Thom Trevor Shamakamba, the director general of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), has resigned following allegations of his involvement in the very vice he was appointed to fight. These allegations were raised by the anti-corruption watchdog board.
On July 16, President Hakainde Hichilema accepted the resignation of Shamakamba, following revelations of alleged corruption by University of Zambia lecturer Dr. O’Brien Kaaba.
Dr. Kaaba, an ACC board member, publicly accused the ACC of being compromised by corrupt elements within the United Party for National Development (UPND) government and other politically connected individuals. He claimed the ACC was condoning corruption by allowing accused individuals to keep part of their illicit gains in exchange for their freedom. He also questioned why the poor “are being prosecuted aggressively while the rich and powerful are let off the hook and given immunity”.
“Isn’t it strange that ACC can make headline news for arresting and prosecuting a poor clinical officer for signing off two employment contracts while the ACC has done nothing about the more cases involving millions of dollars exposed in FIC reports? Why should the poor be prosecuted aggressively while the rich and powerful are let off the hook and given immunity?” He asked.
Shamakamba, a lawyer and former Human Rights Commissioner, had led the ACC since December 20, 2022. During his tenure, the ACC was involved in controversial plea bargains, notably the case of Faith Musonda. Musonda, a former journalist, surrendered K65 million and US$57,900, along with various properties, to the state in exchange for her freedom, under Section 80 of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012.
Dr. Kaaba criticised these settlements, arguing they benefited politically connected individuals and undermined the fight against corruption. He shared his frustrations on social media, revealing that Shamakamba had threatened him for highlighting the ACC’s weaknesses.
In a social media post, Dr. Kaaba detailed his concerns:
“To demonstrate how bad the situation is, a few days ago, I wrote a one-pager opinion in my individual academic capacity indicating why I thought the fight against corruption was crumbling. I never made any personal attack on anyone and focused my attention on institutional weaknesses. The morning after the article was published, the ACC Director General Tom Shamakamba called me through the phone of his deputy threatening to sort me out for commenting on the underperformance of the ACC in the fight against corruption.”
Dr. Kaaba outlined three critical areas undermining the fight against corruption:
- State chambers’ corruption: He claimed state chambers were facilitating corrupt deals, compromising all law enforcement agencies. He urged President Hichilema to dismiss his senior legal advisors and commission an audit of high-value payments authorised by state chambers in recent years.
2. ACC’s compromised integrity: Dr. Kaaba described the ACC as a captured institution, allegedly controlled by the same corrupt elements exploiting state resources. He suggested that the ACC was no longer accountable to its board but to these corrupt elements.
3. Corruption tainted settlements: Dr. Kaaba criticised the ACC for entering into scandalous settlements, allowing suspects to retain a portion of their loot in exchange for immunity. He called for amending the immunity clause to prevent its abuse and protect public interest.
Dr. Kaaba emphasised the need for institutional reforms, including enacting robust asset disclosure laws and setting up a commission of inquiry to investigate both current and past corruption.
Dr. Kaaba is a lecturer at the School of Law at the University of Zambia. He also serves on the board of the MakanDay Centre for Investigative Journalism.
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