Tsvangirai's office secretly funded by US, says Moyo
Floyd Nkomo
Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:09:00 +0000
THE FORMER Minister of Information and Publicity claims that the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe is being funded by the United States government to run a parallel structure that threatens the life of the inclusive Government.
Professor Jonathan Moyo claims that PM Morgan Tsvangirai is running a parallel government and paying some civil servants two salaries to further party interests rather than promote the inclusive Government.
The opposition leader, Tsvangirai signed an inter-party agreement with President Robert Mugabe and Prof Arthur Mutambara of a break-away faction of the MDC, to form an inclusive Government.
The agreement was signed on Sept. 11, 2008.
In a piece written for the Sunday Mail and also published by The Zimbabwe Guardian, Moyo claims that PM Tsvangirai has created a "government-in-government" and is paying some civil servants as much as US$700 when the rest of the civil servants receive a meagre US$140 salary.
Prof Moyo said the evidence is "already gathering like the clouds of a clear storm".
"Prime Minister Tsvangirai's office now has civil servants who are paid top up salaries by agents of various hostile foreign governments including USAID," claims Prof. Moyo.
"Some of these are working on the Prime Minister's partisan Newsletter and are reportedly being paid some US$700 a week while their Co-ordinator, Andrew Chadwick, and other directors-such as a well known lady lawyer who left a high paying job at Artherstone and Cook to join the Prime Minister's legal team-are earning at least US$7 000.00."
prof Moyo said this "has divided the MDC-T ranks and raised national security questions".
Claims Moyo: "Jacob Mafume who has been the American Embassy’s MDC-T link person under the payroll of USAID is now moving to the Prime Minister's office with his current remuneration package or better to scale up his work in the MDC-T's subversive government within the coalition government."
Moyo also claims that the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office-Gorden Moyo-has set up an illegal office of the Prime Minister "manned by one Dumisani Matshazi outside the official government structures at the premises of Bulawayo Agenda, an NGO that is heavily funded by USAID to promote the MDC-T’s government within the inclusive government in Matabeleland."
Moyo, who is a political scientist, says that this is treasonous and any government employee who received top up salaries from another government would be prosecuted, in an other country.
"Anywhere else in the world, any civil servant who gets a secret top up salary from a foreign government would be prosecuted for treason."
Moyo says this action is similar to a system that was in place during Smith's apartheid era in Zimbabwe where "whites in the Rhodesian civil service were paid higher salaries than their black counterparts for doing similar or less work."
SECRET MEETINGS WITH US GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Last month PM Tsvangirai met secretly with United States Secretary of State during her visit to South Africa.
The PM masked his trip as a state visit to brief that country's president and current Sadc chair, Jacob Zuma, on the progress made thus far by the inclusive Government.
Although PM Tsvangirai told the nation that he was in South Africa to brief President Zuma on the progress made by the inclusive Government, he met secretly with US Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton, and did not brief Cabinet on that meeting.
Reports from the capital at the time said MDC-T officials had travelled to South Africa and met in secret with Clinton's delegation.
Various ministers have crossed the border into South Africa for secret meetings without following diplomatic protocol.
Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities and MDC-T member, Fidelis Mhashu was assaulted during an armed robbery in Bryanston, South Africa at around the time of Clinton's visit after visiting the country without following the right protocol.
South African police immediately dismissed negligence saying the minister, who is also MDC-T MP for Chitungwiza North should have followed protocol and asked for VIP protection from police.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, HILLARY CLINTON, MDC, MDC CORRUPTION, NEOCOLONIALISM, USAID
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Tough questions for MDC-T in Kinshasa
Professor Jonathan Moyo, MP - Opinion
Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:09:00 +0000
IF regional leaders meeting this week in Kinshasa for their annual Sadc Summit want to be taken seriously about their respected role as the lead-guarantors of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by Zanu PF and the two MDC formations on September 15, 2008 upon which the fragile coalition government is based, they must use the summit to confront the following three critical factors that, together with the continuation of illegal economic sanctions, are threatening the survival of the GPA.
l . Contrary to its GPA obligations and in violation of the universally enshrined governance principle of collective responsibility, the
MDC-T is illegally running a parallel government in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Office in which civil servants who, like their peers in other Government offices, are remunerated a paltry monthly allowance that is no more than
US$170.00 are
also paid salaries from foreign governments, some of which are as high as
US$7 000.00 a month.
The parallel government based in the Prime Minister’s Office is reminiscent of the dual structure of government that Ian Smith’s racist and illegal Rhodesian government used to run to separately cater for whites and blacks where the former received higher salaries than the latter.
2. Over the last six months, Minister Tendai Biti has sought to abuse Treasury in particular and fiscal policy in general by employing a budget-starvation strategy to weaken and even destroy key State institutions by grossly under-funding them while demonising them in the name of reform within the donor community. The affected institutions have included the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the President's Department (otherwise known as the Central Intelligence Organisation), the Zimbabwe Prison Service and a range of parastatals, including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has been particularly targeted by Minister Biti as most recently demonstrated by the minister's infantile reaction to the release of US$512 million by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the Bank.
3. Since the signing of the GPA, the MDC-T has pursued the negative politics of patronage by putting positions above policies in a shameless quest to secure jobs for the Prime Minister's inner circle elements of which are already being paid huge top-up salaries by foreign governments that are known to be hostile to Zimbabwe as a nation.
It is instructive to take each of the above four factors further. A great deal has already been said over the last six months about the weakness, irrelevances and even fallacies of the MDC-T’s emphasis on patronage positions as very important outstanding GPA issues when the contrary is true. Many in and outside Zimbabwe have gotten tired about the MDC-T’s noise over Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana as alleged outstanding GPA issues.
The fact that Prime Minister Tsvangirai pumped up the volume last week on these two issues in the hope of influencing this week’s Sadc Summit on the matter shows that, apart from apparently being wilfully ignorant of the GPA provisions on political grounds, the Prime Minister still suffers from the mistaken notion that the Sadc Summit can or should function as a human resources department for member states.
