Maravi

DPP’s disgraceful criminal complicity

DPP’s disgraceful criminal complicity
Written by Editor

The decision to withdraw the state’s appeal against the acquittal of Frederick Chiluba by magistrate Jones Chinyama was expected. It’s abundantly clear that Rupiah Banda and his agents in our judicial system worked to secure Chiluba’s acquittal. This can be evidenced by the manner in which Rupiah celebrated Chiluba’s acquittal and attempted to manipulate the Zambian people to accept it without question.

While the judgment was being read in Lusaka, Rupiah was in Kabwe praising Chiluba and laying ground for the acceptance of his acquittal.

It was very clear that Rupiah was not going to entertain any appeal to reverse Chiluba’s acquittal by Chinyama. And this complicity in Chiluba’s acquittal is evidenced by their decision to withdraw the appeal that was filed in court on Monday. Not wanting to appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal clearly confirms what people have been saying about the fraudulent nature of this acquittal. It also confirms their fear that in an appeal, this acquittal may be reversed.

In their attempt to deceive the Zambian people, they have been claiming that the Task Force chairman and his prosecutors had no power to appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal without first seeking the authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions. This is both legally and morally nonsense.

We say it is legally nonsense because on June 5, 2008, the DPP obtained a ruling in his favour on preliminary objection that raised a similar issue. This was in the case of The People vs Julius William Banda (HJA/05/2008) in which High Court judge M.S Mwanamwambwa stated:

“I hold that the delegated authority of a police public prosecutor under Article 56 (3), (4) and (6) and Section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code to institute and undertake criminal proceedings on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, extend to lodging an appeal from an acquittal in the subordinate court to the High Court, when the need arises to appeal. There is no need for a fresh mandate. The notion of a statutory instrument suggested by Mr Jere cannot be read into Article 56 (4) and sections 87 and 321. Indeed, Sector 87 is specific that there is no need for further written authority. This equally applies to a legal practitioner who represents the Director of Public Prosecutions in criminal proceedings before any court.”

This authority arose out of an application involving the Director of Public Prosecutions. And today they want to lie that there was violation on the part of the Task Force to proceed with an appeal without the authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

And Section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code states: “A public prosecutor may appear and plead without any written authority before any court in which any case of which he has charge is under inquiry, trial or appeal; and, if any private person instructs an advocate to prosecute in any such case, the public prosecutor may conduct the prosecution, and the advocate so instructed shall act herein under his directions.”

This being the case, what violation was there in that appeal that was lodged on Monday by the Task Force on Corruption? In the light of all this, how can the Director of Public Prosecutions today come and say he has withdrawn the appeal because it was purportedly made in his name? What is wrong with that? Wasn’t the prosecution of Chiluba in the Magistrate’s Court done in his name? If so, why shouldn’t the appeal be done in his name? What is wrong with that given the ruling that we have quoted above by judge Mwanamwambwa? This is what happens to people when they start to act dishonestly in discharging a public duty. The Director of Public Prosecutions is being economical with the truth. He is actually insulting the intelligence of the Zambian people. What he should just admit is his complicity in this criminal scheme. The Director of Public Prosecutions has joined the criminals and as such, he is not fit to continue in that very important office. He has discredited himself beyond repair.

It doesn’t require any legal knowledge for one to realise that the Director of Public Prosecutions is lying. It requires little intelligence – if a little is all one has – to realise that what the Director of Public Prosecutions has done amounts to nothing short of criminal complicity in letting Chiluba go scot-free for his crimes against Zambian people.

The other day, this Director of Public Prosections told the nation that he has to study Chinyama’s judgment before he can decide the issue of appeal. Has Mchenga now studied Chinyama’s 445-page judgment and found that there’s no case for the state to appeal?

And on the grounds of appeal, no one can argue that those seven grounds of law and fact have no merit, are frivolous. This being the case, on what grounds has the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrawn that appeal? It will be very difficult to convince anyone that this is not a clear case of complicity on the part of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Rupiah’s political criminal scheme to free his friends from accountability, from going to jail. And Rupiah made it very clear in Kabwe when he said: “It is not human to expect other human beings not to make mistakes...Very soon you will hear what the verdict is, and whatever the verdict is, there is a human being involved who also deserves justice. Today it is him, tomorrow it is me. Tomorrow it is any one of you.” Can anyone seriously expect Rupiah to accept an appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal?

