Kunda has proved himself a total letdown – Hansungule

Kunda has proved himself a total letdown – Hansungule
Written by Ernest Chanda and Margaret Mtonga
Monday, February 23, 2009 4:40:15 AM

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda has proved himself as a total letdown on the RP Capital and Zamtel deal, University of Pretoria human rights law lecturer Professor Michelo Hansungule has observed. And UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said Vice-President Kunda has no constitutional authority to stop Zambians from demanding Dora Siliya's resignation.

Commenting on recent revelations about communications and Transport minister Dora Siliya's engagement of RP Capital Partners to value Zamtel before its partial privatisation, Prof Hansungule said Vice-President Kunda should have been sober enough to address Siliya's misconduct.

"Vice-President George Kunda has proved himself in this case as a total letdown. Instead of addressing a very simple issue that Dora was wrong because she thought she could be minister, permanent secretary, Tender Board and Attorney General, he started lecturing on the constitution, procurement Act... and a very bad and boring lecture at that! Is that how they work? With this bad governance around, should we still look around for the enemy for our poverty?" Prof Hansungule asked.

"As I understand it from the media, the case is very simple. Dora was utterly wrong to ignore what [Brigadier] General [Godfrey] Miyanda rightly described as basic guidelines on ministerial responsibilities and particularly in this case the rules and policy governing public procurement of goods and services. LAZ [Law Association o Zambia] has properly advised the binding nature of the Attorney General's advice. What was Dora trying to achieve with her tantrums in Parliament after LAZ had spoken as frankly as it did?"

He called on President Rupiah Banda to clean up the mess created by his Vice-President.

"President Banda must sort out this mess Vice-President Kunda has created. As General Miyanda said, get Kunda out as he has completely embarrassed him. I can't even talk about Dora, she should have left 'yesterday' the minute she was exposed trying to be Attorney General which is a very serious indictment of the constitution," Prof Hansungule said.

"In the constitution, people said the Attorney General shall advise government on all matters to do with contracts but now comes another person who puts their silly interpretation which undermines this basic law!"

Prof Hansungule said it was now clear that Zambians should go for a revolution and vote out the MMD government in the 2011 election.

"The biggest lesson from this unfortunate development is that the electorate must remove the MMD from power in the next election. Nineteen years for the same party to be in power is too long. The electorate should move in and clean the room in 2011. Try another political party or parties as part of the search for good governance. Focusing on just removing individuals though important is not enough. Removing the party and trying another one is such an important principle of democracy that democracy cannot grow let alone develop without it. After staying in power for a long time, they tend to take things for granted. This is what is at play here," Prof Hansungule said.

"The important lesson from the Dora debacle is that there must be a 'mini-revolution' in 2011 to try and start again and see how the next ones will perform. In fact, it is important for the MMD to be put on opposition benches after this long because this is how democracy could be strengthened. An example of this is former ministers [Ng'andu] Magande and [Sylvia] Masebo. Anyone who has followed their debates in Parliament after they were relieved of their duties would see that they are now effectively questioning anything government brings into the House.

"They are using their experience in government to get government jacked-up. The same should happen with the MMD. It has acquired a lot of experience in the last nineteen years in government to put to good use as opposition."

Prof Hansungule said it was clear that every government official was in support of Siliya's actions.

"President Banda has shown his side here. Vice-President Kunda has shown his side here. The MMD and government have not said anything different from the President and Vice-President against Dora's misfeasance. In their silence those that have not spoken, we can see they see nothing wrong. This is terrible for the country," he said.

Prof Hansungule said it was embarrassing that the government was going against principles it sought to achieve under the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

"It is a pity that Zambia can easily find herself in such embarrassing but avoidable incidents as the one triggered by Dora Siliya, President Banda and Vice-President Kunda's unfortunate handling of the privatisation of Zamtel. For a country that is undergoing peer review, it is a shame that government could simultaneously be fighting the very principles it seeks to achieve under the peer review," Prof Hansungule said.

Vice-President Kunda last week said there was nothing irregular about Siliya's engagement of RP Capital Partners of Cayman Islands to value Zamtel.

And commenting on Vice-President Kunda's statement that there was no law or precedent, which compels the minister who is before the tribunal to go on leave, Hichilema said it was not the Vice-President's wish for Siliya to step down but the Zambian people.

"It is not Rupiah Banda's calls or the Vice-President George Kunda who wants Dora to resign. It is the Zambians," he said. "The tribunal will take a long time therefore there is need for Siliya to step down to allow non-interference of the process."

Hichilema said if Siliya exhibited professionalism, she would have stepped down without even waiting for people to tell her to do so.

"Dora should step down on her own to allow the tribunal not to be interfered with," he said. "If she cannot leave on her own Rupiah should instruct her to do so and if President Banda fails to tell her, the people of Zambia will help her to step down," Hichilema said.

He said Vice-President Kunda should not think that the matters at the Ministry of Communications and Transport were his own personal issues to handle.

"The RP Capital Partners is not a thing that [Vice-President] Kunda should handle in the manner he is doing. In fact, the whole issue of this contract of RP Capital should be cancelled because of the corruption in the way it has been conducted," Hichilema said.

He said there was no way a contractor with professional morals would continue with such a project that was associated with a lot of corruption.

"Dora and the RP Capital should both resign as they cannot continue working in such a corrupt environment," said Hichilema. "The project should be given to a Zambian because Dora and the RP Capital are not supposed to be allowed to continue with the project."

Following the acting Chief Justice's decision to set up a tribunal to investigate Siliya's alleged abuse of office, various stakeholders in the country have called on the minister to step down to avoid interference in the matter.

But on Saturday, Vice-President Kunda said there was no law or precedent, which compels the minister in question to go on leave or her suspension pending the conclusion of such an inquiry.

Vice-President Kunda said the tribunal to be set up by Justice Ireen Mambimilima would conduct an inquiry not a criminal trial as Siliya had not been charged with a criminal offence.