Tribunals deserve our support

Tribunals deserve our support
Written by Editor

No one is, or should be, above the law regardless of their merits or previous good record of public service. If it is believed that Ng’andu Magande has done something wrong, abused his office as Minister of Finance and member of parliament, the provisions of the Parliamentary Ministerial Code of Conduct Act Chapter 16 of the Laws of Zambia should be invoked to set up a tribunal and probe his conduct.

No one is, or should be, above the law, which is, after all, the creation of the people, not something imposed upon them. The citizens of a democracy submit to the law because they recognise that, however indirectly, they are submitting to themselves as the makers of the law. When laws are established by the people who then have to obey them, both law and democracy are served. This is what the rule of law means. This is what equality and the law entails.

No one can question Magande’s merits and good record of public service. But if despite those merits and record, Magande has gone on to do something wrong, he should be subjected, like everyone else, to the due process of the law. If at the end of the day the tribunal finds him wanting, he should be prosecuted like everyone else. His merits and the good record of public service will be available for him to use in mitigation. It should not be used to shield him from legitimate probe by a tribunal established under the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct. And this should also mean Magande’s loss of his parliamentary seat – a seat he has disgraced.

No one should have immunity from being probed for wrongdoing. Even the president if he does wrong things while in office, under the protection of his presidential immunity, this should be removed when he leaves office so that he too can be probed and prosecuted for wrongdoing like any other citizen. The immunities our public officers enjoy are not for the abuse of their offices or for use to steal public funds and squander public resources. They are there for a legitimate cause – to be used in the best interest of our people and not in self-aggrandisement.

Truly, the allegations against Magande are serious and deserve to be probed. And if found wanting, he should vacate his public office as member of parliament for Chilanga and be accordingly prosecuted for the crime. No one should be allowed to continue occupying an office they have disgraced. That’s why even in our Constitution, there are provisions for the impeachment of the president if he disgraces that office. The nation doesn’t need to wait until the end of his term of office. Again, all these constitutional and legal provisions go to show that no Zambian citizen is, or should be, above the law.

There will be nothing strange or irregular with Magande being investigated by a tribunal set up by the Chief Justice under the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct because there are others before him who have been subjected to this.

The late Remmy Mushota was the first minister and member of parliament to be investigated under this Act for trying to steal K210 million from government coffers. Mushota was found wanting by the tribunal. And after that, we had the Peter Machunga, Golden Mandandi and Katele Kalumba tribunal following their diversion of K2 billion to the MMD convention. The tribunal found Machungwa and Mandandi wanting but exonerated Katele.

This is the way a country that adheres to and respects the rule of law deals with allegations of misconduct on the part of its public servants. In this way, we avoid introducing witch-hunting in the nation. And in this way, everyone receives a fair hearing and treatment.

It’s only through the proper use of the law that we will able to effectively hold public servants accountable. It is the only way we will teach them to respect public funds and other resources and make them realise that they only hold them in trust and not for the enrichment of themselves, their families and friends.

So far, this Act has worked well for Zambia and the findings of the tribunals set up under this Act by the Chief Justice have not been disputed or questioned by anyone. We can say the judges appointed to these tribunals have conducted their investigations with sufficient honour and integrity as is characteristic of our judges in general.

And when the tribunal to investigate Magande is finally established, all those who know something about his questionable dealings should go forward and help the investigations. They don’t need to be called by anyone to give evidence to the tribunal. They can simply inform the tribunal of their availability.

These are not trials but investigations into wrongdoing by our members of parliament and ministers. And we therefore encourage all citizens of goodwill to come forward and assist such tribunals, including the one currently probing allegations of abuse of office by Dora Siliya, the Minister of Transport and Communications and member of parliament for Petauke Central.

These tribunals should not be seen by anyone as a negative thing. They are there for the good of everyone. They will help in a very big way to create a nation where there are ethics, principles and standards in the conduct and administration of public affairs. In this way, we will create a more decent nation with more honest and selfless citizens. And as we have stated before, the individual does best in a strong and decent community of people with principles and standards and common aims and values.

The other good thing about this Act is that it gives an ordinary and humble citizen like Waziona Nkhwekwe the opportunity to hold accountable the people elected or appointed to manage the affairs of our communities and our country. It gives an ordinary and humble citizen an opportunity to confront the pompous, arrogant politicians who think power lies with them and not with the people.

This is democracy and rule of law at work. This is the true meaning of democracy. It is the growth in the confidence of the power of ordinary people to transform their country, and thus transform themselves. It is a growth in the appreciation of the power of ordinary people over their representatives. Therefore, these tribunals deserve the greatest support of the Zambian people.

And those who take the trouble of moving the Chief Justice to set up such tribunals deserve our greatest support, respect and protection. This is what it means to have a government of the people, by the people, for the people, or we would rather say a government of the humble, by the humble, for the humble.