Maravi

Their lies are starting to catch up with them

Their lies are starting to catch up with them
By Editor
Sun 01 Nov. 2009, 04:00 CAT

“Akanwa kamilandu kalailetelela", so goes a Bemba saying. This literally means a guilty mouth brings trouble upon itself.

This wise Bemba saying clearly describes and summarises Rupiah Banda's unfortunate, shameful and unreasonable utterances, justification and defence of Frederick Chiluba's questionable acquittal.

It should not be forgotten that during a closed-door Kasama Central parliamentary by-election campaign meeting with public service workers at Kasama's Sinamu Lodge, Rupiah remarked:

"If Chiluba had not been acquitted and was found guilty, that would have been a miserable day for me because I would have to think 'where am I going to keep a former president? Can I allow a former president to go in prison? Can I allow him to sleep on the floor?"

Rupiah went on to further claim that Chiluba's acquittal had brought relief to the nation. But we wonder what "relief" and "nation" was Rupiah talking about. Of course these remarks came just after his Minister of Works and Supply Mike Mulongoti went on Kasama's Radio Mano and said that it would have been costly to jail Chiluba.

Whatever way you want to view and analyse the above reckless statements, one thing is evident: Rupiah and his minions have exhibited classical political demagoguery on Chiluba's acquittal. They failed to cover their dirty tricks before magistrate Jones Chinyama delivered that embarrassing acquittal and they still have failed to do their wish was granted. Even Chiluba himself, together with his so-called sympathisers, have failed to come to terms with their own acquittal, which we believe is supposed to be a moment of joy and happiness for them.

We have seen Rupiah and Chiluba with the help of some misguided, opportunistic and corrupt elements go to great lengths in defence of that acquittal, which they claim was correct and well founded at law.

The question is, if they are convinced that Chiluba's acquittal was genuine, why did they suddenly engage into a panic mode? Why justify a decision that is proper even at the risk of one looking foolish?
What is this confusion in the minds of Rupiah and his minions all about?

It’s obvious that because of the dubious and corrupt manner in which they handled Chiluba's acquittal, Rupiah and his minions are today being haunted. They are spending sleepless nights and they have become slaves of their own consciences. They know the truth and they have the answers to the numerous questions that our people raised about this whole saga but the problem is they cannot speak out. Hence they have more often than not been providing unsolicited answers every time they open their mouths. Sometimes to an extent that even implicates them further and exposes their evil scheme. Their own mouths are tying them.

Clearly, Rupiah and his minions are not the most wise of leaders we have ever had as a country. They are just a motley assortment of contradictory elements who where found at the right place and at the right time at the time of Levy Mwanawasa's death. It's evident that they don't think through their tricks and this makes it very easy for our people to read through their deceit.

And the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has given its position on Chiluba's acquittal to Lusaka lawyer Wynter Kabimba. In his letter to Kabimba dated October 23, 2009, LAZ president Stephen Lungu stated: "We are dealing with the various issues arising from discussions relating to the acquittal of former president Dr Chiluba. As stressed at our press briefing recently, we expressed disappointment at the continued discussions that we believe aim at directly or indirectly influencing decisions from the courts; comments attributed to Vice-President George Kunda, SC, MP, Hon Mulongoti were such taken into account. We are directly communicating with the Vice-President being a member of LAZ to advise him from making statements that are meant to undermine our judiciary.

We do understand that some statements are made at political fora but because they are made with legal intonations by someone familiar with the law; we regard these statements as contravening our Practice Rules...the latest position on the President's comments has also disappointed us and we are taking measures to ensure that our disappointment is adequately communicated."

These are quite impressive observations from LAZ, though belated. From the onset, we can state that inasmuch as we welcome the stance adopted by LAZ, we feel much more could have been done to guide the nation on this matter. We say so because ever since this acquittal was granted, LAZ appeared to be struggling with an unknown ghost for unknown reasons. We strongly believe that LAZ knew and had the correct words to say but chose to crowd their statements with a lot of words, which at the end of the day were basically saying nothing. And our people clearly saw that and felt let down by LAZ's ducking. LAZ has always been a champion of such matters.

We are not making these observations just for the sake of being critical with LAZ - far from it. We are simply stating the facts as they are and as our people view them. For instance, why did it have to take Kabimba to raise critical observations before they could address this matter? It would have added more value and made more legal sense to the discourse if LAZ had been this courageous, concise and forthright on this matter right from the beginning. Surely, it shouldn't have been Wynter to smoke them out of their hole. In any case, LAZ's response to Wynter is private, it wasn't meant for the public.

Had it not been for our ingenuity in accessing this letter, our people would not have known this certainly impressive and frank position from LAZ. It's clear that LAZ's honest views on Rupiah's remarks over Chiluba's acquittal were exclusively for Wynter and they were solely meant to be kept in the confines of Wynter's law firm.

It appears the current LAZ executive only wants to look and sound bold and courageous through correspondence with its members. We say this because since the acquittal of Chiluba and the subsequent debate, which erupted, LAZ has held more than two press conferences and made various comments over the same without really touching on the issues in the manner they have done in this letter. If LAZ had cared to come out in the manner they have done in their letter to Wynter, surely our people, including Wynter himself, would not have raised any concerns over this issue.

To say there were enough grounds of appeal on Chiluba's acquittal is not enough, especially that the whole nation was engulfed in a serious debate over the same. Tensions were and are still high on the manner the acquittal of Chiluba was handled by Rupiah and his minions and to a greater extent the judiciary itself. But what did we see? Instead of providing the required guidance, LAZ chose to leave the debate to Rupiah and his minions.

There is serious need for some introspection on the part of LAZ and let those within the current executive with interests to declare do so and avoid similar embarrassing situations in future.

As for Rupiah and his minions, let them not even be tempted into thinking that our people are so naïve such that they can easily be swayed by their shallow propaganda particularly on the now defunct Task Force on Corruption.

Rupiah and his minions should know that our people know very well that theirs is a corrupt and failed administration hence they don't expect much from them in terms of delivery on their campaign promises and uplifting their livelihoods. Our people know that the fight against corruption was lost the very day Levy died. What do Rupiah and friends take our people for? How can they be committed to the fight against corruption when they are the same people giving reasons on Chiluba's acquittal that totally defy logic and common sense and go against the principles and spirit required to fight corruption?

Anyway, the most outstanding characteristic about liars is that they don't keep track of their lies.

Will Rogers once said: "If we ever pass out as a great nation we ought to put on our tombstone 'America died from a delusion that she had moral leadership'."

And we advise those who still deceive themselves or allow themselves to be deceived that Rupiah can deliver on the fight against corruption to deeply meditate over Rogers' observations.

Labels: CHILUBA, LAZ, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 4:51 PM