Maravi

Kunda is petty and shallow - Miyanda

Kunda is petty and shallow - Miyanda
By Brighton Phiri
Wednesday September 19, 2007 [04:00]

Justice minister George Kunda is petty and shallow, Heritage Party president Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda has charged. And Brig Gen Miyanda asked Kunda to think twice about his morality in remaining minister after unjustly attacking The Post. In his letter dated September 16, to Kunda, reacting to his accusation that he (Brig Gen Miyanda) was among the architects of the country's current constitution crisis, Brig Gen Miyanda stated that Kunda’s reasoning was shallow if he believed that patriots were only those who licked his boss’ (President Mwanawasa) boots.

“The best patriotism is the one that raises concerns to draw attention to wrongdoing, intended or unintended. I know you are frightened of your own shadows and you know why...there is nothing that is taking place that is hidden. This is a multiparty system and the sooner you wake up the better,” read Brig Gen Miyanda’s letter in part.

“During the time I have been out of the limelight, I have actively considered leaving politics, but with characters like you, masquerading as lawyers, I have a reason to stay and fight any abuse of government from whatever quarter.”

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that he was disappointed that Kunda had chosen to be personal when responding to his contribution on the constitution-making process.

“Although I cannot speak for the others whom you have named in your Sunday statement, I cannot let your shallow and wild allegations go unchallenged,” read the letter. “I am very disappointed that you have chosen to be personal in your response to my contribution on the constitution-making process. One of the things I do not do, unless I have to, is to debate personalities. Since you have attacked me personally rather than debate issues, I am responding in a similar fashion.”

Brig Gen Miyanda asked Kunda to take cognisance of the fact the President Mwanawasa rushed to assent to the National Constitutional Conference bill before the citizens raised pertinent issues regarding the bill. He said had President Mwanawasa not rushed to assent to the bill, he could have received from Heritage Party within few days, after the National Assembly passed the Bill, a letter that was prepared to raise pertinent issues before the assent.

“You have characteristically ignored to discuss issues but chose to be personal and petty like a die-hard party cadre. This is a shame for a lawyer and a minister of justice,” read Brig Gen Miyanda’s letter.

“By issuing a statement which does not address issues raised by other participants in the debate, you are following the ways of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s media hit man. This is the worst form of corruption because you want to win this national debate by deceit, and by withholding information and manipulation of the media. It is corruption of the worst order to take advantage of the lack of knowledge of our citizens by presenting only one side of the debate, the side that pleases you. You want to win the debate by debating with yourself instead of giving an opportunity to other participants to access the public media which you have continued to monopolise as if it is your village headman’s newsletter.”


Brig Gen Miyanda reminded Kunda that he had already intimidated the public media’s journalists, such that there would be no fair reporting of both sides of the argument, which was necessary to enable the people understand all angles of the debate. He stated that Kunda and government’s threats would continue to subsist during the NCC if it took place. Brig Gen Miyanda told Kunda that he had continued to use intimidation as his most effective tool of oppression.

“Your government’s threat against the public media was not an off-the-cuff pronouncement but a carefully worked out strategy to intimidate, mislead and confuse not only the journalists but the public as well,” read the letter.

“A year or two ago, you Minister of Justice issued threats against civil society, accusing them of treason for proposing a road map...recently, you Minister of Justice, went on the air before the SADC meeting to threaten civil society instead of letting the Inspector General of Police carry out his duties under the Public Order Act.

Which provision of the law were you following when you usurped powers vested in the police? There is no provision in current laws for the involvement of the minister of Justice in the processing of notification for demonstration and matches. Why should we trust that you and your boss will behave yourselves differently during the NCC?”

Brig Gen Miyanda told Kunda that he was aware and convinced that Kunda knew what he said at the Oasis Forum conference. He stated that what he said during the Oasis Forum was not different from his contribution during the Face the Media programme aired on Radio Phoenix on August 29.

“I know that you obtained a full unedited transcript. It affected you so much that you caused a sudden programme to be aired and I was again called to be part of it. But you are a coward. Instead of coming yourself you sent the Minister of Local Government,” he stated.

Brig Gen Miyanda challenged Kunda to face him on a live debate on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) television and radio in order for him to clear his name against Kunda’s outrageous statement.

“You cannot continue to use public media to reckless disparage other citizens and then continue to call yourself a minister of justice,” read Brig Gen Miyanda’s letter. “In order to achieve fair play and transparency, you must yourself appear on the programme and prove your wild allegations about me being one of the three architects of constitutional problems in Zambia.

The debate will give you chance to repeat in my presence what you said about me. It will also give the public a chance for them to make their own judgement. Come ready with facts.”

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that if Kunda were a genuine Justice Minister, he should accept his challenge to appear with him on national television to let the people hear and question both of them.

“But you must come ready with facts and authentic government records and any information which you have concerning how I conspired to sabotage our constitution and created the current constitutional problems in the nation.

You should state the specific part I played in destroying this country’s constitution and so I can respond to your fantasies. For a top lawyer, a former Attorney General, you must lean to talk issues, talk law instead of behaving like an unschooled party cadre.”

Brig Gen Miyanda wondered why Kunda pretended that he had not made effort to contribute positively towards the strengthening of the country’s democracy.

He further wondered why Kunda lied that he had only suddenly begun to speak.

