Maravi

It’s not hatred or vengeance

It’s not hatred or vengeance
Written by Editor

FREDERICK Chiluba's desperation is understandable. Chiluba is trying very hard to show that everything about, or around, him is fine; it's just a few hateful, vengeful people trying to bring him down.

The issues Dr Rodger Chongwe is raising about Chiluba have nothing to do with hatred or vengeance. They have much to do with morality. And we must have a genuine and permanent moral awakening, without which no wisdom of expression or administration will really mean anything.

As for us, we do not believe in the law of hate. And as we have stated before, we may not be true to our ideals always, but we believe in the law of love, and we believe one can't do anything with hatred. And accordingly, we would like to see a time when man loves his fellow man and does not abuse him or steal from him. We want to see politics and public life based on morality. We want our political leaders to try in a new time and in a new way to restore this concept of politics and public life in general. We want them to teach themselves and others that politics should be an expression of a desire to contribute to the happiness of the community rather than of a need to cheat or rape the community.

Again, our plea is not for immunity to but the most unsparing exposure of the politician or public servant who betrays his trust. There should be a resolute effort to repudiate such a person and to hunt him out of the position he has disgraced.

There is no doubt, legally or otherwise, that Chiluba betrayed the trust the Zambian people placed in him as president of their country by abusing his office, stealing and misusing public funds. It can't be disputed that Chiluba stole over US$ 1 million of public funds and used it to buy himself designer suits, shirts, shoes and pyjamas from some boutique in Europe.

Again, we say these things not out of hatred for Chiluba. And in saying all this, we are not preaching hatred against Chiluba. But this doesn't mean we like or we should like and condone the wrong things he did. We denounced his wrongdoings when he was still in office. But at that time nothing could be done against him because he enjoyed presidential immunity. We struggled very hard against his wrongdoings and we have suffered all kinds of repressions and wrongs from him, yet we don't hate him. What we hate is his wrongdoings, his thefts and corruption. What we are preaching is repudiation, rejection and hatred of corruption, of injustice. We are not preaching hatred among men. But if we have to fight against corruption, abuse and theft, we will fight. If we have to fight the men who represent or are involved in that corruption, abuse and theft - the evil practices we hate - we will do so. And as we have said before in this same column, we were taught that there was a constant struggle between good and evil, and evil had to be punished. We were taught that those who committed crimes and were responsible for injustice, evil and all those other things that degrade other human beings, their fellow citizens would be punished in hell. We ask again, could that be interpreted as an expression of hatred? We have never felt personal hatred for individuals.

Dr Chongwe is right when he says Chiluba is a disgraced person. It cannot be denied that Chiluba is a disgraced person. Any person who has done what Chiluba has done should feel disgraced. It is not in dispute that Chiluba abused his office. We challenged Chiluba to take us to court for the allegations of corruption we have made against him if he thinks we are defaming him. But to date he has never done so. Why? The answer is simply because Chiluba knows that what we are saying is true. But Chiluba has never accepted or apologised for any wrongdoing to the Zambian people. But we are advised, “admit it when you are wrong, and you avoid embarrassment" (Sirach 20:3).

There is no constitutional provision Dr Chongwe has violated in saying Chiluba is a disgraced person. Chiluba says no one should rely on the London High Court judgment to show that he is a thief because he has not recognised that judgment. It is not for Chiluba to recognise the London High Court judgment for it to be used by other people to form an opinion against him. That judgment holds. It was obtained by the Zambian government and with the full participation of George Kunda, the current Vice-President and Minister of Justice of this country, when he was Attorney General. And it is this same government he is today trying to befriend that is trying to register this same judgment he is denouncing. And Rupiah Banda, the current President of the Republic of Zambia, was the Vice-President of the government that obtained this London High Court judgment against him. So what is Chiluba talking about? The truth is the matters that came up in the London High Court against Chiluba were proved to be true. There is no politics that Chiluba is going to deploy to successfully wash away that judgment. It will stand to the end of time. It has been proved through that judgment that Chiluba is a thief, a corrupt politician who abused his office to enrich himself. If Chiluba thinks in saying all this we are being malicious, hateful, let him sue us.

