Thrusting Chiluba down our throats

Thrusting Chiluba down our throats
Written by Editor

Desperation is rarely consistent with good intentions.People who set out to do good do not allow their actions to be coloured by unseemly desperation. If someone believes that they are innocent of accusations leveled against them, they have no reason to fear the due process of the law. It is a well-known fact, that our court system provides a due process that covers three courts in many instances. Many criminal matters start in the magistrates’ court.

If someone is not satisfied with the outcome of the case at that stage, they are free to appeal to the next level of due process which is the High Court. If not satisfied with the High Court decision, there is still the Supreme Court. This is the due process provided for in our Constitution to deal with criminal matters.

It is this due process that Chiluba with the help of Rupiah Banda seems desperate to short-circuit. What is more shameful about this whole Chiluba affair is the desperation that is coming from Rupiah himself. Even if somebody wanted to accept this whole shenanigan as legitimate, Rupiah’s behaviour does very little to give the confidence that this whole affair is above board and innocent.

We say this because Rupiah knows very well that although Chiluba has been acquitted by Jones Chinyama, his government has a judgment from the London High Court which is awaiting enforcement. This judgment involves an amount which is equivalent to six times what Chiluba claims to have had in the Zamtrop account. Chiluba claims to have had US$ 8million in the Zamtrop account. But the London judgment found him liable for embezzling US$ 50million of government funds.

What this tells us is that even if Chiluba was acquitted of the charge of having stolen US$ 500,000, he is still answerable for something in the order of US$ 49.5million. This is the man who has the courage to tell the nation that he is owed US$ 8million, which should be paid to him. What about the money that he owes the Zambian taxpayers on account of the London judgment? We have not forgotten that the house Chiluba lives in and probably even the bed he sleeps on was bought using stolen government funds. How can such a person be allowed to go around pretending to be innocent? Why is Rupiah desperate to thrust him down our throats?

Chiluba is not innocent. He knows this and this is why he and his newly found friend Rupiah are so scared of an appeal. They know that this man can never claim to be innocent. If Chiluba was innocent he would volunteer for the appeal. We have not forgotten that Chiluba looked for every excuse that the case against him did not conclude on time.

Rupiah’s role in this whole matter is not surprising but it is still shameful!

How can a man parade such a discredited fellow and yet claim to be fighting corruption? What is Rupiah’s government’s position on the London High Court judgment? We continue to ask these questions because they are legitimate. They demand honest answers from Rupiah. If he won’t answer, we will answer for him.

In the last few days, we have all seen Rupiah parading himself with Chiluba. It seems Rupiah believes that Chiluba can bolster his political fortunes. He hopes that Chiluba will be useful to him in 2011 when the nation goes to the polls again. This is the story Rupiah has allowed himself to believe. Obviously, he is taking our people for granted. Rupiah is beginning to believe the voices of his own rented mobs. But this is not new. When a politician begins to believe in manipulation as a means of advancing a political agenda, they soon lose touch with reality. This happened to Chiluba. He believed he could manipulate anything and everyone. His belief in the effectiveness of power was unlimited. He was prepared to go to any length to manipulate our people. It seems Rupiah is heading down the same route. This probably explains what appears to be an immense loyalty towards Chiluba. In his blind quest to manipulate our people, Rupiah is taking political decisions whose consequences he has not properly weighed. All Rupiah has done is convinced himself that Chiluba is politically useful and for that reason he would do everything possible to acquire his services. Rupiah does not seem to have asked himself what the risks to himself are of aligning so closely to Chiluba. But this is not a bad thing for our people. It has exposed Rupiah for what he truly is. It is giving all of us a chance to assess his conduct clearly. What may have been a grey matter, a difficult matter to fully appreciate is now a black and white issue.

When we have criticised Rupiah in the past and said he could not fight corruption and told our people that he is not clean, some of our people have thought that we judged him too harshly. When we said Rupiah would condone corruption, we were accused of being malicious. This line is still maintained by Rupiah and his minions. But now we don’t have to convince anybody, the evidence is out in the open. Anyone who was doubting can now see for themselves.

It should not surprise anyone that Rupiah and his minions don’t want to hear anything about the appeal. We agree with what the chairperson of the parliamentary public accounts committee, Charles Milupi said in yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper that Chiluba will only be truly free if he went through the appeal process. Although we agree with Milupi, what he is saying is expecting too much from Chiluba. An ordinary person who has done nothing wrong would see nothing wrong with an appeal. After all, it would just consolidate his vindication. Anyway, we suppose Chiluba is entitled to resist the appeal. What is not acceptable is the fact that he is being joined by Rupiah and his minions.

If our people believe that we are going to get any advancement in the rule of law and the entrenchment of the culture of accountability amongst our leaders without a struggle, we are fooling ourselves. Our people must demand justice. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga will never appeal if our people don’t demand their rights. Mchenga has made it very clear in this case and in the case of Kashiwa Bulaya that he will always side with the government in making his professional decisions. Such a culture cannot be changed without protest. These people don’t believe that they owe the Zambian people an explanation for their actions. This is why they have no shame to contradict themselves and to ignore public sentiment.

A lack of accountability amongst our political leaders and others who occupy public offices is the single-most debilitating malaise that afflicts our nation today. Money meant for development ends up in people’s pockets. What is more distressing about the state of affairs is that such chaps do not even have any sense of remorse for the wrongs that they had done to our people. We suffer a chronic lack of services and social amenities and yet these politicians, these so-called leaders refuse to accept responsibility. They refuse to make the connection between their impunity and lack of accountability and the poor service delivery that exists in our country. Chiluba’s case and the government’s refusal to appeal is clear testimony of the impunity that characterises our leaders.

In the past, we have alluded to a culture of Chilubaism in public service. This is a self-centred approach to public service that sees nothing wrong with self-aggrandizement. This culture is inconsistent with a culture of accountability. In Chilubaism, leaders need not be above reproach. They just get away with whatever they want and do so with impunity. This is the culture we have to fight. It will not change on its own. All people of goodwill in our country should endeavour to do their bit and stop this nonsense. We cannot have a president parading a thief and expecting us to see nothing wrong with it. This has to stop.