Kabwela’s case shows that Zambia has no leadership – HH

Kabwela’s case shows that Zambia has no leadership – HH
By Mutuna Chanda in Solwezi
Sun 22 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has said the prosecution of Post news editor Chansa Kabwela for 'pornography' was a case of an emotional President Rupiah Banda brutalising a young Zambian lady. Commenting on Kabwela's acquittal, Hichilema said Kabwela's prosecution was just one example of the thousands that show that Zambia has no leadership.

“That case should have never been there. It was an emotional President's case; a President who has lost self restraint, a President who is exercising brutality on a young Zambian lady; an innocent lady,” Hichilema said.

“It was extremely unnecessary to do what Rupiah Banda did. You know that day this is why even the monkey urinated on him because there he was shouting at me, shouting at everybody and then Chansa Kabwela and you know nature gets angry as well. That case was never going to be successful in any way. This should have never happened.”

Hichilema said Zambia had lowered the quality of the Republican Presidency and Vice-Presidency by having the wrong people in office.

“When we have low quality President occupant and the Vice, the country risks degenerating into chaos; the judicial system being abused; the (Frederick) Chiluba issue he prevailed that there would be no appeal, he forces the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) by instruction to open a docket on Kabwela... and look at the trauma, the waste of resources that this country has. This is why we say that when people give us an opportunity to run this country, all that waste will not be there. Maybe we can direct those resources into development because you know the money that has been spent on all of this investigations, prosecution is a lot of money; it's unnecessary. This is really a case that should have never been there.”

Hichilema said had he been President of Zambia, he would have acted differently from what President Banda did.

“This is a matter that they should have thanked Kabwela for, making a matter that they didn't know to them known to them,” said Hichilema. “If I were the President of Zambia, I would have actually said to Kabwela and The Post 'thank you very much. We are attending to the problems and anyway the strike could have not happened if we would have avoided the strike'. But when you have poor quality leadership, in fact, no leadership; what you saw in the Chansa Kabwela case is just one example. There are thousands of examples. This is brutal, this is not correct.”