Lusaka — THE parliamentary committee on legal affairs, governance, human rights and gender matters has stated that Zambia Police Service is the most corrupt law enforcement agency.

And home affairs minister Bates Namuyamba admitted that government was aware of rampant corruption in law enforcement agencies.

Moving a motion to adopt the report of the committee on legal affairs, Nalolo UPND member of parliament Inonge Wina said there was urgent need to put in place measures to promote efficiency in law enforcement agencies.

Wina said the committee observed that reports of corruption by law enforcement officers were widespread.

She said law enforcement officers have been charged with the responsibility of preserving national security and should discharge their responsibility in an honest manner.

"The committee recommend that the conditions of service for law enforcement officers should be improved to reduce their susceptibility to corruption and that education of the public on corruption should be intensified," Wina said.

"The committee also observes that the fight against corruption needs wholesome strategies to mitigate the incidence."

Seconding the motion, Mpika central member of parliament Bwalya Chiti said there was corruption in three law enforcement agencies, namely: Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and police.

"The statistics made available to your committee by the director general of ACC indicate that the Zambia police service is more corrupt than any other institution in the country," Chiti said.

He said complaints received by ACC involving the three agencies showed high prevalence of corruption by police officers.

"In 2001, ACC had three, DEC four, police 87, while in 2002 ACC had one, DEC 17, police 117. In 2003 ACC had four, DEC 15, police 82 and in 2004 ACC had none, DEC 17 and police 131," Chiti explained.

"The statistics submitted by the Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA) on the prevalence of corruption by police officers by rank and gender show that only one female officer was allegedly involved in corruption against 26 male officers in 2005 and that the majority of the alleged offenders were 13 constables and four sergeants."

And Namuyamba said government was aware of the said corruption.

"We want to remove cumbersome procedures to discipline indiscipline officers. We admit that we have a small number of officers who are rotten to the core," Namuyamba said.

"But the comparison should have been done on a percentage basis for the comparisons to be fair. For example, the police has 13, 000 officers whilst DEC has 100 officers so that comparison was not fair."

He said measures were being put in place to solve the problem.

"The Zambia police put in place reforms and recommended the establishment of the PPCA. And also the restructuring of the police was meant to increase efficiency," Namuyamba said.

Livingstone UPND member of parliament Sakwiba Sikota urged government to re-introduce the Freedom of Information Bill if they were committed to fighting corruption.