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Judiciary has been on trial in 2009 – Ngondo

Judiciary has been on trial in 2009 – Ngondo
By Chibaula Silwamba
Sun 27 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

ALL People’s Congress (APC) president Ken Ngondo yesterday said the Judiciary has been on trial this year because of the Executive’s interference in high-profile corruption cases.

And Ngondo said President Rupiah Banda had done very well in managing the economy amidst the global economic crisis this year.

Reviewing the year in an interview yesterday, Ngondo said the Judiciary would have to be cleared from the public perception that it was unfair to some people while favouring others.

“The Judiciary is on trial because the cases that were inherited from president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa have reached a stage more less a stalemate. The Judiciary seems to be in court; now everybody is judging them based on these records that seem to be unfair to others and fair to others,” Ngondo said. “It would have been better to request all those that are accused of corruption to bring back the funds that are alleged to have been stolen and forgive them to start afresh. If they have assets, get the assets to compensate what is being considered to have been corruptly gotten. That is how the Judiciary can be cleared.”

He demanded that the government must register the London High Court judgment against former president Frederick Chiluba.

“These are the issues that should force government to look at things differently. Either we forgive everybody otherwise the Judiciary is in court. There must be a way of starting afresh because they will go on and on and on, we don’t seem to have a solution to the problem. These are corruption cases and I am sure the solution is for the people to redress,” Ngondo said. “Coming to president Frederick Chiluba that is why we are talking of registering the London High Court judgment because that is a civil case where millions of dollars have been proved to have been taken and that is the funds that the taxpayer want to come back. That is the bone of contention. People want that money back; they don’t want Frederick Chiluba to be in jail. The criminal case is what was dismissed but the civil case, the way I understand it, is that the money must come back. That is why people are demanding that register this judgment.”

Ngondo expressed concern about how Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, the courts and the government handled the issue of expelled Patriotic Front (PF) parliamentarians.

“On Parliament democracy there has been a problem there in that the Patriotic Front had dismissed some of its members of parliament and the Speaker of the National Assembly has not accepted to declare those seats vacant. They have been in court and out of the normal it’s becoming abnormal now where it looks like the government is keen to see those people still in the House,” Ngondo said. “It would have been a good idea if these parliamentarians’ seats were declared vacant and go to a by-election. It would have been a smooth operation as far as parliamentary democracy is concerned. It has brought acrimony to the political parties as to how fair the situation is. Parties control their members and it takes the parties to decide who should be their member or not and not the government of the day.”

On the economy, Ngondo said President Banda had done very well.
“The success story is the investment in Luanshya, North Western Province and Chingola. After the economic crisis, at least Zambia has come out very well than what was expected. I think that is a credit the way it has been handled,” Ngondo said. “What I am not sure about are these MFEZs Multi Economic Facility Zones if they will benefit the ordinary people.”
Ngondo paid tribute to the deceased politicians.

“We have also been unfortunate; we lost good friends like Lieutenant General Christon Tembo, Mr John Mwanakatwe, Gwendoline Konnie, Mr Chitalu Sampa and many others. Of course, I can’t say I was very close to Benny Tetamashimba but it was a big loss to government, the way he spearheaded the campaign for the current President and also the issue of the hearse which I am very keen to see how it will end, it’s another corruption case that has to be pursued,” said Ngondo. “After this Christmas, remembering the birth of Jesus Christ, I just pray that love, justice and fair play should prevail in our country.”

Labels: ALL PEOPLES CONGRESS PARTY, JUDICIARY, KEN NGONDO

posted by MrK @ 8:54 AM