Maravi

Doctors, not shoe-cobblers, should examine Chiluba

Doctors, not shoe-cobblers, should examine Chiluba
By Editor
Sunday May 20, 2007 [04:01]

It's good that the issue of Frederick Chiluba's failure to attend court for his criminal cases is being reexamined. We are not in the habit of discussing matters that are before courts of law but Chiluba's matter is different; it must be discussed. Chiluba through his assistant, Emmanuel Mwamba, has chosen to debate what had transpired in court on Friday in the press.

This is not surprising. Chiluba has never been an honourable man. He expects one standard to apply to him and another to others. He is a pathological liar who is not worried about consistency. Chiluba will say one thing today and say the opposite tomorrow hoping that Zambians have forgotten what he said yesterday. It is very clear that Chiluba is scared of going to court. He would rather plead his innocence outside court than face the temerity of his own actions.

Chiluba knows very well what he has done and this is why he doesn't want to face anyone who can be in a position to question or cross-examine him. When the London High Court civil proceedings were going on, Chiluba was busy commenting on the proceedings he had ran way from, proceedings he didn't want to attend.

He is today doing the same with the criminal proceedings going on in Lusaka. He doesn't want to go to court but he has time and energy to issue statements on these proceedings. This man who has no energy to appear in court, somehow finds the energy to address press conferences, funeral gatherings, clandestine political campaigns and also had the energy to go and vote for Michael Sata.

We have not forgotten how healthy and happy he looked on election day but shortly before and after that he was too sick to attend court. This is really taking our judicial process for a ride. It's more than a year since Chiluba last appeared in court.

An end must be put to this monkey in a maize field behaviour. He played games with the politics and resources of this country, he shouldn't be allowed to play games with the judicial process of this country. It's very clear that Chiluba is being treated very kindly by our judicial system. He's receiving concessions that are not normally granted to other citizens in similar situations.

How many times have we gone to court and found people visibly looking sick getting off jail trucks or lorries? How many times have we ever heard of any accused person in this country being sent before a UTH board of doctors to be examined and determine if they were fit to stand trial? It has never happened.

Kashiwa Bulaya tried the trick and we all know what happened to him. It seems there are two laws or judicial processes: one for the privileged accused like Chiluba and another for the less privileged like Bulaya and others. We are setting a bad example for our country. This defeats the principle of equality before the law.

And this is what gives Chiluba the courage to miss court at will and to even issue press statements about what is going on in court. This kind of behaviour should not be condoned. It is clear that Chiluba has found a loophole in our medical system which he can manipulate, dribble and abuse.

The doctors that have been examining Chiluba should be ashamed of themselves because they have behaved no better than a shoe - cobbler who will put a patch where you ask him to put it. He does not need to be professional, he just does what the owner of the shoe wants. Clearly Chiluba is getting from the doctors whatever diagnosis he wants. If he wants a diagnosis which says the moment he enters court he will die, they will give it to him.

And this is what they have been wittingly or unwittingly been doing. It is utter unbelievable nonsense. We are beginning to wonder whether these doctors are listening to themselves because they are simply not making sense. They, like Chiluba, don't seem to be concerned about consistency and truthfulness. They have begun to say things which do not make sense even to lay people.

Last year we carried a story from an affidavit sworn by the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr Simon Miti, which catalogued shameful contradictions from the UTH medical personnel. Some of these contradictions border on contempt of court; were and deliberately totally misleading to the court. The doctors at UTH told the court that Chiluba needed a very urgent cardiac pacemaker implantation.

They went on to say that this could not be done in Zambia and Chiluba should be evacuated immediately because his situation was critical. When Dr Miti reminded them that in fact he had just supplied UTH with the same equipment, the doctors changed their position that in fact UTH had the capacity to implant pacemakers and had done quite a few successful ones in the recent past.

A few days later, the same doctors came back and said no, the pacemaker Chiluba required was a special one which could only be put in South Africa. He had to go there.

Now can these doctors tell us that this pacemaker that was so urgently required and so special has been implanted in Chiluba's heart? If any pacemaker has been implanted on Chiluba it is in his mouth because he seems to have found a lot of energy to talk and attack everybody. Such deception, because this is what is seems to be, is not expected of the noble profession of medicine.

The UTH doctors should stop demeaning themselves. We challenge them to show the public proof that their diagnosis of Chiluba so far and the required treatment have been carried out in South Africa where they have been sending him at a very high cost to the taxpayer.

Moreover, these doctors never follow up on Chiluba when he comes back from South Africa. The only medical treatment they offer him is that he should not attend court. Such nonsense should not be condoned. It's time they did an honest job that is beyond question. Doctors, not shoe-cobblers, should examine Chiluba.

Labels: CHILUBA, EDITORIAL

posted by MrK @ 5:04 AM