DPP laments criminal prosecutions budget cut
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala has expressed concern over the decrease of the budget line for criminal prosecutions.
Chamkakala expressed the concern when he appeared before members of the Legal Affairs and Government Assurance Cluster of Parliament Tuesday.
He said the budget has been reduced by 24 percent, from the projected K1.26 billion to K954.494 million.
Chamkakala disclosed that the Other Recurrent Transactions budget ceiling for the directorate has shortfalls, making it hard for the office to implement all its planned activities.
He has since asked for an additional K1.6 billion for activity implementation.
The DPP disclosed that his office has prosecuted 910 cases, as at January 2023, against the annual target of 1,300 cases during the 2022-23 fiscal year
“We completed 27 criminal cases related to persons living with albinism out of 104 cases which were submitted for prosecution. Worth highlighting is the [MacDonald] Masambuka case,” Chamkakala said.
He told cluster members that although the DPP office registered achievements, it only has three vehicles that are supposed to be used by 29 lawyers and this has led to compromise and inefficiency when offering services.
Cluster deputy chairperson Francis Belekanyama said they would look into the issue and consider suggestions made by the office of DPP.
Belekanyama said the office of DPP is a key government organ, such that it should not be starved of resources.
“We will write a report on the outcome of clusters and see how the office can be helped,” Belekanyama said.
On his part, Ministry of Finance Deputy Director Lucius Chipendo advised the Office of the DPP to try to re-align its activities with the proposed budget line as one way of ensuring that essential services do not suffer.