Chiluba will never accept any judgment that will find him to have been corrupt, to be a thief. Even the judgment that he is awaiting to be delivered on July 20, Chiluba will not accept it. He will try to find ways to denounce it in the same way he is today denouncing the judgment against his wife Regina.

Yes, Regina has the right to appeal a magistrate court's judgment but this in itself doesn't make her innocent. As things stand today, Regina has been convicted of the crimes she was accused of. And this will be so until the High Court overturns that judgment. Whether Regina sits at the high table when there are state functions, she is still a convict, a criminal. The only difference is that she is a privileged criminal because of the social status of her corrupt husband. This is the only reason that can make Regina sit next to the Chief Justice of our country at a state banquet. What other criminal in her position can be allowed to sit next to our Chief Justice? These are the things Dr Chongwe is complaining about. It is not fair to allow a convicted criminal who is only out of prison on bail pending appeal to sit next to the Chief Justice of this country at a state banquet. These are the issues that seem to concern Dr Chongwe. It is not hatred for Chiluba and his wife.

As for the issue of Chiluba being innocent until he is proved guilty or has pleaded so, no one has taken or is trying to take this right away from him. This is an important presumption of our law. But it is simply a presumption of the law and an important one for that matter. There are other jurisdictions where this does not exist and where the law starts in the opposite - you are guilty until you prove you are innocent.

The judgment from the civil proceedings that were commenced against Chiluba in the London High Court will not be cleared away even if Chiluba is acquitted in the criminal proceedings in our courts of law. Why? These are two different issues with totally different levels of burdens of proof. One can be acquitted in a criminal proceeding but found wanting in civil litigation on the same facts. This is simply because in criminal proceedings, the burden of proof is much higher than in civil proceedings. So on the basis of the London High Court judgment, Chiluba can be said to be a corrupt man without in any way defaming him.

One doesn't need to wait for the July 20 judgment to come to that conclusion. Or indeed, one doesn't need to wait until the London High Court judgment is registered in Zambia for one to come to that conclusion. The registration is simply for purposes of execution. It is not a trial of the matter to determine whether or not the London High Court judgment was right or wrong. Chiluba and his friends had the opportunity to appeal, and indeed some did so, in London, and went even as far as the House of Lords.

We will not dwell on the merits or demerits of Regina's appeal. We leave that to lawyer Chiluba, the judge of all things. If she is innocent, she will be acquitted in the High Court and good luck to her. If she is guilty as found by the magistrate's court, her conviction will be upheld. But she will still have a chance to appeal to the Supreme Court.

We maintain that Chiluba is not being fair to his friend Rupiah by trying to hang around him too much. Decency and morality require that he stays away from the corridors of power until the issues or matters pertaining to his corruption cases are fully resolved. There is a judgment against him which this same government he is patronising believes should be registered and executed against him. And they are in court against him over this same issue.

As if this was not enough, this same government is prosecuting him for corruption, it believes he is corrupt and has asked the magistrate's court to accordingly find him guilty and convict him. How can Chiluba be sitting at the state high table with the same people who have asked the magistrate's court to find him guilty and send him to prison? These are the issues Dr Chongwe is concerned about. It is not hatred or vengeance Dr Chongwe is talking about but these very legitimate issues. Anyway, we don't expect a person of Chiluba's mind, attitude and extremely low level of morality to see sense in what Dr Chongwe is saying. All Chiluba can do is to try and trivialise what Dr Chongwe is saying and reduce it to nothing but hatred and vengeance. His corrupt mind cannot allow him to see things in a different way and far beyond that.

Labels: CHILUBA, ROGER CHONGWE, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 4:15 AM