But this is not the first time this Director of Public Prosecutions has been involved in such political complicity. This the same Director of Public Prosecutions who was part of Levy Mwanawasa and George Kunda’s criminal complicity to free Kashiwa Bulaya from prosecution by granting him a nolle prosequi. But later on, again in complicity with Levy, he removed his own nolle prosequi as a result of public pressure and Bulaya was prosecuted and convicted. It seems this Director of Public Prosecutions has no shame, he prostitutes himself with whoever is president with ease. Can such a person be trusted? Is there any integrity in this man? Does it surprise anyone that today, on very ridiculous and fraudulent grounds, he has withdrawn the state’s appeal against the equally fraudulent acquittal of Chiluba? This is how this man abuses his office!

Clearly, this Director of Public Prosecutions is a spineless liar. He has no spine to stand up to the dictates of politicians in power and because of this he is prepared to lie and do silly things. This is what Zambia has for a Director of Public Prosecutions! Isn’t this corruption? This is abuse of office on the part of the Director of Public Prosecutions. And abuse of office is corruption. If this is corruption, how can this Director of Public Prosecutions be expected to be against fellow corrupt elements?

There is no doubt they have secured Chiluba’s acquittal and they are doing everything possible to ensure that things stay that way. But there is a danger in this type of lawlessness, in such abuses of public offices.

What the Director of Public Prosecutions has done is an abuse of his powers. This cannot be denied. We say this because there is no way, morally, legally, politically or otherwise, the Director of Public Prosecutions can justify the withdrawal of that appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal. This is criminal abuse of public office. And there is hardly a more powerful weapon that can be abused in the hands of a corrupt and tyrannical government than that of discontinuing prosecutions against the allies, friends and supporters of the rulers; or by exempting their friends from liability for illegal acts through discontinuance of prosecutions and withdrawal of appeals.

The judiciary at whatever level may find itself confronting these abuses, and may find itself subjected to enormous pressure to accept them. Often, if the process is legal but unjust, unfair, there is little that a court can do.

Clearly, there are no high standards of probity here. The Director of Public Prosecutions has not acted as an impartial defender of justice and public interest but a political animal in the service of Rupiah’s interests.

This is clearly an abuse of our judicial process. And the independence of our judiciary is being terribly undermined by these abuses. This is not the way to administer justice in a country. This is animal farm. And there is no way these characters can continue to cheat the Zambian people about the independence of our judiciary, which is so central to the administration of fair and equal justice in a democratic society. They cannot continue to talk about this in lofty but empty rhetoric when what they are doing every day is to erode it, undermine it.

The way it is looking now is like Rupiah is an emperor who says justice should be fairly administered but those who adjudicate or settle cases are not expected to be in any real sense independent, to go against his wish; every case must be decided in accordance with his wishes and interests. This is how they used to behave in medieval England, from whose common law we have derived our legal system. Under that system, justice was a royal prerogative, which the ruler carried out through his appointed officials or justices. As such, those who judged were agents of those who ruled and had to conform to the dictates of the rulers.

This is lawlessness of the highest order. But every lawless act lives an incurable wound, like one left by a double-edged sword. It will take a very long time for our judicial process to recover from this criminal behaviour, this criminal complicity, this callousness.

They can claim this and that power to do what they have done, but in the future, people will know what they have done; the goals they sought and what those who were trying to appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal sought, and who was right – Rupiah, the Director of Public Prosecutions or those who lodged that appeal on Monday. Clearly, Rupiah and his Director of Public Prosecutions have acted dishonestly in discharging the public trust. The Director of Public Prosecutions has abandoned his oath and is now serving a corrupt regime. We are denouncing their decisions and actions, absolutely convinced that it’s justifiable to do so and that one day, justice will prevail in our homeland and they will be made to account for their decisions and actions, for their criminal complicity in the acquittal of Chiluba and in allowing him to go scot-free – justice will triumph eventually.

We are also convinced that the registration and execution of the London High Court judgment against Chiluba and his accomplices will be frustrated. Can this government be trusted with enforcement of the London High Court judgment against Chiluba? Even if that judgment is registered, Rupiah and his friends will not seize Chiluba’s properties and recover what he has stolen as directed by the judgment. But what is this interest in protecting Chiluba at all costs? Do they want to share in his loot? Is part of that loot going to finance their campaigns?

We can only say to the Zambian people that they should brace themselves for very difficult times ahead. This is a very corrupt and tyrannical regime that will stop at nothing to realise its corrupt desires. They have no shame, no scruples. They are extremely callous. If there is need to maim, the will maim; if there is need to kill, they will kill; if there is need to rig an election, they will rig.

Labels: CHILUBA, CORRUPTION, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:18 AM