by Stanley Azuakola

Less than a year after defeating the incumbent and becoming Zambia’s president, Michael Sata has proven that he is more than capable of matching words with action.

Sata, who promised to fight corruption if elected, has successfully secured his first high-profile graft conviction. This follows the sentencing of former Zambia Labour Minister,  Austin Liato to two years in jail by Magistrate Arida Chulu for illegal siphoning of public funds.

Mr Liato was arrested in December last year after the discovery of two buried trunks filled with money under a layer of concrete in his farm. The total buried cash found was about $2.1 billion kwacha ($400,000 dollars.)

Like most African nations, Zambia – Africa’s biggest copper producer – loses colossal sums yearly as a result of corruption and mismanagement. President Michael Sata who rode to the presidency in September 2011 by promising to crack down on corruption is probing several deals that were approved by the administration of his predecessor, Rupiah Banda.

Can we hope for a similar result here in Nigeria?