (ZEEP) and questioned financial practices within the Keeping Girls in School (KGS) programme.
The investigations reportedly extended beyond the Ministry of General Education. Ntumbo says subsequent forensic work uncovered alleged financial misconduct involving Treasury accounts, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), and other public institutions. He further alleges that investigations pointed to a broader network involving senior public officials and prompted engagement with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
These are serious allegations. They concern not only the misuse of public funds but also public confidence in the institutions entrusted with safeguarding national resources.
Yet the story did not end with the audits. Ntumbo’s professional life changed dramatically after pursuing these investigations.
He was transferred from the Forensic Audit Unit to the Revenue Audit Unit, stripped of meaningful assignments, assigned junior officers to supervise, and eventually removed from the government payroll altogether. For more than two years, he has not received his salary.
These actions raise an uncomfortable question. What message does this send to other public servants who discover wrongdoing?
Governments around the world encourage officials to report corruption. Zambia has repeatedly declared its commitment to transparency, accountability and prudent management of public resources. Yet those commitments lose meaning if individuals like Ntumbo, who expose suspected corruption lose their careers for doing their jobs.
The issue is bigger than Ntumbo. It is about whether internal auditors, accountants, investigators and civil servants can perform their statutory duties without fear of retaliation.
It is also about whether institutions respond consistently when credible allegations of corruption emerge.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has not publicly provided an update regarding investigations into officials allegedly implicated in the forensic audit findings, including senior officials at the Ministry of Finance. The absence of public information and prolonged silence inevitably fuels public speculation and weakens confidence.
This is precisely the challenge highlighted recently by Integrity Initiatives International (III), the Coalition for the International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC), and African partners on 11 July 2026 to mark African Anti-Corruption Day. They observed:
“Africa does not lack anti-corruption commitments. The continent has laws, conventions, anti-corruption agencies, financial intelligence units, audit institutions, ombudsman offices, procurement rules and regional accountability frameworks. What remains urgent is enforcement. Integrity cannot be scaled up if powerful people and their conspirators can steal public resources, launder the proceeds, intimidate truth-tellers and escape accountability.”
Those words resonate because they describe a dilemma confronting many countries, including Zambia.
Anti-corruption campaigns are not judged by speeches, strategies or commemorative events. They are judged by whether institutions protect those who expose wrongdoing and hold accountable those responsible for it, regardless of rank or influence.
If a senior internal auditor can spend years fighting simply to receive his salary after leading sensitive investigations, it is reasonable to ask what incentive remains for the next auditor, accountant or investigator to report suspected corruption.
Silence becomes safer than integrity. Compliance becomes easier than courage. That is a dangerous place for any democracy.
The Ministry of Finance has an opportunity to address these concerns transparently. If Ntumbo’s removal from the payroll was lawful and justified, the reasons should be clearly explained. If administrative or legal processes remain ongoing, the public deserves to know their status. And if he has been unfairly treated, corrective action should follow without further delay.
Equally, the ACC owes the public clarity on the status of investigations arising from the forensic audits. Accountability requires not only investigations but visible progress and communication that reinforces public confidence.
The question, ultimately, is not whether Grandy Ntumbo is right about every allegation he has made. Those matters should be determined through due process and independent investigation.
The real question is whether Zambia is creating an environment where honest public officers are encouraged to expose corruption—or one where doing so carries unacceptable personal and professional consequences.
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