4. Sadc leaders should understand that the proposition that President Robert Mugabe should appoint six provincial governors from the MDC formations is inherently absurd insofar as it fails to appreciate that provincial governors are, in fact, an integral and therefore indivisible part of the President in his capacity as Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces. Provincial governors do in the provinces what the President does nationally, including officiating at national events. This matter is so straightforward that there is no need to belabour it.
Indeed, regional leaders meeting in Kinshasa must be particularly aware that the GPA is silent about provincial governors as are all Sadc communiqués on the Zimbabwean situation before and after the signing of the GPA.
As for the swearing in of Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister, the less said about it the better. His role in the Rhodesian army during the liberation struggle and the atrocities he allegedly committed are not things to be taken lightly.
As for the Governor of the Central Bank or the Attorney-General, their appointments are made by the President in his capacity as Head of State and head of Government in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the land. This cannot be news to the Sadc leaders because the situation is the same in the countries they lead.
Apart from the fact that Gono and Tomana are not mentioned in the GPA, the more relevant and more important fact is that the legal processes of appointing both of them were actually done and completed well before September 15 2008 when Zanu PF and the two MDC formations signed the GPA. As such, how can the GPA determine the fate of constitutional and legal appointments that predate it?
In any event, everybody knows from the public record that the only reference to the appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney-General is under paragraph 7(vi) of the Communique of Sadc’s Extraordinary Summit held between January 26 and 27, 2009 which simply said “the appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney-General will be dealt with by the inclusive Government after its formation”.
There are three points about that communique which should be highlighted to put paid to the matter. First, it was a Press statement and not a legally binding document. Second, it clearly stated that the matter of the appointments of the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the Attorney-General would be addressed by the coalition government and not by Sadc, not by the three political parties that signed the GPA and not by anyone else. This means that only daydreamers will expect this week’s Sadc Summit to deal with those appointments.
Third, the coalition government has since its formation dealt with the appointments in question by advising Prime Minister Tsvangirai and the new Cabinet of how the appointments were done in terms of the Constitution and the laws of the land well before the signing of the GPA. There is no other way the matter can be dealt with. The fact that the MDC-T or any other political party that signed the GPA may not be satisfied with the Government's position as taken and explained by President Robert Mugabe in his capacity as Head of State and Head of Government is irrelevant and cannot be a Sadc issue.
It should, therefore, be now obvious even to incorrigible partisans that the issue of the legality of the appointments of Gono and Tomana, which were actually finalised before the GPA was even signed, will be dead and buried after the Kinshasa 2009 Sadc Summit and will thereafter be raised by dilettantes.
But of course, as long as he remains Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gono will also remain a target of Finance Minister Biti's personal attacks designed to weaken the Reserve Bank as a national institution, which the MDC-T is bent on destroying by hook or crook. After spending the last six months promising everyone who could hear that he would remove Gono from the office of Governor and that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would not receive a cent from any Western donor or multilateral organisation as long as he remained in charge of Treasury, Minister Biti got a shock of his troubled life and raved and ranted mad when the IMF released US$512 million in unconditional funds to Zimbabwe through the Reserve Bank, which is still under Gono’s watch.
That single IMF action-which was in fact part of a global action that variously and unconditionally benefited all IMF members including the likes of Myanmar, Iran, Sudan and Somalia-exposed Minister Biti's personalised lie that no donor would put a cent to the Reserve Bank for any reason and under any circumstance as long as Gono was Governor. The IMF has not just put a cent but has actually put a whooping US$512 million to inject much needed liquidity in the economy as part of a global effort to energise the ailing economies of all members of the Fund by helping them deal with the effects of the global economic meltdown.
Last Friday some confused and rather incompetent United States diplomats and foreign media correspondents in Harare sought to give false comfort to Minister Biti by either falsely claiming that the IMF had not included Zimbabwe in the general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) disbursed to members or childishly misleading gullible journalists that SDRs are not real money and that while Zimbabwe had been given SDRs the Reserve Bank would not be able to redeem them into Obama dollars without the approval of Minister Biti who had allegedly secured support from American and British diplomats to block any effort to turn the SDRs into real money.
This week’s Sadc Summit in Kinshasa should be fully advised of what the MDC-T has done on this matter through Minister Biti's reckless bid to deny Zimbabwe its due allocation as a member of the IMF when other countries that are members of the Fund, including some with arrears and other issues, were receiving their allocation without any condition whatsoever.
Sadc should understand that the GPA and the coalition government will not succeed with a Minister of Finance who has no qualms about abusing his position to connive with foreign diplomats to harm the country's Reserve Bank, economy and national security. Resolving this issue is more important than the MDC-T's patronage quest for personal positions in the coalition government.
The bottom line that is now very clear is that Zimbabwe does not have a suitable and mature Minister of Finance with the necessary integrity and presence of mind to deal with the challenges at stake. If Sadc leaders do not understand this because of the false MDC-T noise about alleged outstanding GPA issues, they will never understand anything about today's problems in Zimbabwe.
Governor Gono and his Reserve Bank team do not need Minister Biti's continued personal vilification. Instead, they deserve to be commended for having acted outside the box to keep Zimbabwe's membership in the IMF when the country faced compulsory expulsion in 2006. Had the country been expelled then, something which the MDC T vigorously campaigned for, the US$512 million allocated last week would have been out of the question.
Those NGOs, universities and private companies that had their Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) raided or whose funds were in any way used to bailout Zimbabwe at its dire moment of need now have a reasonable and legitimate expectation to be reimbursed what is legally due to them. The same goes for ordinary people whose Zimbabwe dollar accounts have been erased by the multi-currency dispensation.
