Maravi

Celebrating corruption

Celebrating corruption
Written by Editor

It is not hard for one to do a bit of good. What is hard is to do good all one’s life and never do anything bad, to act consistently in the interest of the broad masses and to engage in arduous struggle for decades on end.

That is the hardest thing of all. Some people can say they are committed to fighting corruption and can even fight it for a day or two depending on who is involved in it, who is on the receiving end of their fight.

This is what we see in the way that Rupiah Banda and his friends are going about their so- called fight against corruption. To them, it is enough to chant a few slogans and arrest a few lowly placed civil servants to claim to be fighting corruption. Their whole strategy is to hoodwink the public into thinking they are doing something about corruption.

This attempt to cheat the public is so futile and pointless because anyone can see that Rupiah does not accept the need to fight corruption. He embraces it and accepts it. Clearly, Rupiah does not see anything wrong with a person in his position being accused of being corrupt. As he told the nation on the day Frederick Chiluba’s judgment was being read, Rupiah thinks today it could be Chiluba, tomorrow it could be him. Why should it be Rupiah tomorrow, unless Rupiah knows he is doing wrong things? This compromise on important points of principle clearly demonstrates Rupiah’s hypocrisy and non-commitment to fighting corruption.

Even if Rupiah did not tell us in his own words that he accepted corruption because tomorrow it could be him, his actions, his deeds would be enough to tell us where he stands. Since the disputed acquittal of Chiluba was announced, his government has made it very clear that they do not want that acquittal disturbed. They have accepted it fully and would like to force other people to do the same.

Although this decision was made in a very low court, Rupiah and his minions have done everything possible to frustrate the due process of the law. They have made it clear they will not support or allow an appeal. The question is why? The answer is simple: they accept corruption, they condone it, they celebrate it.

If anyone is in doubt as to how desperate Rupiah and his many minions are on this issue, they only need to look at what happened yesterday. In the middle of the funeral of their friend, Benny Tetamashimba, they have the courage to release big party officials to go and celebrate Chiluba’s acquittal in Mansa. How can a party such as MMD engage in the celebration of such a questionable acquittal at such a time? Why the desperation? Even when ordinary civil servants from the Ministry of Local Government and Housing are postponing their meetings in Livingstone because of Tetamashimba’s death, his fellow MMD leaders are celebrating the acquittal of a thief who stole public funds. This is the same MMD whose government is claiming to be committed to the fight against corruption and are supposed to be determined to register the London High Court judgment which found Chiluba to have stolen huge amounts of public funds. And this judgment was obtained by themselves using public resources. These contradictions only go to show their lack of commitment to the fight against corruption. They only go to show their commitment to corrupt politics and corruption in general. They are able to ignore the etiquette that would compel them to avoid celebrations during the period of mourning their friend Tetamashimba because they are desperate to portray the Chiluba acquittal as final and beyond any appeal. Chiluba is not alone in holding the celebration in Mansa. That celebration reflects the official government position. This is why Rupiah is free to say he fired Maxwell Nkole for not following his wishes on not appealing against Chiluba’s acquittal. How can a government and a president who claims to be committed to fighting corruption fire someone for appealing against the acquittal of a known thief like Chiluba? And how can a President who has in his hands a judgment that found Chiluba having stolen public funds and is seeking the registration and enforcement of that judgment fire someone for judiciously pursuing the same thief? Can Rupiah say his government is still committed to the registration and enforcement of the London judgment against Chiluba? Even if Rupiah said they will continue with the registration of the London judgment, do their actions give anyone cause for confidence? Today they are celebrating Chiluba’s acquittal and tomorrow, these same people should be expected and trusted to register the London High Court judgment against Chiluba and enforce it! Yes, they may go to the High Court to play games and deliberately bungle the whole process and then come out and say the court refused to register it and therefore, the judgment cannot be enforced in this country. They will not even appeal to the Supreme Court in the same manner they have done over his acquittal in the subordinate court. We know what they did in the Dora Siliya case; they made sure that the case was deliberately bungled. Arguments that should have been advanced in favour of the state were deliberately not advanced. We do not believe the Attorney General’s chambers were at liberty to argue that case the best way they knew how – Rupiah’s wishes took precedence, had to be accommodated and not the law. This is what we see happening with the registration of the London High Court judgment.

Against this background, only a naïve person can say that Director of Public Prosecutions Chalwe Mchenga’s position on the appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal is a professional decision. We say this because it has politics and cheap patronage smeared all over it. This is made worse by the behaviour of Rupiah and people like Ronnie Shikapwasha who have, on separate occasions, given the impression that a decision on whether to appeal or not is yet to be made because the judgment is still being studied by Mchenga. And that government, according to Rupiah, was still receiving professional advice on how to proceed. This is what Rupiah told Zambians living in Swaziland. And this is a lie. The truth is they have decided not to appeal and they won’t appeal. Mchenga has stated this categorically, giving false reasons of the appeal lacking legal merit. But we all know that Mchenga’s position has nothing to do with legal merit or the lack of it. The decision on whether or not to appeal the acquittal against Chiluba is not his to make. He has taken instructions from his political masters – Rupiah and George Kunda. In arriving at this decision, the law is an excuse not the reason for the decision. Rupiah and George are only interested in what they think are the political benefits of not appealing, of accepting and celebrating Chiluba’s acquittal.

Anyway, as with everything in life, people have to know that there is a time for reckoning. Our people have not accepted this so called acquittal. They have no reason to celebrate. In joining a thief to celebrate, one is simply telling the people what he stands for and who truly they are. Today Chiluba may think he is having the last laugh on this issue and Rupiah and his minions are joining him, but we have no doubt that our people will have the last laugh. This is because it is the people’s money that was stolen. It is their trust that has been abused. If their courts of law do not give them the justice they deserve, our people will find this justice for themselves. This is the way of life. Rupiah and Chiluba – these birds of a feather – will soon realise who the masters truly are. It is our people. No amount of scheming or pervasion of justice will change this. No amount of propaganda, lies, deception, calumny, misinformation of the public will wash away their crimes. Today they can celebrate but the day of anguish, of reckoning will come.

Labels: CADRES, CHILUBA, MMD, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 2:30 PM