More still needs to be done
More still needs to be doneBy Editor
Monday May 07, 2007 [04:00]
It would be immoral, unfair and unjust for The Post to claim total or unapportioned credit over the Chiluba case. We disagree with Bishop Paul Mususu’s statement to the effect that The Post single-handedly pushed the “Chiluba is a thief” case until now that the London judge has confirmed it. There were many other people who took very high risks, probably more than The Post took, in exposing and fighting Chiluba’s banditry.
The contributions made by Dipak Patel in exposing and fighting Chiluba’s corruption cannot be ignored or belittled in any way. Also the role played by Edith Nawakwi opened a huge fissure in the whole conspiracy. And there are many other citizens whose names, for one reason or another, we cannot at this point in time publicly acknowledge.
And we totally disagree with any statements that try to belittle President Levy Mwanawasa’s contribution in bringing Chiluba to answer for his thefts. We accept and acknowledge that for one reason or another, Levy exhibited a number of contradictions in this fight. We don’t know, and only time will tell, whether some of these contradictions were deliberate and conscious or were purely the product of oversight and unconscious on his part. But we still maintain that for all these shortcomings, for all these inadequacies and contradictions, Levy’s contribution in this case still stands out and cannot be belittled in any way.
We also sincerely believe that in trying to belittle Levy’s contribution to this fight, we are actually dangerously playing into Chiluba’s hands and without realising it, aiding him and his tandem of thieves at a time when we should be nailing them to the cross. Let us first acknowledge Levy’s very positive contribution and give him a pat on the back and then say to him:
“Brother, you have done well, but there’s still a lot to be done and let’s start to deal with this and that problem, contradiction and deficiency.” It will not benefit the fight against corruption in this country if we try to freeze and frustrate Levy’s contribution to it. Levy will continue to be the President of our country for the next four years and we therefore need to find a way to make him deliver on this score instead of making him turn his back to it. We cannot ignore the presidency in this fight. It is a force that cannot be marginalised if we are to harbour any hope of winning this fight.
While it cannot be disputed that the levels of corruption in government or the public service have not gone down, it cannot be fairly and honestly said that Levy and Chiluba are the same when it comes to corruption. If our opinion on this matter can be respected given the credit we are being accorded in fighting corruption and in the light of our experience and track record, we would without reservations say that Levy and Chiluba are totally different people when it comes to corruption.
Levy is not using or abusing the state apparatus to steal public funds the way Chiluba did. There is no conspiracy on the part of Levy to defraud the Zambian people that we know of the way we knew of Chiluba’s. Levy is not using State House to steal public funds the way Chiluba did. What appears to be true to us is that Levy has miserably failed to transform the government system and make it less corrupt.
While Levy acknowledges that there is still a lot of corruption in government he has not come up with any meaningful, if any, legal and organisational reforms to deal with corruption. Instead the only thing that we have heard from him are declarations of his resolve to fight corruption without articulating how this will be done. Our legal system is still based on the colonial or pre-independence Penal Code that has been totally overtaken by the challenges of today’s complicated white-collar crime.
The tens of millions of dollars that Chiluba and his friends have stolen are not prosecuted in a different way from that of a poor person who steals a chicken from his neighbour’s backyard at night. Apart from the Task Force that was created with a very limited mandate to deal with the corruption of the Chiluba presidency, no new institutions have been created by Levy.
We have not even seen any reforms in the operations of the Anti Corruption Commission or the Drug Enforcement Commission or indeed the police itself to enable them deal with corruption efficiently, effectively and in an orderly manner. We are not seeing the initiatives that we saw under the Kaunda presidency in dealing with corruption. Under Kaunda we had SITET (Special Investigations Team on Economy and Trade) which was a good attempt at dealing with white-collar crime.
This was the institution Chiluba immediately abolished when he came to power claiming it was politicised to target KK’s political opponents and was violating citizens’ rights.
We are not also seeing the initiatives that led to the creation of ACC and DEC under the Kaunda regime. Without appropriate legal and organisational reforms, it will be impossible to fight corruption in this country. We have to adopt a number of new specific measures in our fight against corruption imposed by necessity and reality. We shouldn’t forget that reality imposes its rules and formulas on society. It is an unquestionable, and dialectics teaches us, that what in a given moment is a correct method, later on may be an incorrect one. That is what dialectics teaches us.
Anything else is dogmatism, mechanism. It is a desire to apply measures which were determined by our special needs at a given moment to another situation in which the needs are different, in which other circumstances prevail. We need to move forward and face the realities of governing a Zambia of the 21st century that is infested with very high levels of, and reeking in every pore with, corruption. Yes, there is need to preach and call for high levels of honesty in the management of public affairs.
As we have said before, virtue must be nourished but vice springs up spontaneously like weeds and grows by itself. We must always bear that in mind. If we do otherwise, while nourishing virtue, we are simultaneously paving way for vice. That is a reality and we must not lose sight of it.
Let us avoid approaches to the fight against corruption that fragment our forces. Let’s help Levy to make a positive contribution to this fight by making his role in it relatively easier. Let’s criticise him where criticism is due and is legitimate and let’s give him credit where this is legitimately due to him. Those who seek and fight for the establishment of a more fair, just and humane society cannot do so through unfair, unjust methods.
Every Zambian of goodwill should be drawn to this fight. Even thieves who have repented should be given a place in this fight. What we need is not one force but a combined force of all our people to defeat corruption in this country. As for Levy we advise him to listen to the voices of our people on this issue and take corrective action or engage them in a positive way so that together our country can be liberated from the scourge of corruption.
Levy can’t do it alone, he needs the support and cooperation of all Zambians of goodwill. And his leadership is much more needed in mobilising our people and arming them to fight corruption. If he doesn’t do so, he may end up being consumed by corruption himself and tomorrow the bells that are today tolling for Chiluba may toll for him.
Labels: CHILUBA, DIPAK PATEL, EDITH NAWAKWI, EDITORIAL
posted by MrK @ 5:03 AM
2 Comments:
While I wellcome the idea of Chiluba being found guilty in a London Court. I have the following observations which I need to clear in order for me to think and see better.
Didn't Levy benefit from some of this money when he was elected as president in 2001?
Didn't our own courts find that Mabenga guilty as well of some misdemenor?
Didn't the courts determine that MMD had aquired vehicles using government funds and these vehicles (probably now wrecks) were never returned to GRZ?
How do you ask a thief to return 85% of what he has stolen and you don't convict him ?
How come Eric Silwamba and Katele seem not to feature in all this. Were they the cleverer of the lot ?
Someone help me to come to gripswith these points before i start celebrating only to find that there is no substance to all ths
" Didn't Levy benefit from some of this money when he was elected as president in 2001? "
Levy was picked by Chiluba.
" Didn't the courts determine that MMD had aquired vehicles using government funds and these vehicles (probably now wrecks) were never returned to GRZ? "
And that's the problem. Corruption is how politics is done, in all the major parties. Candidates are paid money from who knows where, so they can run. This is what happened at the UPND convention too, so HH is not clear of this kind of behaviour himself.
Because the ruling party has access to the resources of the state, they can by definition field candidates in all constituencies. People can't be voted for without a candidate to vote for, so by default, the party in government the biggest pockets and has the edge, no matter how popular or unpopular they are. This is a subversion of the will of the Zambian people, which is what democracy depends on.
There has to be an overhaul in how elections are run, and how they are financed, if the will of the people is to be represented every time there is an election.
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