Because Minister Biti has shown his malafides, to the point of seeking to block the unconditional funds due to Zimbabwe from the IMF, it would be a fatal mistake for the State to allow him anywhere near the disbursement of the US$512 million. His intentions are now compromised and he can no longer be trusted. Instead, the decision on how to use the IMF funds should be made by the principals in government under President Mugabe's watch who in turn should give instructions to Treasury and the Reserve Bank with the approval of Cabinet. The matter is just too important and the stakes too high to be left to a "kiya-kiya" show.
But the one development in Zimbabwe which is potentially more serious than the illegal economic sanctions and which the Sadc meeting in Kinshasa must nip in the bud before it gets out of hand and sets a bad precedent is that the country now has two opposed governments in gross violation of not only the GPA but the Constitution of the land thereby raising dangerous national security issues.
Slowly but effectively, the Prime Minister’s office has since February used the false and misleading rhetoric of alleged outstanding GPA to evolve into a government within a government with the financial and intelligence support of the very same American and European countries that have sanctions in place and are now using the GPA as a new tool for illegal regime change under the cover of calls for constitutional, political and media reforms.
While the evidence of a government within the government that is being setup by the MDC-T is already gathering like the clouds of a clear storm, some of its signposts include the fact that Prime Minister Tsvangirai's office now has civil servants who are paid top up salaries by agents of various hostile foreign governments including USAID. Some of these are working on the Prime Minister's partisan Newsletter and are reportedly being paid some US$700 a week while their Co-ordinator, Andrew Chadwick, and other directors-such as a well known lady lawyer who left a high paying job at Artherstone and Cook to join the Prime Minister's legal team-are earning at least US$7 000.00.
This has divided MDC-T ranks and raised national security eyebrows. To manage the growing internal grumbling, the highly paid civil servants in the Prime Minister's office have made a Machiavellian offer to top up the salaries of MDC-T Cabinet Ministers and MPs, but the offer remains a pie in the sky.
In a dramatic development, Jacob Mafume who has been the American Embassy’s MDC-T link person under the payroll of USAID is now moving to the Prime Minister's office with his current remuneration package or better to scale up his work in the MDC-T's subversive government within the coalition government. In Bulawayo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office-Gorden Moyo-has setup an illegal office of the Prime Minister manned by one Dumisani Matshazi outside the official government structures at the premises of Bulawayo Agenda, an NGO that is heavily funded by USAID to promote the MDC-T’s government within the inclusive government in Matabeleland.
Anywhere else in the world, any civil servant who gets a secret top up salary from a foreign government would be prosecuted for treason.
What the MDC-T has established in the Prime Minister's office is similar to how whites in the Rhodesian civil service were paid higher salaries than their black counterparts for doing similar or less work. What is particularly disturbing is that the Prime Minister's civil servants are paid at least ten times what their colleagues in the rest of the government are getting with teachers and health workers getting peanuts.
Rather than listening to his misleading rhetoric about what he alleges to be outstanding GPA issues, Sadc leaders meeting in Kinshasa should ask Prime Minister Tsvangirai in the name of good governance why he is setting up a parallel government in his office and why hostile foreign countries are funding that government which is beyond the oversight of Zimbabweans, Sadc and the African Union.
______________
*Professor Jonathan Moyo is a former Minister of Information and Publicity and is an independent legislator for Tsholotsho North.
Labels: ANDREW CHADWICK, COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, DRC, JONATHAN MOYO, KINSHASA, MDC, MDC CORRUPTION, SADC, SANCTIONS, USAID, ZDERA
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Mugabe, Sadc to call for end to sanctions
Nancy Pasipanodya
Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:37:00 +0000
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is in the Democratic Republic of Congo to attend the 29th Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit, where he will call for an end to illegal sanctions imposed by the West on Zimbabwe.
He left Harare yesterday for the DRC capital Kinshasa, where he joins other Sadc leaders for the meeting.
President Mugabe was seen off at the Harare International Airport by vice president Joice Mujuru, senior government ministers, service chiefs and senior government officials.
The summit which begins today and runs until tomorrow will focus on hot spots in the region such as Madagascar, the DRC, among others.
President Mugabe is expected to speak against the continued illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe and how they are threatening the survival of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
African leaders will step up calls for an end to illegal Western sanctions against Zimbabwe and will urge South Africa to plead Zimbabwe’s cause within the Group of 20 industrial and emerging nations, officials said.
“We are convinced that if sanctions are lifted, Zimbabwe, within the framework of its current political agreement, will have the possibility to move toward development,” said Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba of Congo.
“We will also ask South Africa, which is the only sub-Saharan African country that is a member of the G20, to plead for Zimbabwe’s cause,” said Mwamba, whose country is taking over the chairmanship of the development community and is hosting its summit meeting in Kinshasa starting Monday.
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, on his recent visit to Zimbabwe, called on the West to repeal the sanctions.
South African president Jacob Zuma who is the current chairman of SADC will handover the chairmanship of the regional body to DRC president Joseph Kabila.
Meanwhile, vice president Mujuru is the acting president.
Labels: MUGABE, SADC, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Zanu PF not finished: Sekeramayi
Ralph Mutema
Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:23:00 +0000
STATE Security Minister and Marondera-Wedza Senator Sydney Sekeramayi says those people who fantasized about the demise of Zanu PF were wasting their time and that the party has started emerging from its misfortunes and regrouping to reclaim its glory.
Speaking at victory celebrations for Marondera West Member of the House of Assembly Ambrose Mutinhiri at Mahusekwa Growth Point last weekend, Sekeramayi said people should not underestimate the capacity of Zanu PF to emerge from problems.
He said the party had faced many challenges since its formation, but has always emerged victorious.
"We are a party of strategy. We do not manage our party in public; but we consider our misfortunes and find ways to navigate them."
Sekeramayi also said the MDC party led by Morgan Tsvangirai must call for the removal of illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe so that efforts by the political leadership to improve the livelihoods of ordinary people can bear fruit.
He said it was now time to be frank about the fact that it was the MDC that called for sanctions against Zimbabwe, and therefore that party should call for their removal.
