Maravi

(LUSAKATIMES) Chiluba now wants his money back

COMMENT - On why you don't want a sociopath at State House.

Chiluba now wants his money back
Monday, August 24, 2009, 8:31

SECOND Republican president Fredrick Chiluba has said he will claim his money, which he kept in the Zamtrop account now that he has been acquitted of charges of theft. Dr Chiluba said that he would go to Luapula Province to tell the people to vote for President Banda because the incumbent has shown that he is a uniting force in the country.

Speaking at the celebratory church service for his acquittal at Bible Gospel Church in Africa (Bigoca) yesterday Dr Chiluba said he would ask for his money because he had been cleared by the courts of law.

Dr Chiluba said he was advised to keep his personal money in the Zamtrop account meant for the construction of the Institute of Democratic Studies because some of his friends who donated towards the project could have given him money laundered from drugs.

[The mind boggles at the crimes and unethical behaviour listed in that one sentence. Mixing personal funds with state funds and 'donations'; unaccounted for 'donations'; accepting laundered drug money... having friends in the drug business in the first place - MrK]

He said even before he was taken to court, three financial institutions – the Bank of Zambia, Grant Thornton and Price Water House Coopers audited the Zamtrop account and told the Government that there was private money in it as well.

Dr Chiluba said he wondered why he was accused of stealing the same private money when it was a known fact that he was undertaking a project to construct the institute for democratic studies using the money that he sourced from his friends and well wishers.

He said the US$500,000 he was accused of stealing was equivalent to petty cash for State House.

Dr Chiluba said the reason he was taken to court was a spiritual warfare and not legal because of his decisions to declare Zambia a Christian nation. He said it did not make legal sense for the courts of law to find his wife guilty first of receiving stolen goods and not the person accused of stealing.

“How could all the three institutions that audited the Zamtrop account conceal theft if at all I stole the money? Why find a person who received stolen property guilty before you do so to a person who stole,” he said.

Dr Chiluba who quoted the book of John Chapter 8:32 from the Bible said true to the scripture in the verse the truth had come to pass adding that truth did not come from newspapers or television but from the Holy Book.

He said the US$500,000 he was accused of stealing was equivalent to petty cash for State House.

Dr Chiluba told a packed church that included Matero Member of Parliament Faustina Sinyangwe and visiting American pastor Ralph Snook that he had received offers from Angolan and Zimbabwean spiritualists who wanted to assist him win the theft accusation case but that he declined because he knew that the truth would come to pass that he did not steal.

He said there was no way he could accept spiritual intervention in his case because he is a Christian who believes in God.

“Shall we decide to leave the one who created the man who administers charms made from trees or taken from underground when there is a supreme being who created all these? No ways. We chose to honour God and put the matter in his hands,” he said.

And Dr Chiluba said Zambia as a country was getting back together under President Banda’s rule.

He said he would go to Luapula Province, whether they like it or not, to tell the people in that province that President Banda was the right man for Zambia.

He said first Republican president Kenneth Kaunda left the legacy of One Zambia One Nation but that when he left a new era of tribal politics emerged.

He said Zambians were beginning to practice politics of regionalism that was now fading away under President Banda’s leadership.

Dr Chiluba urged Zambians to help President Banda create an environment where everyone was free to express their different views.

He said the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation had set the country apart in God’s favour and was certain that other African leaders were rejoicing with Zambia.

And Bigoca overseer, Peter Ndhlovu said Dr Chiluba’s victory was not only for his family but the Church as well.

Bishop Ndhlovu said God saved Dr Chiluba from dying because He wanted him to live and see change in the country.

“Sir, the devil wanted to see you in jail but God said no. At the day of judgement of your case, people were saying this case is difficult but in my heart, I was saying nothing is impossible with God,” he said.

And New Generation Party (NGP) president, Humphrey Siulapwa has urged Zambians to accept and respect the court’s judgment on Dr Chiluba.

Mr Siulapwa said at a Press briefing yesterday that Zambians had no choice but to accept the court’s verdict on Dr Chiluba since they had waited for the judgment for more than seven months.

He said that his party had accepted the judgment and that people should not be misled by the media on the issue.

He said the Government should not appeal against the judgment, adding that the Task Force on Corruption should also be dissolved while the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug-Enforcement Commission (DEC) should be strengthened.

He said Dr Chiluba had a right to claim his immunity since the court had declared him clean of all the allegations.

Mr Siulapwa said the London High Court judgment should not be registered in Zambia because there was no way a Zambian president could be tried in a foreign court.

He also said his party supported the Government’s idea to regulate the media if it failed to regulate itself because it also had to be checked.

[Times of Zambia]

Labels: CHILUBA, CORRUPTION, ZAMTROP

posted by MrK @ 6:17 PM