Maravi

Our treasonable conduct

Our treasonable conduct
By Editor
Tue 22 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

Curses cannot hurt you unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light. We have been cursed before but we are still here. So many lies have been told about us but we are still here. Why? It is not because we are in control of state power or we are strong.

No. It is simply because, as it is said in the Bible, “Being wise is better than being strong; yes, knowledge is more important than strength. After all, you must make careful plans before you fight a battle, and the more good advice you get, the more likely you are to win” (Proverbs 24:5-6).

It may also probably be appropriate to add: “Wise sayings are too deep for a stupid person to understand. He has nothing to say when important matters are being discussed” (Proverbs 24:7).

Truly, sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret later. If you plant the seeds of injustice, disaster will spring up, and your manipulation, deception of others will end.

It does not make sense for George Kunda to accuse the editor of this newspaper of treason, of trying to take over state power and use it for monetary gain. We have never lived from or through the use of state institutions. Power is not something that we see as personal to be used for one’s own selfish interests, monetary or otherwise. We see it as something that can used for the legitimate causes of improving the lives of our people.

George has just joined politics; he only came into politics in 2002 when Levy Mwanawasa nominated him to parliament and gave him a job in government. But our efforts to help shape the destiny of our country go far much earlier than that. The editor of this newspaper was the youngest member of the interim executive committee of the MMD when it was founded in 1990.

And George was not there. If it was state power we sought, we would have gotten it or we would have been part of it. But at no time were these humble efforts used for any personal gain. The people who were in the first MMD government were comrades, colleagues and friends, but at no time were they approached for a favour for us to access state resources. We have survived through the support of the tens of thousands of Zambians who every day spare a K3,000 to buy our newspaper.

If contributing to the shaping of our country’s destiny through carrying the views of our citizens and creating a platform for discourse in our country is treason, then we are guilty. And are we not the ones who also carry the views of George and his friends, including those views which attack us, which accuse us of treason? George used to be a columnist for this newspaper. We never used to tell him what to write. Whatever he wrote, we published without question – whether we agreed with it or not. For us, we see the suppression of speech that we find offensive today as a potential threat to our exercise of free speech tomorrow – which others might find offensive. We believe that all people are harmed when speech is repressed because if the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth. And if wrong, they lose the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error.

But as we have already said, this is not the first time the editor of this newspaper has been accused of seeking political power or will it be the last time? In early 2006, Levy claimed the editor of this newspaper was going to be a presidential candidate in that year’s election. Earlier this year, Rupiah Banda also accused this newspaper of being a political party. When he sacked Jonas Shakafuswa and Lameck Chibombamilimo in front of a crowd of party cadres, he told them that he would kick them out of the MMD and fight them in their constituencies. He also told them to go and stand on a Post ticket.

But we are not surprised that George is desperately trying to discredit us and the work that we do. He has a big problem on his hands. The puppet, Chalwe Mchenga that he has been using to manipulate judicial processes has been exposed by the Law Association of Zambia. Instead of responding convincingly to the charges that the Law Association of Zambia has articulated, George wants to divert attention by accusing us of all sorts of things.

It is not The Post that said Mchenga should resign, it is the Law Association of Zambia. They have given their reasons. And from the way George is behaving, it is clear that the Law Association of Zambia is right. Mchenga has abdicated his position and he is operating as an appendage to the whims and wishes of George. Why would George so ferociously defend the Director of Public Prosecutions who is independent and doing his job professionally? If indeed the Law Association of Zambia is wrong, the Director of Public Prosecutions or at least his office would have come out in its own defence. But Mchenga knows that the Law Association of Zambia is correct. He has been making political decisions, which is why he is not able to defend himself and he needs George to protect him.

The shamelessness of George is leading him to even make insinuations against his late boss, Levy. Today, George can stand and say the late Mukelabai Mukelabai was hounded out of the office of Director of Public Prosecutions. Hounded by who? Was it not Levy who called for the setting up of a tribunal to investigate Mukelabai? And was it not George, as Attorney General, who prosecuted the state’s complaint against Mukelabai before the tribunal? George was Attorney General at the time. Is he going to say it was not his office that prosecuted Mukelabai before the tribunal? This would not surprise us. It seems George never takes responsibility for anything. This is why he has the audacity to accuse Levy of having hounded Mukelabai out of office. This is so because it couldn’t be us or anyone else since it was only them who were in a position to call for the setting up of a tribunal.

From what George is saying, it is clear that he has never been a fighter against corruption. He may have been pretending to please Levy but working against him in the background. We say this because George seems more comfortable defending wrongdoing than fighting it. This is the kind of Minister of Justice that our country has. How shameful! How sad!

With the way George is behaving, we are entitled to ask whether everything is okay with him. How can such a senior lawyer accuse the editor of this newspaper of having committed treason simply by being editor? Is it treason for The Post to report that the Law Association of Zambia has demanded that Mchenga should resign? Is it treason for The Post to state in its editorial comment that it agrees with and supports the position taken by the Law Association of Zambia on this score? If The Post committed treason by reporting what the Law Association of Zambia has said, where does that leave Law Association of Zambia?

George does not seem to care whether what he is saying is making sense or not. The issue that requires his attention and that of his boss, Rupiah, is the fact that they have compromised the office of Director of Public Prosecutions’ independence and Mchenga has resorted to taking political considerations in discharging his functions. We are not the ones who told Rupiah to tell the nation that he had decided not to appeal.

We are also not the ones who told George to tell the nation that if Mchenga had appealed, it would have been professional misconduct. And here we are talking about the questionable acquittal of Frederick Chiluba. Well, and it’s not only the Law Association of Zambia or us who feel that way. The great majority of the Zambian people also see things that way and they are supported in their view by biblical wisdom: “It is wrong for a judge to be prejudiced. If he pronounces a guilty person innocent, he will be cursed and hated by everyone. Judges who punish the guilty, however, will be prosperous and enjoy and good reputation” (Proverbs 24:24-25). To this, we will add: “Don’t give evidence against someone else without good reason, or say misleading things about him” (Proverbs 24:28).

Rupiah and George should not expect the whole country to be their minions. They have from their own mouths told the nation how the decision not to appeal was arrived at. Why should they attack the Law Association of Zambia and anybody else who cares to point out to them that the conduct of the Director of Public Prosecutions, under their direction, is unconstitutional? They have broken the law, they therefore should be ready to face the temerity of their actions. Accusing us of treason and all sorts of conspiracies will not change what they have done.

It is clear that Rupiah has a serious crisis before him. But “depending on an unreliable person in a crisis is like trying to chew with a loose tooth or walk with a crippled foot” (Proverbs 25:19). George is trying to be clever for nothing, but “the most stupid fool is better off than someone who thinks he is wise when he is not” (Proverbs 26:12).

Setting up treason traps for us will not do because “people who set traps for others get caught themselves. People who start landslides get crushed. You have to hate someone to want to hurt him with lies. Insincere talk brings nothing but ruin” (Proverbs 26:27-28).

Labels: GEORGE KUNDA

posted by MrK @ 5:36 PM