"Sanctions should go and those who called for them must call for their removal. Without beating about the bush, MDC must call for the removal of the illegal sanctions as they have retarded development," he said.
Sekeramayi said those who thought Zanu PF was finished were wasting their time because the party would emerge stronger from its problems.
The party, he said, was working on addressing the problems that led to its bad performance in last year’s harmonised elections.
He said it was the party’s wish that Zimbabweans own the means of production and natural resources so that the profits would be ploughed back into national development.
"The country’s development will never be championed by foreigners but should be a result of our sweat and blood, hence the reason why people like Cde Mutinhiri took up arms to fight the unjust colonial system," he said.
Sekeramayi said the Zanu PF leadership should always strive to work for the people and help improve the lives of those in their communities if they were to retain their trust and respect.
He added that party members should iron out their differences and seek to regain parliamentary seats lost in last year’s elections.
"Let us be a party that understands the problems of our people. Day in and day out, party leaders in the districts, provinces and at national level should work towards improving the lives of our people regardless of party affiliation."
He said Mutinhiri’s history was clear for everyone to see and it was important that younger generations emulate such dedication to national causes.
Mutinhiri is credited with recruiting and training many freedoms fighters among them the late national hero Akin Ndlovu, Retired Zimbabwe National Army Commander General Solomon Mujuru, and Bulawayo Metropolitan Governor and Resident Minister Cain Matema among others, during his stint as Commander of Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army.
Zipra was the military wing of Zapu.
Labels: SYDNEY SEKERAMAYI, ZANU-PF
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It’s not right to use state institutions to control the press, says Milupi
Written by Ernest Chanda
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:15:19 PM
LUENA Independent member of parliament Charles Milupi (right) has observed that currently there is a trend of muzzling the private media in the country using state institutions. In an interview, Milupi who is also parliamentary public accounts committee chairperson said the trend was synonymous with the one party state, which ended in 1991.
"It is not right to use state institutions to control the press. We need to go back to our recent history as a country. In the one party state no dissenting view was accommodated, until people got fed up and fought that. People fought for a democratic dispensation, which also implied a free press. You know we have three arms of government: the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. And it is often said that the fourth estate are the press," Milupi said.
"Now if you try to muzzle the press using state institutions and statutory regulation then you are being undemocratic. We are talking about development, but how can we develop if the press are muzzled? The more free the press is, the more development we shall see in the nation. Now you can't start using state institutions to muzzle the press. We are the state, and speaking for myself I'm not in support of muzzling the press. So, those doing it are not representing us the state but themselves. It is an old-fashioned tactic."
Milupi said those talking about development should also understand that the media were partners in the process.
"You cannot develop a society without understanding what the people want; you only understand that when the press bring it out. And just because you as the Executive you have the majority in Parliament then you say 'we regulate the media through a statutory body', that's wrong. Sometimes I get surprised by the state media, which carry huge reactions to stories they do not originate. You find that they didn't publish the story in the first place, but they just give a huge reaction. It all points to manipulation from those in authority; and this should not be the case," he said.
Milupi said gagging the media was a serious drawback to the one party state.
"I know I'm talking to you [this reporter] from The Post. But even then I will say 'let us remember where we have come from and what The Post has done in contributing to democracy'. In my view if The Post was not involved in 1991 we could still be in the one party state because there was no any other voice besides government media. Zambians must recognise that muzzling the press is a drawback to one party," he said.
Milupi said the media had always played a very big role in exposing economic evils.
"We have always talked about prudent use of our resources in the country. And is it not the press who have been exposing economic scandals? Recently the nation was informed about the Ministry of Health scam by the press, and people across the country reacted. Now just because you do not agree with the media in one way then you say we are going to regulate them or suppress them, it's wrong," said Milupi.
"Even me, there are times when I have not agreed with The Post. Sometimes they have hammered me but I've not advocated for statutory media regulation or suppression. Right now the poor people of Limulunga whom I represent are able to know about what's happening in the country because of The Post. And I urge you people to do more so that all the rural people are well informed. So those trying to muzzle the press are like the one cutting his nose because he thinks it shouldn't be the way it is; then later he realises that he has hurt himself."
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, PRESS FREEDOM, THE POST
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Chiluba’s press aide accuses The Post of inciting Zambians against Chiluba
Written by Henry Chibulu in Mazabuka
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:13:46 PM
FORMER president Frederick Chiluba's press aide Emmanuel Mwamba has accused The Post of publishing stories that incite Zambians to rise against Chiluba. Featuring on Mazabuka Radio's Live Wire programme on yesterday, Mwamba accused the media of having contributed largely to the negative public perception of Chiluba.
Mwamba singled out The Post as one media institution that published stories that promoted hatred, division and bitterness. He claimed that The Post published lies and half-truths about Chiluba.
However, Mwamba said he was happy that the truth about Chiluba had come out and that Zambians were aware of who was telling lies and the truth.
Mwamba said the media in the country did not play its role of informing and educating the public because of the manner in which stories on allegations of thefts of public funds were published.
He claimed that the diet of information given to the public was not balanced, saying the biased media coverage resulted in stories being contaminated with wrong facts.
Mwamba urged the media to be responsible and objective in their reporting to avoid distorting facts.
He said Chiluba would not engage in legal battles with The Post because he regarded the attacks on him as trivial.
He said Chiluba would direct his energies towards fighting big battles in the courts of law.
Mwamba said he did not feel sorry for former Task Force on Corruption executive chairman Max Nkole following his dismissal because he fraudulently appealed against Chiluba's judgment contrary to the Director of Public Prosecutions' advice.
He alleged that Nkole used lawlessness to prosecute Chiluba.
Mwamba said Nkole would have used proper channels to appeal against Chiluba's acquittal if he meant well.
