Maravi

A wake-up call for Chiluba

A wake-up call for Chiluba
Written by Editor

It is said that persistent effort helps to complete a task. Indeed, little by little the measure is filled. It is now abundantly and manifestly clear that the fight against corruption in Zambia is in an irreversible gear and nothing, no one will stop it. A number of our people, out of genuine concern, have from time to time questioned the work of the Task Force on Corruption because they could not see the fruits of its work. Most of these cases have taken too long to be disposed of. And with the passage of time, our people started to feel that the Task Force was not serving its purpose.

Such feelings should be expected. They are natural. It cannot be denied that the Task Force has, in some cases, not met our people’s expectations. This should not frustrate our people because no one has teeth at birth. It takes time for a project to develop, just as teeth take time to grow in a child’s mouth.

But it can also not be denied that the Task Force has recorded a number of achievements under very difficult circumstances, especially considering the nature of investigations that had to be conducted.

Today, the persistent efforts by the Task Force are paying off. Those who plundered national resources are slowly being brought to account, as others are pronounced guilty by the courts of law. Even those who thought they would escape justice by supporting certain individuals to take over the leadership of the country are fast realising that there is no room for them to escape.

The way cases are proceeding, both in the London courts and our own courts here, gives a lot of hope that justice will be done and the thieves will receive appropriate punishment.

Today, Frederick Chiluba is panicking and dreaming that the London judgment that found him liable for defrauding Zambians of millions of United States dollars and ordered him to repay the same, has collapsed. Well, the sad reality for him is that it is time to pay back what he plundered during his ten years in power. The London judgment is very much alive and will follow him together with all those who were found liable, no matter how long it takes.

Now Chiluba can feel a burning coal on his back and out of desperation, he wants to mislead our people that the fight against corruption through the Task Force has collapsed because the London judgment, in his misguided view, has collapsed. How can the London judgment collapse when Chiluba has not even appealed against it? Was Meer Care & Desai who successfully appealed against the judgment the only party to the case for the entire judgment to collapse?

Chiluba wants to conveniently believe his own lie that the judgment has collapsed, forgetting that there are several parties to this case, including himself. Only Meer Care was absolved by the House of Lords. The rest of the defendants, including Chiluba, are still liable and once the judgment is registered in the Zambian High Court, it will be executed against him.

It is this realisation that has sent Chiluba panicking, and he is throwing mud at anyone who he thinks is the causer of these problems for him. In this case, he has set the Task Force and The Post as his targets for propaganda.

However, this will not help matters for him and all those who have issues with the Task Force in general and the fight against corruption in particular. That is why some people are seriously scheming to disband the Task Force under the illusion that their cases will die with the dissolution of the Task Force.

We can only urge Chiluba to accept responsibility for his own challenging circumstances instead of blaming others for them. It is said that if one is unhappy, the cause of his unhappiness is within oneself. Let Chiluba face the reality and realise that he now has to pay for his greed and vanity.

Now that the London court has established that Chiluba used US$1.2 million Zambians’ taxpayers’ money to buy himself suits, pyjamas and shoes, it will be interesting to hear from President Rupiah Banda’s servant Benny Tetamashimba, who told the country during the run-up to the October 30 elections that Chiluba is not a plunderer and that what he was facing were allegations, not truths. Well, the allegations have been proved that Chiluba plundered, at least in this case. So what will Tetamashimba, together with those of like mind, say about this finding?

In fact, it will be more interesting to hear from Rupiah on this development because he, by implication, endorsed Tetamashimba’s views with his silence on the matter.

It is shameful that while every well-meaning Zambian is trying their best to contribute to the fight against corruption, some government ministers are in the forefront shielding plunderers from justice for petty political considerations.

Chiluba has not denied having spent US$1.2 million taxpayers’ money on his suits. His only concern or worry is that the Task Force and The Post are overplaying this order by the London High Court for the Zambian government to recover the US $1.2 million from his Swiss tailor Antonio Basile. For him, this is a small development, which deserves just a few lines in the press. The big story is the Meer Care & Desai’s appeal in the House of Lords.

But every recovery of plundered resources, not matter how small, must be celebrated and treasured by our people. Why? Because such a recovery is enough confirmation that someone stole, someone plundered our people’s resources. By any standard, US$1.2 million is not a small amount. At the current ruling, US $1.2 million is equivalent to about K6 billion. This money can do a lot to develop the country. And the government should quickly move and ensure that it is recovered for the benefit of our people.

The desperation we are seeing from Chiluba and other plunderers are the kicks of a dying horse. He knows that his days are numbered and very soon, the bells will sound. The plunderers have tried all the tricks in the book. But everything has got time. Where is Kashiwa Bulaya today? What trick didn’t he try? He tried everything, including feigning illness. But this didn’t help him. At the end of the day, he had to pay the price for his plunder. Today, Bulaya is in prison serving a five-year sentence. This is a wake-up call for Chiluba. He should not think that he will use his political engineering to buy his way out. Zambians should stand alert and ensure that Chiluba reaps only what he sowed.

Labels: CHILUBA, CORRUPTION, TASK FORCE, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 9:27 AM