Lusaka | February 4, 2026 – The United Nations Resident Coordinator for Zambia, Ms. Beatrice Mutali, has highlighted the United Nations\u2019 full backing for an innovative initiative to develop Zambia\u2019s first comprehensive guide for international asset recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her statement was delivered at the opening of a high-level, three-day workshop, which commenced on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka. Ms. Mutali framed the effort as essential for strengthening governance, upholding the rule of law, and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. She emphasised that empowering institutions to trace and repatriate stolen wealth protects national resources and meets key international commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The workshop is being funded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of Southern Africa (ARINSA). ARINSA’s newly inaugurated president, Ms. Margaret Kapambwe-Chitundu, used her opening platform to outline a key presidential objective of her tenure which is to implement similar national guidelines throughout the region, strengthening a coordinated fight against illicit financial flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officially opening the workshop as Guest of Honour, the Director General of the Drug Enforcement Commission, Mr. Nason Banda, stressed the urgent need for a modern and harmonised legal framework. He noted that as criminal networks operate with increasing sophistication across borders, Zambia\u2019s systems for cooperation and asset recovery must be equally agile and internationally aligned to effectively disrupt organised crime, drug trafficking, and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organised under the strategic oversight of the Inter-Agency Coordination Framework, led by the learned Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mr. Gilbert A. Phiri SC, and with technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the workshop has brought together senior officials from Zambia\u2019s key prosecutorial, law enforcement, and regulatory agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their task is to draft a clear, operational manual that will demystify the processes for both formal mutual legal assistance and informal international cooperation. The guide is expected to provide investigators with direct steps for accessing critical information, such as financial accounts, corporate records, and property holdings, while clarifying the legal authorities and procedures required at each stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the workshop\u2019s conclusion on Thursday, Zambia expects to have a substantive draft of a guide that will enhance its capacity to recover illicitly gained assets and reinforce its role as a committed leader in the global fight against financial crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lusaka | February 4, 2026 – The United Nations Resident Coordinator for Zambia, Ms. Beatrice Mutali, has highlighted the United Nations\u2019 full backing for an innovative initiative to develop Zambia\u2019s first comprehensive guide for international asset recovery. Her statement was delivered at the opening of a high-level, three-day workshop, which commenced on Tuesday, February 3, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-5624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n