Paperwork Over Handcuffs: How Chembezi’s ACB is actively protecting Capital Hill looters

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has once again reduced the fight against corruption to a toothless, bureaucratic joke.

By merely issuing a restriction order to stop the Ministry of Agriculture from selling off public assets, Acting Director General Gabriel Chembezi—a man already tainted by failed interviews—has chosen paperwork over handcuffs.

Freezing the sale of motor vehicles and office equipment while leaving the actual criminals to roam free at Capital Hill is not law enforcement; it is a public display of utter incompetence and institutional cowardice.

This pathetic strategy of stopping selling assets without arresting the thieves sends a dangerous message: you can plunder public resources, and the worst the state will do is gently tap your wrists and put a temporary lock on the warehouse.

The ACB already holds more than enough evidence to act. If the bureau knows exactly which assets were being sold, they inherently know who authorized the August 8, 2026 advertisement and to whom these public goods were being funnelled.

To suggest they need more time to investigate before executing warrants of arrest is an insult to the intelligence of citizens.

By leaving these corrupt cartels active and functional in their offices, the ACB is actively helping them tamper with evidence, intimidate witnesses, and cover their tracks.

This lazy restriction order is just the tip of a massive iceberg of rot festering within our public institutions.

Citizens are sick and tired of a toothless ACB that treats state looters with kid gloves while the economy bleeds.

Therefore, the public demands that relevant state accountability institutions break their silence and step in to review Gabriel Chembezi’s failed leadership.

The Public Appointments Committee (PAC) of Parliament must summon Chembezi immediately to answer for his institutional failure and review his suitability to hold the office of Director General, given his history of failed interviews.

Furthermore, the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament must institute an immediate inquiry into why the ACB is weaponising weak restriction orders instead of enforcing the full penal capabilities of the Corrupt Practices Act.

Additionally, the Judiciary and the Ombudsman must audit the ACB’s operational delays to ensure that administrative orders are not being used as a shield to delay criminal prosecution.

To stop this institutional complicity and actually fight corruption, officials who signed off on the illegal asset disposal advertisement must immediately be handcuffed.

All suspected Ministry of Agriculture officials must be suspended without pay to stop them from destroying evidence.

Names of the corrupt buyers and internal syndicates involved in this asset grab must publicly published.

Lastly but not least, establish an autonomous citizen-led watch committee to monitor the ACB’s handling of this specific investigation, if deemed necessary.