Maravi

Thieves go in

Thieves go in
Written by Editor

It is said that “when justice is done, good people are happy, but evil people are brought to despair” (Proverbs 21:15). The jailing of Samuel Musonda should be good news to all Zambians of goodwill. Musonda stole from them and has been made to return what he stole, and go to jail for two years.

And there is totally nothing political about this. Who can these thieves today accuse of being politically against them? Levy Mwanawasa, who they were accusing of being against them is not there today, but they are still being convicted. So who is against them? The courts?

Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then try to blame others. It is clear that Musonda stole – he is a thief. There is no doubt now that these crooks abused their authority and the institutions of the state they were privileged to run. In complicity with Frederick Chiluba and Xavier Chungu, Musonda abused public funds as if it was his personal money or that of Chiluba or Chungu.

And some foolish pastors can go on radio claiming Chiluba is not a thief, he is not corrupt. It is not right to favour crooked people, the guilty and keep the innocent from receiving justice.

It is said that the wicked bring on themselves the suffering they try to cause good people (Proverbs 21:18).

It’s true that the riches you get by dishonesty soon disappear, but not before they lead you into the jaws of death; “what you get by dishonesty you may enjoy like the finest food, but sooner or later, it will be like a mouthful of sand” (Proverbs 20:17).

Chiluba and his friends were advised against corruption. They were told that they won’t be able to get away with their abuse of public funds. At least we told them so at the height of their hold on power. We paid the price. We were harassed in all sorts of ways. They tried to wipe us out and humiliate us. We survived that and today we are witnessing their stupidity. If these were laughing matters, we would have the last laugh. But these are not laughing matters because they deal or affect the lives of so many of our people, especially the poor.

We hope our people, especially those in politics and in government and other public institutions, are learning something from all this. Arrogance should be punished so that people who don’t know anything better can learn a lesson. If you are wise, you will learn when you are corrected (Proverbs 19:25). It is said that sensible people see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later. We say this because despite what is happening today in our country, in our courts, people in charge of public funds are still busy stealing.

They are not scared of what is happening to their friends today happening to them tomorrow. They actually don’t seem to think the bells tolling for people like Musonda for stealing public funds will tomorrow toll for them for doing the same thing. We are still seeing highly questionable transactions, deals or contracts involving billions of public funds.

It seems people are not scared. If they were, they wouldn’t be coming up with corrupt schemes like the public private partnership (PPP) which is nothing but a conduit for siphoning public funds into the pockets of those in government and their friends outside government.

They seem more protected today because they are sitting on evidence. If one accuses them of corruption, the first thing they say is ‘bring the evidence’, when they know very well that they are keeping it and it is not within the reach of their accusers.

But Chiluba, Chungu, Musonda and their other friends never thought anyone could get behind their deals conducted under the banner of the intelligence. Today they appear to be the most foolish government officials this country has ever seen. They are looking like sharks in a pond – totally exposed.

If public officers were capable of learning, fools like Lt Gen Christopher Singogo wouldn’t be in jail today. After seeing what was happening to his predecessor Lt Gen Sunday Kayumba, Singogo went ahead and started to do the same things Kayumba was arrested and was being prosecuted for. Today, Singogo is in prison and Kayumba may be joining him soon if the courts find him guilty. But we will not be surprised to hear that there are still some officers in the Zambia Air Force stealing public funds. These people don’t seem to be scared of the humiliation and the pain that goes with being convicted and sent to jail for stealing public funds.

Well, if you plant the seeds of dishonesty, injustice, disaster will spring up, and your crookedness will end.

These cases seem to have taken long. These crooks tried every trick in the book to prolong them, to buy time probably in the hope that something favourable would happen in the political arena and they would be absolved of their crimes. Probably they also hoped that if the cases were delayed, some witnesses may die, some evidence may disappear or something may happen to the prosecutor or the magistrate.

Truly, all these things can happen, but they will not stop the course of justice. It is said that the wheel of justice grinds very slowly but it finally arrives. And for Musonda, it has arrived. It is just a matter of time before it also arrives for his friends. And in this regard, we urge the Zambian people to exercise maximum patience and not be swayed by the propaganda being peddled by these same crooks they are prosecuting that things are going nowhere, the cases have taken too long and are bound to fail. This is cheap propaganda by these crooks. Some of them have greatly contributed to this delay and after that, they want to use it against the people.

This is cheap and it simply won’t do. Today they are accusing everybody, including the courts, of wrongdoing. Anyway, it’s understandable, crooked people hate anyone who is honest. Honest people will lead a full happy life. But if you are in a hurry to get rich by stealing public funds, one day you are going to be punished. Reliance on dishonest wealth will not help one much; it will do no one good on that day of disaster. If you do no wrong, no wrong will ever come to you. It is said that do not plough the ground to plant seeds of injustice; you may reap a bigger harvest than you expect. We are also advised: “Don’t commit any crime against the general public, and don’t disgrace yourself among your fellow citizens” (Sirach 7:7).

Nothing that comes from stealing, dishonesty or injustice will last. It is said that wealth that has been obtained dishonestly is like a stream that runs full during a thunderstorm, tumbling rocks along as it flows, but then suddenly goes dry. This is what Musonda and his crooked friends are starting to experience. At one time they appeared to be very clever and everyone was scared of them, the weak worshipped them. But what are they today? Big fools.

Labels: CORRUPTION, PPPs, SAMUEL MUSONDA

posted by MrK @ 9:53 AM