Maravi

Civil society protests are pointless – Chiluba

Civil society protests are pointless – Chiluba
Written by Ernest Chanda
Friday, October 02, 2009 8:31:06 AM

FORMER president Frederick Chiluba has said the civil society organisations' resolve to push the government into appealing against his acquittal is an exercise in futility.

Chiluba, who spoke through his spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba in an interview yesterday, said his immunity was restored automatically the moment the court acquitted him.

Chiluba said anyone who wanted to bring charges against him would have to go to Parliament and ask for the removal of his immunity.

"Let us all remember that Dr Chiluba's immunity was lifted for a specific purpose; in this case he was accused of having committed some offences. These offences were prosecuted and Dr Chiluba was acquitted by the courts of law. And because of that, when the purpose for which his immunity was lifted expired, then the immunity was restored to Dr Chiluba automatically," Mwamba said. "So, what civil society organisations are trying to do is a disguise of what they are up to. We all know that they want to attack President Banda, and I challenge them to do it openly instead of using Dr Chiluba. Theirs is an exercise in futility because Dr Chiluba's immunity has been restored automatically. And anyone who wants to bring a case against Dr Chiluba should besiege Parliament and ask for the removal of his immunity."

Asked why Chiluba's lawyers wrote to Parliament asking for the restoration of Chiluba's immunity if he already had it, Mwamba said that was a moral act.

"When we wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly, we were informing the people of Zambia that since Dr Chiluba had been acquitted his immunity had been restored automatically. So when we say someone should pass a motion in Parliament we are simply saying that is a moral issue because we hold the view that Dr Chiluba's immunity was automatically restored when he was acquitted. The removal of his immunity was legal but the restoration is a moral issue because he has been cleared by the courts of law," he said.

Mwamba said it was not strange for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to refuse to appeal against certain cases.

"We have always said that it is not strange for the DPP to refuse to appeal on a matter. The Constitution of this country allows the DPP to exercise certain functions in accordance with the law. And in this case he has resolved not to appeal based on his constitutional provisions. When Mr Sata was acquitted the DPP did not appeal despite overwhelming evidence against Mr Sata. And there are many other cases where the DPP has not appealed. So what is so special about Dr Chiluba's acquittal?" Mwamba asked.

Earlier, featuring on Radio Phoenix Let the People Talk programme, Mwamba said what the civil society organisations were doing was illegal.

The programme also featured CARITAS Zambia executive director Samuel Mulafulafu and Change Life Zambia executive director Fr Frank Bwalya.

Mwamba said the organisations could not push the government into appealing when there was a judicial review in the High Court over Chiluba's acquittal.

"A Zambian citizen, Mumbi Phiri who is also a member of parliament for Munali has gone to the High Court to seek Judicial Review over Dr Chiluba's acquittal. I wish to state that our advice to the civil society [is] if they wish to pile pressure on the DPP to appeal, or on government to appeal they should direct that the matter that is before court be withdrawn. Because the question of Dr Chiluba's appeal is in court, a citizen has taken him to the High Court and a citizen wants the court to determine," said Mwamba. "So, they can't do any action outside the judicial institution. What they are doing is promoting lawlessness and anarchy. And in conclusion we've held that whether this case reached up to Supreme Court level you will not change the fact, the true facts that are before that court. What we have seen is people want Dr Chiluba nailed for his economic and political decisions he took as president. Someone was aggrieved because they lost a job and they want Dr Chiluba to go to jail."

But Mulafulafu said Chiluba's immunity should not be restored until all court issues against him had been resolved.

"I think as civil society we still hold that Dr Chiluba's immunity has been removed and it should remain so until all the processes of appeal have been done. The registration of the London case which is still in process and any other court case that is still pending should continue; as we are made to believe and we are told that there are still cases pending against Dr Chiluba . So the immunity should still be lifted," said Mulafulafu.

And Fr Bwalya vowed to join in the honking to push the government to appeal against Chiluba's acquittal.

"Attacks on true prophets are normal in a corrupt environment especially, because what corrupt leaders do is that they try to corrupt institutions, including the church. Leaders should be made accountable by the public and the public cannot all come here. We speak for them as priests as civil society leaders, as parents and as people in authority," Fr Bwalya said. "I also want to say that tomorrow in a named town on the Copperbelt I will obey the directive of the consortium of civil society organisations yesterday [Wednesday] in that press conference. I'll wear black, I'll honk and blow a whistle and I want people on the Copperbelt to join in. We will honk for 10 minutes and no one will arrest us because the people who are supposed to arrest us are the ones who suffer more when public money is stolen."

On Wednesday, chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha was quoted by the Daily Mail as having warned civil society organisations against agitating honking and whistling as a way of pressing the government against the acquittal of Chiluba.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the police would be put on alert to ensure that there was law and order.

"The Judiciary should be free from interference even by those who are planning to honk and whistle," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.

He said if some people were not happy with the judgment, there was a legal process they could follow and that it was irresponsibility on the part of the organisations to condemn the judgment passed in Chiluba's case.

"Why didn't they condemn the judgment in [Post editor] Fred M'membe's case?" he asked.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the reputation of the organisations agitating for chaos were at stake because there were laws that they could follow as opposed to resorting anarchy.

"Any government cannot allow people to agitate for chaos, we want peace. In every situation there is the other isde of the coin. There are people who don't agree with the plans by these organisation to bring chaos," he said.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the government was open to dialogue on all matters.

"I have not heard of any of these organisations approach the Vice-President, Attorney General or even myself to request for an audience," he said.

He wondered which law these organisations would use to push for an appeal when the 14 days provided for had elapsed.

"The law doesn't allow appeal after 14 days have elapsed, so which law will they use? Are they going to change the law?" he asked.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said Ndola High Court registrar Jones Chinyama gave judgment in this case and if Task Force on Corruption prosecutor Mutembo Nchito did not do enough to argue the case in court, it was not for civil society to resort to chaos.

Labels: CHILUBA, CIVIL SOCIETY, EMMANUEL MWAMBA, LEGAL IMMUNITY

posted by MrK @ 7:32 AM