The truth will be known

The truth will be known
Written by Editor

It is surprising that Rupiah Banda did not want to tell the Zambian people that he had fired Max Nkole. Rupiah instead decided to be economical with the truth to the Zambian people by simply telling them that Nkole’s contract had simply expired.

And he did not even announce this himself but he decided to use the Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr Joshua Kanganja, to be the burden bearer and do the dirty deed for him.
Addressing Zambians living in Swaziland on Saturday, Rupiah was forced to admit that Nkole was fired over his decision to appeal against Frederick Chiluba’s acquittal.

Rupiah told his audience that he had fired Nkole because he was indisciplined by defying the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions not to appeal. He explained that it was indiscipline on the part of Nkole, who was appointed by the president, to defy the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision not to appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal.

Not long ago, we told our people that the truth about Chiluba’s acquittal will become known. We said then that it might be tomorrow, next week, next month or next year, but the truth will be known. Truth is stubborn. No matter how hard its adversary – falsehood – may try to overwhelm it, truth refuses to yield. This is what is happening with Rupiah and his minions. They are trying to hide the truth. But stubborn truth is revealing itself.

It must now be clear to all our people that Chiluba’s acquittal is very much tied to the decision not to appeal by Rupiah and his minions. It is now clear to everybody that this is the way they wanted things to be and anyone who tried to stand in their way was a spoiler who had to be dealt with ruthlessly.

Seeing what has happened to Nkole and the reasons Rupiah has given for his dismissal, can anyone expect Chalwe Mchenga, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to act otherwise? And as we have stated before, Mchenga has never taken a risk with those in power. He has no record of stepping on the toes of those in power, of the president for that matter. In the eyes of Rupiah, Mchenga would pass for a disciplined public officer.

Having been appointed by the president, according to Rupiah, one needs to obey the decisions or orders of the state. And we all know that at the helm of the state is Rupiah himself. Nkole was dismissed for not obeying the orders of the state, for going against the wishes of the state, of Rupiah – the head of that state.

At least Nkole has a record of being able to stand up for what is right and taking on the highest authorities. This is the record Nkole left in the police. Nkole proved himself to be a man who is prepared to stand by the truth even if everyone is against him. Mchenga doesn’t have such a record.

Mchenga’s known record is that of a spineless person who is prepared to do anything those in power ask of him. And this is why today Mchenga is looking like a big fish in a jar. He has no independence to talk about. He will always side with the government on a contested issue, not with what is right. It seems to Mchenga right or wrong is a secondary consideration. The truth is only acceptable if it serves the whims of his masters.

It is now clear to every Zambian that Rupiah has abused his office to allow Chiluba to go scot-free. But in doing so, he acted with the assistance or complicity of Mchenga and other spineless characters. This is corruption for which all those involved in this criminal complicity will have to answer for in the future. Rupiah will not be in power forever.

And as long as he lives, his immunity will one day be removed, and he will be made to account for this and other sins. Mchenga also feels protected today by Rupiah and others in government. But their day to go will come and Mchenga will be left naked and powerless. Again, this will be an opportunity for the Zambian people to have their justice against him. There is no one who is above the law.

Mchenga should not deceive himself that the powers and protections of the office of Director of Public Prosecutions will protect him from being made accountable for the abuse of that office. There is no doubt Mchenga has criminally abused that office. And in the future when the political environment has changed, Mchenga will have to be made to account for these abuses. He will not be allowed to hide behind powers and protections that were meant for genuine and honest mistakes or poor judgment.

What Mchenga is doing is not a product of oversight, limited legal knowledge; it is deliberate and conscious. He has simply decided to engage in abuses of office to please his corrupt masters. Today he is safe, very safe. Even the noise that Michael Sata and others are making for him to leave that office will not shake him, will not affect him because uncle Rupiah is there for him, no one can touch him. But this is being very shortsighted because both he and Rupiah will soon be powerless. It may take another two years, or another seven years before they can be made to account for their crimes but the time will come for them to do so.

Nkole has done all of us a huge favour. He has exposed the dishonesty and duplicity of Rupiah and his minions for everyone to see. Rupiah can pretend to be fighting for constitutional order in firing Nkole for ‘defying the Director of Public Prosecutions’. But we all know that this is nonsense. Firing Nkole has nothing to do with Mchenga. Rupiah wants people like Nkole and Mchenga to dance to his tune. This is the kind of government he is running. If Nkole had defied Mchenga but was in agreement with Rupiah, nothing would have happened to Nkole.

We have not forgotten that a few months ago, Dora Siliya ignored the advice of the Attorney General and cost the country huge amounts of money, over US $2 million and more to come. What did Rupiah say? What did Rupiah do? He did not jump to defend the Constitution. But he instead jumped to defend Dora and her misdeeds. Rupiah rebuked the Attorney General publicly and accused him of all sorts of things, including suggesting that the documents The Post used to expose the Zamtel scam were leaked by his chambers. Rupiah went on to praise Dora as being smarter than those who were criticising her. This is the Rupiah that we know. Nkole was fired for trying to do what was right for the Zambian people. It had nothing to do with defying Mchenga.

At least the appeal has smoked Rupiah and his minions out of their fox holes. And for this, credit goes to Nkole. Now the people can see who was working to defend Chiluba’s crimes. They were convinced their work would remain hidden but it is now clear for everybody to see. And Rupiah will pay a price for this. A politician who abuses the people usually lives to regret that day. This is what Rupiah has done. For whatever reason, Rupiah has staked his political fortunes with Chiluba, hoping to win the Bemba-speaking people’s vote that eluded him last year. But it will not be long before he realises that our people are not foolish and are not as cheap as he thinks they are. Poor they may be, but not cheap.

By using Dr Kanganja to fire Nkole, Rupiah tried to hide his blatant abuse of power in favour of Chiluba. But where are we today? Rupiah has been forced to admit that he fired Nkole, Dr Kanganja was just used. It’s not just Dr Kanganja who has been used in this way. Mchenga too has been used to deliver what Rupiah wanted – no appeal. The court also delivered a judgment that Rupiah wanted and he rejoiced over it before the reading of it was over. There is no need to say too many things over this issue because things are coming out on their own, without our probing. They will tell the nation, in one way or another, everything they have done. It’s just a matter of time.