"Zambians are asking: why was Nkole so desperate to appeal when he had no powers to do so? Director of Public Prosecutions with whom the Constitution vests powers on advised him to wait, but what did we see? Nkole appealing the following day. This was illegal because he wanted to fraudulently break the law in an attempt to convict Dr Chiluba," Mwamba said.
He dismissed claims by some callers to the programme that the government had a hand in the outcome of Chiluba's corruption case.
He said such claims were being perpetuated by Chiluba's enemies.
And Mwamba said the demand for the immediate restoration of Chiluba's immunity should not be taken as an act of desperation but a constitutional entitlement.
He said the Constitution allowed Chiluba to enjoy his immunity especially that he no longer faced a criminal charge following his acquittal by Ndola High Court registrar Jones Chinyama.
Some callers to the programme asserted that Chiluba was panicking and that his immunity should not be restored because the London High Court found him guilty.
In response, Mwamba said Chiluba did not recognise the legality of the London High Court judgment, saying that particular judgment was a civil matter which could not affect the application for the restoration of his immunity even if it were registered.
Mwamba urged Zambians to forget the past, forge ahead, accept and respect the verdict of the court and support Chiluba's bid to have his immunity restored.
"This country ought to use this opportunity of the verdict that acquitted Dr Chiluba to close the matter and work towards nation healing, discussing the past will not help the country," he said.
Mwamba said many Zambians did not want to pursue the Chiluba case further because they wanted to see the development of the country.
He said only a few political enemies wanted to see Chiluba prosecuted to the grave.
He said the country could not afford to lag behind in terms of development simply because Chiluba's political enemies wanted him convicted at all cost.
Mwamba said the eight-year trial had not only been difficult for Chiluba, but had serious effects on the country's key economic sectors such as agriculture, road infrastructure and the rise in poverty levels.
He said Zambians needed to close the matter and concentrate on developing the nation and reduce the high poverty levels instead of the witch-hunting being perpetrated by Chiluba's enemies.
Mwamba said the pressure being mounted on the government to appeal against the court judgement would only slow the development process of the country.
"This country is beset with huge problems in the agriculture sector, roads are dilapidated, poverty levels are high, so why should we spend a lot of time discussing Dr Chiluba instead tackling these problems?'' Mwamba asked.
He further disclosed that Chiluba was ready to contribute an air ticket to former foreign affairs minister Mundia Sikatana to travel to the Bahamas to retrieve the US $90 million he accused Chiluba of having stashed.
According to Mwamba, Sikatana informed the nation that he knew where the money was kept and would bring it back to Zambia if given an opportunity during the time he served as minister under late president Levy Mwanawasa.
"We are wondering why the government at that time did not facilitate the travel arrangement for Mr Sikatana to go and bring the money back for the poor Zambians. However, we are ready to contribute an air ticket for him to bring back the money that belongs to the people of Zambia," Mwamba said.
He alleged that Sikatana rudely ruined Chiluba's life after retiring by issuing alarming statements on allegations of theft of public funds.
However, Mwamba said Chiluba planned to engage in resolving conflicts in the region and other duties but could not do so because of the vicious allegations aimed at bringing him down by his political enemies.
However, several callers to the programme said they were not happy with the acquittal of Chiluba.
Labels: CHILUBA, EMMANUEL MWAMBA, THE POST
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Zimbabwe's neighbours to seek end to sanctions
Written by Joe Bavier
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:08:21 PM
KINSHASA (Reuters) - African leaders will step up calls on Monday for an end to Western sanctions against Zimbabwe and urge South Africa to plead Harare's cause within the Group of 20 rich and developing nations, officials said.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries would also press Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to end a row over a power-sharing pact that was holding up vital foreign aid, said the officials.
"We are convinced that if sanctions are lifted, Zimbabwe, within the framework of its current political agreement, will have the possibility to move towards development," said Congolese Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba.
"We will also ask South Africa, which is the only sub-Saharan African country that is a member of the G20, to plead for Zimbabwe's cause," said Mwamba, whose country is taking over the SADC chair and hosting the meeting in Kinshasa.
South African President Jacob Zuma is being watched for signs he will take a tougher line than predecessor Thabo Mbeki over Mugabe, who has been hit by EU and U.S. sanctions including a travel ban for alleged rights abuses and vote-rigging.
Last month, Zuma called on the West to repeal the sanctions. But in what sounded like a tougher tone on Mugabe, he also stressed the need for respect of democracy and human rights.
A recovery in Zimbabwe's battered economy is important for South Africa because millions have been driven to seek work in their much wealthier neighbour. Zimbabwe says it needs $10 billion in foreign reconstruction aid, but Western nations are reluctant to release aid without political and economic reform.
Mugabe and long-time foe Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government in February as part of a SADC-backed deal to end a political crisis that followed disputed polls last year.
The agreement called for Tsvangirai to condemn the sanctions and call for them to be dropped, as SADC's 15 member countries have already pledged to do.
But the power-sharing deal is beset with problems.
Tsvangirai's MDC party accuses Mugabe's ZANU-PF of failing to honour an agreement to reverse the appointments of political allies to key posts. ZANU-PF, in turn, has charged that the MDC has not done enough to have the sanctions lifted.
Labels: ALEXIS THAMBWE MWAMBA, DRC, SADC, SANCTIONS, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE
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Rupiah in DRC for SADC talks
Written by Staff Reporter
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:06:55 PM
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda this morning left for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to attend the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) heads of State and government summit. President Banda will only attend today’s sessions of the two-day Ordinary SADC Summit and immediately return to Lusaka in view of the death of Local Government and Housing minister, Benny Tetamashimba.
This is according to a statement by special assistant to the President for Press and public relations, Dickson Jere in Lusaka yesterday.
The president is expected to officially handover his role in the SADC Troika as per custom following the expiry of his term in the organ while new members will be picked at the Kinshasa summit.
Meanwhile, President Banda has also clarified that South African president, Jacob Zuma, will be coming to Zambia for a State visit in December as opposed to September as reported in the media.
He said President Zuma would visit Zambia from December 8 to 10 2009.
Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, DICKSON JERE, RUPIAH BANDA, SADC
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US following Chiluba’s acquittal with interest – Booth
Written by George Chellah
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:05:36 PM
UNITED States Ambassador to Zambia Donald Booth has stated that the US government is following events connected with the Frederick Chiluba criminal judgment and the Task Force on Corruption with great interest. And Ambassador Booth stated that Americans believe a free and independent press, one that is able to question and criticise government actions and policies, is fundamental to any democracy.
Responding to a press query from The Post, Ambassador Booth stated that the Zambian people have a right to honest and effective stewardship of Zambia's public resources.
"The Zambian government's pursuit of criminal and civil cases against former president Frederick Chiluba and other senior government officials demonstrated seriousness about combating corruption and that no one should be considered above the law," Ambassador Booth stated.
"We are following events connected with the Chiluba criminal judgment and the Task Force on Corruption with great interest. What is important is that serious efforts to combat corruption at all levels continue to be pursued vigorously and effectively. We have an ongoing dialogue with the government on corruption."
And Ambassador Booth stated that the United States supports all those who stand for free, responsible and independent press.
"Americans believe a free and independent press, one that is able to question and criticize government actions and policies, is fundamental to any democracy. It is important that Zambians inform themselves, debate the issues and advocate for the media freedoms they desire," Ambassador Booth stated. "I'm also including the following quote made by US President Barack Obama on World Press Freedom Day: '... in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (is) the fundamental principle that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.'"
Meanwhile, National Energy Sector and Allied Workers Union (NESAWU) general secretary Yotam Mtayachalo advised Chiluba to humble himself.
"I would like to take this opportunity to advise former president Chiluba to humble himself before the Zambian people after his acquittal than entangle himself in a number of issues which may send wrong signals to the outside world. Dr Chiluba should not start to make demands because it is premature for him to do so and should let the dust to settle," Mtayachalo said. "It is premature in the sense that we have been told that there are a number of pending cases of alleged embezzlement of public funds. I feel most Zambians would be happy to see Dr Chiluba being cleared of these serious allegations of corruption which were levelled against him by the state. I strongly feel that allegations of US $20 million arms deal, Carlington maize and colbalt scams and proceeds of privatisation funds are serious issues of national interests which cannot just die a natural death."
He said it would be to his advantage if Chiluba was cleared of the allegations because that was the only way he could restore his damaged reputation.
"I would be happy if he can help the government to shade more light on these allegations so that the money can be recovered. I want also to advise the government to handle Dr Chiluba's US $8.5 million claim and the restoration of his immunity with a lot of caution to avoid sending a wrong signal to the people of Zambia and the donor community because such a move if not properly handled may boomerang. There is a lot of resentment on the Zambian streets concerning this matter and my humble advice to our government is that extra care must be exercised before entertaining such a request," Mtayachalo said. "I agree with people who have the view that Dr Chiluba must provide proof on how he acquired that money. So that neither himself nor the people of Zambia are disadvantaged especially that the said money is in the government account. If the money was donated by well-wishers, we need to know whether it was donated to the party or the state. I believe that donations received by the President is done so on behalf of the party or the state and cannot be a property of an individual.
"This is probably the more reason why Dr Chiluba's government grabbed the vehicles from former President Kaunda which were donated to him by the late Iraq president Saddam Hussein. His government is also on record of having converted new UNIP headquarters along Independence Avenue in Lusaka because we were told to believe it was built out of public funds."
He said if Chiluba was given back the US $8.5 million and his immunity restored without satisfactory explanations, it would be a very sad development.
"And a huge setback to the fight against corruption especially that government recently launched the national anti corruption policy. Dr Kaunda spent 27 years in State House but did not have such money and it therefore calls for Dr Chiluba to disclose the sources of that money he is claiming," said Mtayachalo.
"Giving that money to him without proof will be setting a bad precedent for the nation in the sense that any future President may also claim having put his or her money in the Zamtrop account and will be a recipe of corruption."
Labels: CHILUBA, DONALD BOOTH, TASK FORCE, USA
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Rupiah is scared of PF-UPND pact – HH
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:03:34 PM
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said that President Rupiah Banda is very scared of 2011 because of the PF-UPND pact. Addressing a rally at Ndola's Masala ground on Saturday, Hichilema said the PF-UPND pact was here to stay and would achieve its purpose because it was people-driven.
Hichilema said time for the MMD government to pack and go had come, adding that Zambians were tired of the MMD government. He said Zambia had been independent for the past 45 years but people were living in poverty.
"... Our children are not in schools, youths have no jobs, mothers cannot feed their children because their husbands have no jobs," worried Hichilema.
Hichilema wondered how a civil servant such as a teacher could get K1 million when the President was getting so many millions per month.
"How can a doctor treat you well when you are sick when he is not paid well? This is why we want the MMD out, PF-UPND pact to rule this country. Rupiah Banda and Kunda are so much worried about the pact, this is why they are saying the pact is for Bembas and Tongas only, no that is not true, twakana! The pact is for Zambians in all the nine provinces," he said.
Hichilema said people should ignore remarks made by the MMD against the pact and instead make the pact more stronger.
"The pact is here to remove the nonsense. I want to remind Rupiah Banda that those who rule by the sword would be removed out by the sword," he said.
Hichilema also urged the police not to be used by the government in harassing those who have different views from that of President Banda's government.
He promised that once the PF-UPND forms government, police and soldiers would have their salaries increased.
Hichilema also said that the extension of the National Constitution Conference sittings was a disaster.
Speaking during a special programme on Radio Icengelo on Saturday evening, Hichilema said the extension of the NCC sittings had gobbled about K1 trillion.
He said President Banda and his vice, Kunda, were giving contradictory statements over the period on which the NCC should conclude its business.
Hichilema also bemoaned the high levels of unemployment on the Copperbelt Province.
