Zambian church official: Take action to prevent theft of public funds

Published: 2007-05-11

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- A Zambian church official said local action must be taken to prevent the theft of public resources after a British court ruled that former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba must repay money stolen while he was in office. "There is still a lot of corruption in public office, largely because of insufficient controls in public institutions," Samuel Mulafulafu, director of Zambia's Catholic Center for Justice, Development and Peace, told Catholic News Service May 9 in a telephone interview from Lusaka, Zambia. While "we would like to see justice done and the repayment of the money that has been stolen," Mulafulafu said, the ruling "won't deter those misusing public resources until the political will is found to put controls in place." The controls "must be enforced, and those found to be misusing money need to be punished, which will send the signal to others that it is unacceptable," he said.

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