Maravi

Aaron Chungu’s desperation

Aaron Chungu’s desperation
Written by Editor

When dishonourable people are sinking, they never want to sink alone. They will always drag down innocent people. What Aaron Chungu and his friends should concentrate on is putting up a proper defence for the crimes they are alleged to have committed and for which they have been found with cases to answer.

No honest person will disagree with the decision of the magistrates’ court to find Chungu and his friends with a case to answer. There was adequate evidence adduced to justify the decision of the court to find them with cases to answer.

And Chungu and his friends should be careful in the way they bring in their lawyers into politics or soon they will put these innocent lawyers into trouble. We know that a drowning person will hang to a straw. But we do not know of any drowning person who has been saved by a straw. It will be interesting if Chungu and his friends will succeed in doing so.

It will not do for Chungu and his friends to seek justice by throwing mud at innocent members of the judiciary, the Task Force on Corruption and the private prosecutors legally appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions to assist him. If they think changing magistrates and prosecutors will help their case, they are cheating themselves. Let them just be brave enough to face the temerity of their actions.

Faustin Kabwe has already put his defence and it was published by this newspaper verbatim for all to read. By now, all those who read Kabwe’s defence know what he said and what questions he was asked; what he did and what he did not do.

And Aaron Chungu is about to finish his defence and face cross-examination. Let him just tell us what he did or did not do and give us an opportunity to listen to his cross-examination.

Trying to absolve himself outside the court of law will not do, just as much as trying to try him outside court will not be helpful. Instead of wasting his time holding press conferences, let him just prepare himself for his defence and questions that will be put to him in cross-examination.

But foolish people do not learn – they do not listen to advice. Chungu is a foolish and desperate man who is scared of the court. Probably this explains his persistent diarrhoea whenever his matter comes up. We hope when this matter comes up, he will not be troubled by diarrhoea and let this matter be concluded.

His accusation of collusion between the Task Force on Corruption and the judiciary is nonsensical, to say the least. We say this because we know that courts of law convict or acquit accused persons on the strength or lack of evidence against them. The proceedings of plunder cases are heard in open courts and the media cover them extensively. In the case of The Post, almost all plunder cases are covered verbatim. This is deliberately done to enable those who are not able to attend court proceedings to follow and make their own judgements.

Again, we say that honest people who have been following these proceedings know where the truth lies.

The truth of the matter is that the hour of judgment is fast approaching, and Chungu, together with his friends are now panicking. They are now sensing the danger, especially with some cases before other courts being concluded and those accused found guilty as charged.

What Chungu is trying to do now is say to the public that ‘in case I am convicted, just know that the Task Force on Corruption had colluded with the judiciary’. What nonsense this is!

How can people who are colluding look for magistrates of high competence and integrity? Does that make sense? Do you collude with people of integrity? We understand integrity to mean the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards. If that is the case, why should Chungu and his friends fear to be heard by such magistrates, magistrates of his competence and integrity? But anyway, since these characters have no integrity, they will be bothered to be tried by men and women of integrity.

The plunder cases we are talking about are unprecedented to this country and also complicated in nature. They require a lot of competence and care from investigators, prosecutors, the defence as well as the court if justice has to be delivered.

That is why almost all those who are today facing plunder cases are using some of the best legal brains in the country for defence. No wonder some of them are even having difficulties paying legal fees. They have not hired ordinary lawyers.

In saying this, we are not in any way confirming or justifying Chungu’s claims about collusion between the Task Force and the judiciary. We know that it is not possible for anyone to collude with the court because courts of law operate on the basis of evidence. In fact, in criminal cases the prosecution is required by law to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubt. Where the doubt exists, the accused person gets the benefit of doubt. This is the law. That is why some known criminals are sometimes acquitted because evidence against them is insufficient. The Task Force on Corruption has recorded some losses on this same account. If there was collusion between the Task Force on Corruption and the judiciary, why is it that some people accused of plunder of national resources have been acquitted? Wasn’t former intelligence chief Xavier Chungu acquitted on some charges by the same magistrates Aaron Chungu is today accusing of colluding with the Task Force?

Last week, Lusaka chief resident magistrate Charles Kafunda convicted former Zambia Air Force commander Lt Gen Christopher Singongo for theft and corruption but acquitted his Aide De Camp (ADC), captain Joseph Phiri for insufficient evidence on the same charges. If there was collusion, why didn’t magistrate Kafunda convict both Lt Gen Singongo and his ADC?

Anyway, we can understand Chungu and his friends’ behaviour. They are now more desperate than ever before because the writing is on the wall. Is it not said that desperate people do desperate things?

If Chungu and his friends are innocent, there is no need to panic or worry because they will prove their innocence in court. But if they are found guilty, they should not blame others. Let them reap what they sowed. They should just carry their own loads, their own burdens.

And since Chungu and his friends have reported this matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission for investigations, we hope they can also be helpful by providing evidence of collusion.

As for their challenge of the Task Force’s legality or existence, we are not surprised that Chungu and his friends seem to now have the courage and energy to do this after the death of Levy Mwanawasa. We know that they will have a few allies in government on this matter because there are some very senior government officials who have been consistently opposed to the continued existence of the Task Force just for their pettiness and selfish reasons.

It is just a question of time, the veil will be lifted and our people will be able to understand what is going on in the fight against corruption. Our people will understand why Rupiah Banda and his cronies cannot sustain Levy’s legacy in the fight against corruption. But anyway, whether or not the Task Force is disbanded, no one will stop these cases that are already before court. They are in an irreversible gear.

Labels: AARON CHUNGU, ACCESS FINANCIAL SERVICES

posted by MrK @ 7:11 AM