Maravi

Magande is being treated unfairly – Milupi

Magande is being treated unfairly – Milupi
Written by Patson Chilemba
Sunday, March 22, 2009 4:13:19 AM

PARLIAMENTARY Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Charles Milupi yesterday said there was no corruption in Ng'andu Magande's letter which Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata released to The Post last week. In an interview, Milupi said the only thing the letter indicated was a working government where ministers consulted each other.

"From the tone of that letter, one can detect that the Minister of Communications and Transport [Dora Siliya] might have consulted the Minister of Finance [former finance minister Magande] to seek guidance; that the minister had made some proposals and that one of the proposals was a deferment for five years," Milupi said.

"The Minister of Finance came up with an opinion which he put on paper, it does not say 'forgive debt and defer payments for a long time'. The other proposal coming from the other party was five years but he proposed that it should be reduced to three years. I don't detect any corruption in that."

Milupi said the communication between Magande and Siliya was very mild and that it happened during late president Levy Mwanawasa's administration, who did not tolerate corruption.

He said if the letter Sata released was the basis for the current debate, then Magande was being unfairly treated.

"If there are other letters, then they should bring them to the fore. You yourself must tell me what you find corrupt in that letter. If you listen to the statement of [information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie] Shikapwasha, he says there is another letter," Milupi said. "So if there is another letter and you want the public to know, bring it out."

Milupi advised those who were condemning Magande to put themselves in his shoes and explained how they would have tackled the request by Zambian Airways.

He said some people who were condemning Magande today were the ones who were cheering him on when he served as finance minister.

"What has happened all of a sudden? I think there must be consistency in the way we treat each other. If you respected someone and today they are not in office, continue respecting them," said Milupi.

Last week, Sata released a letter by Magande which President Banda said contained information on how the former finance minister proposed to forgive Zambian Airways' debt to government.

Sata said he would not be pushed around by Lt Gen Shikapwasha because the truth had to be known.

In response, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said there was nothing new in the letter Sata released because the contents of the letter were published in the Times of Zambia last year.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha described the revelation by Sata as a cheap shot.

Prior to the release of the letter, Sata gave President Banda a 48-hour ultimatum to release Magande's letter, failure to which he promised to release the copy in his possession.

The government has recently engaged in an incessant attempt to malign Magande following President Banda's announcement to a group of some unruly MMD cadres that he had a letter authored by former finance minister where he suggested forgiving Zambian Airways of its debt.

Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, MAGANDE, PAC

posted by MrK @ 4:13 AM