Maravi

Who the hell do you think you are?

Who the hell do you think you are?
By Editor
Wednesday September 05, 2007 [03:00]

No one should think they are above the law, which should, after all, be seen to be the creation of the people, and not something imposed on them. And this includes our former president, Frederick Chiluba and his wife Regina. All citizens should submit to the law because, however indirectly, they are submitting to themselves as the makers of the law.

As we stated yesterday, there was nothing illegal in the decision by the police to re-arrest Regina. This might have been unfair on her but the police's action was within the law - the law which her husband, Chiluba, used and left.

Chiluba's actions amounted to obstructing justice. By throwing himself into a police cell where Regina was being detained, Chiluba was interfering with, and obstructing the work of, the police. According to section 250 (b) of the Penal Code, any person who wilfully obstructs any police officer in the due execution of his duty is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for five years.

We appreciate that Chiluba loves his wife, and he has the right to do so, but he is not the first person to have his wife arrested and detained. When Chiluba was president, he ordered the detention of Sikota Wina's wife, Princess Nakatindi, at Kabwe's Mukobeko Maximum Prison. There was no provision for Sikota to accompany his wife. And who in this country doesn't know how close Sikota and Princess Nakatindi are - the two are inseparable; wherever you see Sikota, Princess Nakatindi will be there. And moreover at that time in 1997, Sikota and Princes Nakatindi had been together for more than 25 years. But Sikota didn't obstruct the police, they were not obstructed in any way in executing their duties.

This was not because Sikota did not love his wife as much as Chiluba loves Regina. It was simply because Sikota had respect for the law and didn't see himself as being above it. Although Sikota knew very well, and more than anyone else, that his wife was innocent and Chiluba was merely abusing his powers by detaining her, he respected the law. This equally applies to Dr Rajan Mathani when Chiluba detained him on trumped-up treason charges. Mrs Mathani, although she knew very well that Chiluba had no proper case against her husband, didn't obstruct the work of the police or try to throw herself in police cells with him.

What about Dr Kenneth Kaunda? Soon after taking power in 1991, Chiluba subjected Dr Kaunda to a search to which he obliged although he knew very well that he was just being subjected to a malicious and humiliating probe. Chiluba alleged that Dr Kaunda had stolen books from State House and had his goods at a warehouse in Lusaka searched to recover the stolen items. Nothing was found.

On Christmas Day in 1997, Chiluba ordered the arrest and detention of Dr Kaunda on trumped-up treason charges. Again Dr Kaunda didn't resist the arrest and his loving wife Betty didn't in any way try to go to prison with him. The only person who threatened to join Dr Kaunda in prison was Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. He threatened that if Kenneth did not stop his hunger strike and eat something, he too was going to remain in Mukobeko Maximum Prison with him.

But today what is this nonsense of Chiluba and his wife thinking they are above the law? Who do they think they are? It is true every person, every accused person, is innocent until proved guilty. This is the presumption of law. But we know, and all those people who demonstrated in large numbers in 2002 calling for the removal of Chiluba's immunity so that he could be prosecuted for corruption believe that the man is a thief, he had stolen from them. If you find a person stealing your chickens, the law presumes him to be innocent until proved guilty. But in your heart of hearts, and no one can tell you otherwise, the man is a chicken thief. This is the way the Zambian people look at Chiluba.

No amount of deception, propaganda or posturing will convince them otherwise.
Today Chiluba is telling us that he has documentary evidence to show who the true thieves are. We cannot dispute this because we don't know what he has, and the true thieves he is talking about. But this shows one side of his character - tolerance of corruption, of theft.

If Chiluba has documentary evidence of who the true thieves are, why hasn't he reported these thieves to the police, Anti Corruption Commission or other state agencies like the Drug Enforcement Commission? It had to take the arrest of his wife for him to say all these things! Is this the way for a responsible former president, who really loves his country, to behave? This behaviour speaks volumes about Chiluba's attitude towards corruption and theft. We urge him to publicly reveal the documentary evidence he has to show who the true thieves are. If he can't, he should just shut up.

We know that Chiluba is desperately looking for sympathy. But the Zambian people are not fools. They know who deserves sympathy and who doesn't. Our people will never feel sorry for a snake charmer who gets bitten; for a thief who gets caught and is prosecuted.

Chiluba should thank his stars that his wife was very lucky to be prosecuted by an incompetent and inefficient prosecutor. The state has got a good case against Regina. There is a clear prima facie case against her - Regina's wealth is far above her earned income and she will have difficulties completing a schedule of income and expenditure that balances without putting in unearned income.

We can only hope Chiluba, being a Christian, remembers what it means to ‘do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.’ We cannot preach justice to others if we do not preach justice to ourselves. Chiluba cannot call others to virtues, to practices which he himself never believed in, never practised when he was in power as president of the Republic of Zambia.

Again, there is nothing wrong the state did in entering a nolle prosequi in favour of Chiluba’s wife and re-arresting her on Monday. This process may certainly be unfair - and Chiluba, when he was in power, took advantage of it to harass his political opponents - but it is certainly legal. And the rule of law requires that we all respect the law whether we agree with it or not. And Chiluba's conduct is not that of a person who respects the law; it is lawless behaviour from a person who thinks he is above the law. But the question again is: Who the hell does Chiluba think he is to be above the law?

Labels: CHILUBA, EDITORIAL, REGINA CHILUBA

posted by MrK @ 6:56 AM