"The population of the Copperbelt is the number one, and it is number one to have lost jobs, a few that are employed are now looking after huge families coupled with the factor of HIV/AIDS which has the devastating effects," he said.
He said that the MMD administration was interfering in the operations of the judiciary and the police as evidenced in the manner it had acted in the beatings of journalists and former Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) workers whose benefits were withheld by Barclays Bank.
Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PF-UPND, RUPIAH BANDA
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Maureen refutes Times story on 2011 presidential ambition
Written by Ernest Chanda
Monday, September 07, 2009 3:02:01 PM
FORMER first lady Maureen Mwanawasa (above) has said she wants to live a private and quiet life away from politics.
Clarifying the lead story published in the Times of Zambia on September 4, 2009 where she was quoted as having said that she would vie for the Republican Presidency in 2016 and that she currently backed President Rupiah Banda for the 2011 election, Maureen said politics was not a priority in her daily life.
"I want to put matters clear and state that I was misquoted by the Times of Zambia Newspaper dated Friday, September 4th 2009 with a headline MAUREEN EYES PRESIDENCY...backs Banda For 2011 Polls. The news has traumatised me, my family and friends as it has painted me as being active in politics and being judged as such," she said. "I want to state that I want to live a private and quiet life away from political limelight and acclamatise especially after the demise of my late husband. I do not want to discuss politics as priority in my daily life and I want to be left alone to concentrate on my family welfare."
Maureen said she only told the reporter that she had interest in leading the country but that she did not know when the opportunity would come.
"I confirm that I had an interview with Sam Phiri a reporter from Times of Zambia on 31st August 2009 at my office and this was upon their request that I give a story on how life has been since my late husband's death, president Mwanawasa. I gave my story and in conclusion he asked me whether I had any political ambition," she narrated.
"My response was clear and precise to the effect that what I had was a passion to one day lead this country but that I do not know when such an opportunity would occur. I remain a committed MMD member. The reporter said that the story would be published as a feature and as a build-up to the speech I gave on 19th August 2009 during the memorial service of the late president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC."
She explained that she was later called by the same reporter to redo the interview another day so that it could be recorded.
"Two days later, Mr Phiri telephoned me to inform me that his boss Mrs [Janet] Ilunga will not publish the story because it was not recorded on tape and that he wanted another opportunity to repeat the interview and this time on tape. My response was simple, I told him that I was quite busy until after 3rd September 2009 and that I would phone him to agree on the time and date. He agreed and told me that the first interview will be put away since it was not taped. I agreed to that arrangement," Maureen said.
She said she was surprised to see the story in the newspaper despite the earlier arrangement that the interview be redone.
"To my surprise and disbelief, I saw the said shouting and disturbing headline in the Times of Zambia. Immediately I phoned Mr Phiri to express my belief and disappointment and asked him at what point did I express[ly] say what they had quoted. I demanded an apology," she said.
Maureen said despite her demand for an apology from the newspaper, she could not get one.
"I was annoyed with him and I was made to speak to his boss Mrs Ilunga [to] whom I expressed my disappointment and asked for an apology for the misrepresentation. Mrs Ilunga told me that it was not possible for them to carry an apology but that my feature story would cure the misrepresentation the following day," she explained.
"The feature was carried in [the] Times of Zambia on 5th September 2009, but it did not cure the misrepresentation and many people did not even read it."
She said she has been forced to speak out through another medium because the Times of Zambia had chosen not to correct the misrepresentation.
"Efforts to get the Times newspaper to apologise have been futile. I have decided to explain this issue in detail with another media because the Times of Zambia is adamant to make my position clear. The media should also not make capital out of a misrepresentation," said Maureen.
On Friday last week, Maureen was quoted in the Times of Zambia as having said that she would stand for the 2016 presidency.
The newspaper also quoted her as having said that she supported President Banda's sole candidature for the 2011 election.
Labels: MAUREEN MWANAWASA, MMD, RUPIAH BANDA
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Magande asks govt to state its position on acquittal
Written by Patson Chilemba and George Chellah
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:58:23 PM
CHILANGA MMD member of parliament Ng'andu Magande yesterday asked the government to tell the nation whether they will appeal against former president Frederick Chiluba's acquittal or not.
And Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) has challenged the High Court to exercise its supervisory jurisdiction embedded in the Constitution on Chiluba's case since the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has decided not to appeal.
In an interview, Magande, who is former finance minister, said the nation was in the dark on the way forward regarding Chiluba's acquittal.
He said time was running out but there seemed to be no urgency from the government to tell the people on what the way forward was.
"Just to say we must be told whether they [government] will appeal or not. Otherwise telling us 'the DPP is studying' is not the case. How long does it take to study a case?" Magande asked.
He said renowned legal experts had expressed their views on the matter, and that it should be determined by the courts of law at the highest level.
"Perhaps government should accede to that and allow the process of the law. The process of the law should be allowed to determine the matter," said Magande.
Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata said PF had sought a judicial review in the High Court over the matter because it was clear that Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga was not studying the judgment.
Sata said it was clear that Mchenga had already made up his mind on the issue.
"So we shall wait for the court action," said Sata.
Last week, Mchenga was quoted in the Times of Zambia as having said the state would not challenge the acquittal of Chiluba because the appeal was unlikely to be successful.
Mchenga said the evidence before court showed that the Zamtrop account from which Chiluba was alleged to have stolen about US $500,000 received money from sources other than the government.
"An appeal should only be made when there is a likelihood of it succeeding. Appealing because of concerns of members of the public without regard to the likelihood of success is actually an abuse of the judicial process," he said.
Mchenga said there was evidence before court that money in excess of US $8.5 million was paid into the Zamtrop account from other sources and Chiluba said some money had been placed into the account on his behalf.
He said from the evidence before court, it was not clear whether the money the accused persons were alleged to have stolen came from the government or other sources.