“You know that I begun raising concerns about your so-called new deal regime in 2002. I have not started raising concerns now. You even have the paper ‘Review of the Constitution - The Other View’ of 20th April 2003, which took you nine months to respond to. I can see portions of that in the NCC Act though you did not understand the document,” read Brig. Gen. Miyanda’s letter.

Brig. Gen. Miyanda stated that without being hateful as Kunda alleged, he insisted that President Mwanawasa should not superintend the constitution making process unless he answered the many unanswered questions to the Zambian people about his ascendancy to power.

“Because this is what he will be trying to cover up whenever he is tinkering with the idea of dissolving the NCC. How can the beneficiary of the alleged corruption of Dr. Chiluba oversee the constitution making process?

Dr. Katele Kalumba revealed how, as Minister of Finance, he fully briefed President Mwanawasa about the arrangements for fundraising for his election and how a special committee of Permanent Secretaries was set up under the supervision of Mr. Xavier Chungu,” read the letter in part.

“Apart from legal issues, there are also questions of morality and credibility that have arisen concerning your government’s handling of the constitution making process.”
He challenged Kunda to explain why the government had resisted genuine dialogue for the last four years, and then suddenly formed an alliance with the opposition.

Brig. Gen. Miyanda wondered why Kunda did not explain why he canvassed in the presidential petition that former Zambia Intelligence Security Services director general Xavier Chungu’s evidence and confession that he was the one who bought the MMD vehicles using government funds, should not be believed by the Supreme Court.

“You have not explained why after this canvassing and while the Court was still sitting, you rushed to London to swear an affidavit to have Chungu pursued for offences to do with the very plunder which you canvassed for the Court to reject,” Brig Gen Miyanda stated. “You never came back to the Court to explain what you had done and apologise.

Had the matter not been exposed in the media, we would have never known about this interference with the course of justice by the Minister of Justice. Let us debate in public this unethical conduct on your part.”

Brig Gen Miyanda wondered why Kunda took it as hatred for him to point out issues that had created so much acrimony and controversy in the nation.

He reminded Kunda that President Mwanawasa would be attending the NCC with his secrets hidden in his bosom.

“How then can we trust that he would not dissolve NCC when he feels threatened? Has the President sanctioned your statement?” he asked. “President Mwanawasa chose to prosecute Dr Chiluba for theft yet he has kept and continues to enjoy the stolen goods.

Why, Mr Minister of Justice, are President Mwanawasa and his MMD national executive committee not being prosecuted for receiving stolen property from Dr Chiluba? How can he superintend over the constitution making process in the light of these serious questions about his participation in the 2001 corrupt and illegal acts?

The Supreme Court ruled that some of these vehicles, which passed the standard of evidence, be returned; you have not returned these neither has the Task Force done anything about this. How can we trust your leadership? How can we trust the several government delegations you have included in the NCC?”

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that President Mwanawas’s sudden acceptance to work with the opposition parties under Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID) was highly questionable and that the speed of assent was another cause of genuine suspicion.

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that President Mwanawasa’s reasons to opt for the NCC instead of the Constituent Assembly did not pass the credibility test.

“First he said that the NCC and CA were the same but that the two phrases were mere semantics. If so why was he going to vote against the CA if they were the same?” he asked.

“In his sermon at the Catholic ordination in Solwezi, President Mwanawasa publicly gave the reason for choosing the NCC as opposed to the CA as the need to have legal backing to obtain government funding. Are you the one who gave the President this advice? Was this meant to appease the huge Catholic congregation?”

Brig Gen Miyanda challenged Kunda to explain under which Act of Parliament the government funded the previous Indaba, whose resolutions had not yet been published.
“Does this mean that in the absence of an Act you stole that Indaba money?” he asked.

“You must stop being petty. Why is it all right for you to form alliances with opposition parties after receiving millions of kwacha a short while before the summit and yet you say it is wrong for others to come together? Our present bad constitution allows such alliances and assemblies.

Why are you worked up by the Oasis Forum coming together with those they want to associate with? Have you forgotten about Article 21 of the Constitution or are you plotting to remove it during the NCC with your inbuilt majority?”

On Kunda’s accusations that The Post was working with Chiluba, Brig Gen Miyanda said Kunda’s allegations were misplaced.

“I think he is being petty and childish...his party has just formed an alliance with the opposition under ZCID where the motivations are the receipt of millions of kwacha just before the summit for party presidents,” he said. “Where is the sense of fair play and justice by the Minister of Justice when he accuses the Post Newspaper of glorifying some people? This is unfair to the Post because this newspaper has done its best to give coverage to everyone who has something worth reporting.

In fact it is the Post that published front headline revealing Oasis Forum’s invitation to Dr. Chiluba and as if that is not enough, their editorial was based on castigating not only the Oasis Forum for the bad judgement but also condemned Dr. Chiluba’s policies during his rein. How can that type of editorial be considered as glorifying anybody?”

Brig Gen Miyanda said Kunda would fail in his attempts to frighten The Post.

“He should think twice about the morality about himself remaining Minister of Justice, considering the records of abuse of police powers and intimidation of citizens. Such threats should come from ignorant party cadres and not from a lawyer.”

Labels: GENERAL MIYANDA, GEORGE KUNDA, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 3:48 AM