21/05/2026
PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION'S PERFORMATIVE NOISE. THURSDAY 21st MAY, 2026
The Resident Doctors Association of Zambia has noted, with deep concern, the remarks made by outgoing Health Minister Dr. Alex Katakwe during his farewell media engagement on 15th May 2026, in which he appeared to suggest that public officials receiving "tokens of appreciation" or eating panono panono after delivering services was acceptable conduct. RDAZ wishes to state categorically and without equivocation that such remarks are utterly unacceptable, dangerous and completely at odds with the ethical standards we demand of leaders entrusted with the health and welfare of the Zambian people.
We note that Dr. Katakwe has since issued a formal apology and withdrawn the remarks. We accept that apology. The matter, as far as he is concerned, is noted.
However, we are compelled to go further and to address a far more troubling matter that has received no such public attention.
THE ACC'S RESPONSE: A PERFORMANCE, NOT A PRINCIPLE
RDAZ wishes to place on public record its profound disappointment and outrage at the Anti-Corruption Commission's response to this episode. The ACC moved with extraordinary speed to issue a public condemnation of Dr. Katakwe's remarks, quoting the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012, reciting definitions of gratification and urging public officers to uphold integrity. It was a polished performance. It was also deeply, profoundly hypocritical. Where was this urgency when OUR SUBMISSIONS TO THE ACC WERE MET WITH SILENCE?
RDAZ has made multiple formal submissions to the Anti-Corruption Commission documenting systemic corruption within the Zambian health sector, in particular, the widespread practice of bribery and extortion during health worker recruitment processes. These are not rumors. These are documented, structured submissions, made in good faith, by a professional body representing resident doctors on the frontlines of Zambia's public health system. Our members have come forward at personal and professional risk to report corruption that happens not in farewell speeches, but in actual practice, corruption that determines who gets employed, who gets posted where and who is left behind regardless of merit. To date, we have received no meaningful feedback, no acknowledgment of investigation and no public communication on the outcome of any of these submissions. The ACC did not act. The ACC did not respond. The ACC was silent.
And yet, when a departing minister makes a clumsy, ill-advised remark at a farewell event, a remark he subsequently withdrew and apologized for, the ACC found its voice within hours. Statements were issued. Quotes were recited. Press releases were distributed. This is not anti-corruption work. This is theatre. This is playing to the gallery. This is an institution performing the optics of accountability while refusing to do the actual work of accountability.
We are not naive about why this is so. It is far safer for the ACC to condemn a man who is already leaving office than to investigate procurement corruption, recruitment bribery and institutional rot that implicates people who are still in power. It is far less risky to quote legislation in a press release than to follow a paper trail that leads to the desks of those who currently wield influence. The ACC has demonstrated, through its conduct, that it is in the business of managing public perception rather than fighting public corruption.
OUR DIRECT CHALLENGE TO THE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION
If the ACC has teeth, if it is anything more than a public relations unit, it must now publicly account for every submission RDAZ has made to it regarding corruption in health sector recruitment processes. The ACC must inform the Zambian public:
(i) What investigations, if any, were conducted on our submissions?
(ii) What findings, if any, were made?
(iii) What actions, if any, were taken, and if none, why not?
We are not asking for a press release. We are demanding accountability. The health sector in Zambia is being gutted not just by bad speeches, but by a culture of corruption that determines who treats patients, who gets promoted and who profits from public resources. That culture has been reported. It has been documented. It has been submitted, formally, to the very institution whose mandate is to fight it. And it has been ignored.
The ACC must choose: it can continue issuing politically convenient statements that generate headlines without consequence, or it can do its job.
Dr. Paul Chibwe
President
Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ)
