Maravi

Desperate people do desperate things

Desperate people do desperate things
Written by Editor

Rupiah Banda and his friends are extremely desperate people. And desperate people do desperate things. The last two weeks have shown how desperate Rupiah and his friends are. They brought in GMO maize knowing very well that there is a government policy that doesn’t permit them to do so. But simply because they are desperate for money, they brought it in.

Rupiah even suggested that if there are problems bringing the maize into Lusaka and other towns, they should consider milling it at the border.

And for almost two weeks, the nation has been subjected to all sorts of conflicting nonsense over their Zamtel and airport radar deals. Many people have expressed surprise that these people can say what they had been saying about their deals. But that is what desperate people do – they say and do things no sensible person can say or do.

Today we are being told that Rupiah and his friends have another scheme to arrest Fred M’membe and Mutembo Nchito on trumped-up theft by agent charges because of Zambian Airways debt to National Airport Corporation and the airline’s dealings with a syndicate of Zambian banks.

They want to do this in the belief that this will cripple The Post and remove this stumbling block from their way. They also believe that this will stop Mutembo from completing the prosecution of their friends and political allies.

We know that even in their stupidity, they know very well there is no wrong that The Post has done with its investment in Zambian Airways. They also know very well that there is no single director or employee of Zambian Airways who can today be held responsible for the dealings and obligations of that airline.

This can only be done if the corporate veil is lifted by the High Court. They know that to lift the corporate veil, they must show that the directors or the employees were taking money from the business fraudulently to enrich themselves.

These fellows know that if they follow the proper procedure, they will find that although Zambian Airways had financing problems, none of the directors or employees were taking money from it. It seems they have no interest in the truth. What they are interested in is to deal with specific individuals through the abuse of the judicial process.

There is hardly a more abused tool in the arms of intolerant and corrupt politicians than that of initiating arrests of political opponents on trumped-up charges. They will not hesitate to abuse the judicial process to humiliate and harass their real or perceived opponents through unjustified arrests.

And we know that when this is done, the judiciary at whatever level may find itself confronting this abuses, and may find itself subjected to enormous pressures to accept them. Often, if the process is legal but unfair, there is little that the court can do.

People who don’t like the truth hate those who propagate it. We have faced this before and no doubt we will face it again. This hatred has had us behind bars on too many occasions. But it has not changed the truth. This newspaper exists to propagate the truth. No amount of intimidation, threats or pressure will cause us to change our commitment to the truth.

And this is what these corrupt elements cannot forgive. They will never forgive us for our integrity. And unlike them who fear independent probes when allegations are raised against them, we invite them. We are inviting Transparency International, the Bankers Association of Zambia, the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountant, the Law Association of Zambia, the labour movement, the Church mother bodies, all interested political parties and other civil society organisations to come and investigate this issue and establish the truth for themselves.

And we accordingly authorise our bankers to avail any information pertaining to our investment in Zambian Airways and the dealings of this airline to them. We will also provide them with every piece of information that is in our possession so that the truth can be established and if we have done anything wrong, we will be condemned by all. We also ask National Airports Corporation and any other organisation that had any dealings with Zambian Airways to open their doors to these institutions and their representatives to probe our dealings with them to find out what wrongs we have committed.

We also invite all countries with diplomatic missions in our country who are interested in truth and justice to join in this probe. Today it is us, tomorrow it may be their nationals who have invested in our country being subjected to such treatment.

This is not political rhetoric, we mean it. This invitation is definite.

We are not surprised that such manoeuvers can be hatched. In the last few months, Dora Siliya has made it a point to connect our reporting to some scheme or other. Just the other day, we were being accused of exposing the Zamtel scam because she denied us a mobile licence. She went on to insinuate that we, or somebody who applied for this licence had tried to bribe her. This is unfortunate. If they think that blaming us for the discovery of their criminal misdeeds will help them, they are cheating themselves. What they have done is clear for all to see.

We know that they have a programme to try and cripple us and the operations of this newspaper. This can never scare us. It is not the first time that corrupt elements have conspired to destroy us. We will not be surprised, if out of desperation, they contemplate eliminating us physically.

We have said before and we say again that we are normal human beings who like comfort and peace. We hold our profession dear but we are not reckless. We do what we do because we sincerely believe that we have a contribution to make.

As we said yesterday, it is better one rather falls with honour than succeeds by fraud.

We can understand why Rupiah and his friends have to fight us. This is simply because we are a stumbling block – as they themselves are saying – and we are blocking or frustrating their corrupt deals. But it is difficult for us to understand why this should be extended to Mutembo. What has Mutembo done against them?

Anyway, maybe we should not be surprised. We know that Rupiah and his friends are not fully supportive of the fight against corruption. It makes them uncomfortable. We have not forgotten that Frederick Chiluba told the nation that he did not support people who did not promise him anything. Chiluba supported Rupiah in the last election. What was he promised? Does this explain the inclusion of Mutembo in their political schemes against us?

The only thing we can conclude about their harassment of Mutembo is that they want him to stop prosecuting their friends and send them to jail. We say this because there is no sensible reason that can make them think of arresting Mutembo over the financial problems of Zambian Airways.

But whatever silly things they try to do to M’membe and Mutembo, will not help them much. They have to start preparing themselves to come and face the tribunal they have tried to evade.

Now what they did or did not do will be known. If Rupiah still thinks Dora is right and smart, let him come to the tribunal and show why she is right and smart. If George Kunda still thinks Dora has done nothing wrong because her wrongs were sanctioned by the Solicitor General Dominic Sichinga, let him come and say so to the tribunal and show how Sichinga had done it. But they will have to answer some questions as well from those who have taken Dora to this tribunal. Actually, there is nothing wrong with Rupiah and George coming to the tribunal to stand for what they believe is the truth. What is shameful and difficult to do will be for them to go to that tribunal and stand for what they clearly know is not true, is a falsity, a lie, a fraud. We will see where they stand on this score. If they truly stand for the truth, they will have no difficulties going to that tribunal.

As for Dora, her hour of reckoning has come. She wanted to explain or justify what she had done. The opportunity is here for her now. This will be an opportunity for Dora to face her accusers and for her accusers to face her. Smearing others with filth will no longer be necessary for Dora. She will have to face the temerity of her own actions.

And as for Rupiah, he can go ahead with his evil and corrupt scheme to arrest M’membe and Mutembo in total abuse of the judicial process in order to achieve his political goal. But it will not help him much. He will not gain much from it. This will only come to haunt him later in a more vicious and indefensible way. We say this because in the end, righteousness will triumph over evil.

Labels: GMO, MAIZE, RUPIAH BANDA, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS

posted by MrK @ 7:03 PM