GBM and Mulyata saga
GBM and Mulyata sagaBy Editor
Wednesday July 18, 2007 [04:00]
It is good that works and supply minister Kapembwa Simbao has summoned Road Development Agency (RDA) officers in Livingstone to explain what happened in the matter Southern Province minister Joseph Mulyata is reported to have connived with an MMD cadre to break the law.
When we first reported that Mulyata had connived with an MMD cadre and Lusaka businessman Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) to illegally release the latter’s bus which was impounded by RDA officers for overloading, we were called all sorts of names and accused of all sorts of things.
Now it is time for Mulyata and GBM to account for their actions, of course taking into consideration what the law says. That is why we welcome Simbao’s move to investigate this matter and get to the bottom of it. In his investigations, we expect Simbao to be fair and objective. Fairness and objectivity will require Simbao not to look at the faces or names of the people involved but just to confine himself to the facts on the ground and the applicable law.
So far the facts on the ground are that RDA officers the previous Sunday gave chase to GBM’s bus which absconded the weighbridge in Livingstone. After catching up with the bus, the officers managed to redirect it to the weighbridge and upon weighing, it was established that the bus was overloaded. This being an offence, the officers proceeded to do the necessary calculations in penalty fees which came to US $2,000. Thereafter, the bus was impounded pending payments of the penalty fee as provided by the law.
But because the owner of the bus is such a rich and powerful man that he can even move the Queen from Buckingham Palace at his pleasure, he just picked up the phone and talked to Mulyata, asking him to intervene and release the bus against the law. And since Mulyata is equally such a powerful man in Southern Province, he just directed the provincial roads engineer to do something about that matter, notwithstanding the law. And so GBM’s bus was illegally released. These are the brief facts.
But so far, the law states that in case of an overload offence, any accredited weighbridge on behalf of the Agency (RDA) shall impose the prescribed compensation for road damage to the owner of the vehicle in accordance with the Act. The compensations shall be calculated and charged by an authorised weighbridge officer. The compensation shall be paid on the spot and before the detained vehicle in question can be released. If any dispute on compensation arises, the vehicle shall not be released until the dispute is settled.
This is the law without exceptions. And it is good that this matter will be dealt with by Simbao because he is the one under whose hand Statutory Instrument No. 28 of 2007 which contains these provisions was gazetted on April 2, 2007. We therefore expect that more than anyone else, Simbao understands better the spirit of this law. If this is the case, we expect Simbao to defend the law that he enacted on behalf of the people of Zambia.
Without doubt, GBM and Mulyata have assaulted the law, they have breached it and we are all waiting to see what the enforcement agencies will do about this matter.
Whatever they will do, the people charged with this responsibility of enforcing the law should realise that they will be setting a precedent. In our view, this precedent should be in the interest of the public. A strong message should be sent that public officers should at no time, during performance of their duties, abuse their power and authority because this is a form of corruption. A strong message should also be sent that when President Levy Mwanawasa says his is a government of laws and not men, he means what he says. Otherwise, no one will take his pronouncements seriously if some people will be shielded from facing the law after they transgress it.
We do not expect double standards from Levy because we know of some ministers whom he dropped at the mere fact that they were being investigated, even before it was established that they had committed an offence. Levy will add credibility to his fight against corruption only when he is seen to stand by his words, otherwise he will render credence to the wide perception that his fight against corruption is selective, that it only matters when it is his enemies who come in conflict with the law.
And we do not think that this perception is entirely wrong because we heard that some high ranking officials in government were saying that The Post is being petty by following up the GBM and Mulyata’s saga. We heard that these officials said GBM is a good man whom we have chosen to harass because of our pettiness.
It was surprising for us to hear those sentiments coming from people who are legislating these laws on our behalf. Clearly, some of our members of parliament do not seem to know that in fact, their primary responsibility is to make laws for our country on our behalf. We wonder if some of these so-called members of parliament even know how serious their role is.
For them, what counts more is their personal relations with the offenders of the law. If they are in good terms with the offender, they will go to great lengths in ensuring that their friend, their party cadre or business associate is saved from facing the consequences of breaking the law. That’s why Mulyata saw nothing wrong in breaking the law because he had to assist his ruling party colleague against the law.
But is this the country or society we want to build for ourselves where those who have contacts with the powerful will get away with murder? The rule of law which is championed by Levy and his administration requires that no one be above the law.
Labels: EDITORIAL, GEOFFREY MWAMBA, JOSEPH MULYATA, RDA
posted by MrK @ 6:48 AM
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