"To resolve the difficulty, the court relied on the well-established principle of criminal law that where two or more inferences can be drawn from a set of facts, the court must adopt one which is more favourable to an accused person if there is nothing to exclude such an inference," Mchenga said.
He said the inference favourable to Chiluba in this case was that the money drawn was from private sources.
"This being the case, the court had no option but to acquit him because the money he had drawn was not public money," he said.
Mchenga said while public concern could be a basis for instituting criminal investigations, it cannot be the basis for instituting a criminal prosecution or appealing against an acquittal.
However, Lifuka yesterday urged High Court judge-in-charge Essau Chulu to call the case of Chiluba's acquittal.
He said the state was not being truthful concerning Chiluba's acquittal by Ndola High Court registrar Jones Chinyama.
Lifuka said the Judiciary could also come in and redeem the situation.
"They [government] are not being sincere. The High Court judges have supervisory jurisdiction, which they can employ in reviewing cases particularly those handed down by the subordinate courts. It's provided for by the law," Lifuka said. "But why are they not doing that? Unless the Judiciary are saying that they are content with Chinyama's judgment. Let the judge-in-charge call the case. There is so much public outcry. It's not just the Director of Public Prosecutions who can try and redeem the situation, even Judiciary can do that."
And in a joint statement issued by Lifuka and TIZ executive director Goodwell Lungu, the duo reaffirmed that the Judiciary must step in.
"Now that the normal fourteen days period for an appeal in the Chiluba V. the People case has elapsed, Transparency International Zambia wishes to appeal to the High Court to exercise its supervisory jurisdiction embedded in Article 94 (7) of the Constitution, Chapter 1 of the laws of Zambia which provides: 'The High Court shall have jurisdiction to supervise any civil or criminal proceedings before any subordinate court ......... and may make such orders, issue such writs and give such directions as it may consider appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that justice is duly administered by any such court'," they stated.
"We are aware as Transparency International Zambia that the Judiciary has in the recent past come under a lot of attack from different sections of our community for seemingly questionable judgments that have come out of our courts in the recent past. We genuinely believe that by the High Court exercising its supervisory powers, the face of the Judiciary can easily be redeemed as the record in the Chiluba case can be set straight by a higher court than the magistrates court.
"Our memories are still fresh on how the High Court exercised its supervisory jurisdiction in the Wilford Funjika V. The People case on 10th March, 2008 when the former Zambia National Service (ZNS) commandant was sent to jail for nine months with hard labour after the Lusaka High Court revoked the suspended sentence the lower court gave him. In that judgment, the High Court noted that although Funjika had at one time served Zambia loyally, diligently and honestly, grand corruption was a serious offence that needed stiff punishment."
The duo stated that their appeal comes in light of the fact that the DPP had exercised his option not to appeal the judgment of the subordinate court.
"We feel that in a country where we have a hierarchical system of courts, we might end up setting a very bad precedent if this matter is left to rest in its current form. We say this because the Subordinate Court is not the final court of jurisdiction in Zambia," the duo stated. "And in the absence of an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the High Court may still exercise its discretion to look at the record of this case and make necessary findings. Further, we appeal to LAZ not to exhibit silence on this matter but provide the necessary legal guidance. We reiterate that in a democratic society, justice must not only be done but must manifestly be seen to be done."
Recently, Chiluba was acquitted by the magistrates court of embezzling public funds. The state subsequently filed a notice of appeal in the matter but Mchenga withdraw it on grounds that it was purported to have been done in his name. Mchenga also said he wanted to study the judgment. Chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha said Mchenga was still studying the matter.
Labels: CHILUBA, MAGANDE, TIZ
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Tetamashimba’s death: a call to reflection
Written by Editor
It is said that life is a terminal illness, we will all go. Today it’s Tetamashimba, tomorrow it’s you. If this is the case, what should death mean to all of us? To answer this question we are reminded of an old Rabbinic teaching, a beautiful one, that just before a person dies, an angel comes to him from Heaven and asks the vital question: “Tell me, is the world a better place because of your life which is about to end? Is the world a better place because of the efforts you exerted? Is the world a better place because you were around?”
We all need to answer this question for ourselves. We could have attempted to answer it for Tetamashimba but we won’t. There are many people in Zambia today who have been trying to answer this question, in one way or another, for Tetamashimba. But it is no use. Tetamashimba is gone. His journey on this earth has ended. No one can add anything or take away anything from Tetamashimba today. This is how final death is. It is definitive. It ends the process we call life.
Death is a mystery – a necessary end of life – and yet as real as life itself. We may not like to think about it but it is as real as the breath you take. It is only a question of time before the announcement is made that this one or that one has died. One day this announcement will be about each one of us. It is no wonder others say death is a great equaliser. You may be rich or poor, great or small, powerful or weak but death will harvest all of us. The passing of somebody that we have known in so many ways – pleasant and unpleasant – and probably taken for granted calls for reflection.
As we have said, we do not think it will serve any purpose to start analysing Tetamashimba now that he is gone. We dealt with that when he was here with us; when he could answer us and explain himself, his mission in all that he was doing. We think that a better purpose is served when we use Tetamashimba’s passing to prepare for our own; to think about our contribution to the collective wellbeing of our country.
We say this because even the Bible reminds us in Ecclesiastes 2:1 that: “Everything that happens in this world happens at a time God chooses. He sets the time for our birth and the time for death…” This fortifies what we are saying. We have to learn to be comfortable with the fact that one day we will die. This will help us to have a realistic view of the things that we do. It will also help us to learn to value things that are important and ignore things that are not important in this life. A correct view of our mortality helps us to direct our energies in the most productive ways. If we know that we are just passing through this world to do our part in the relay of life we will try our best to do those things which are good, which are useful, which are productive, which are enduring.
Although death is a difficult subject to think about, an inevitable reality that is often difficult to accept, it has a sobering effect on all of us. Only idiots cannot be sobered by the reality of death.
Death also helps us to have a helpful attitude towards material possessions and how we acquire them. What is the use of doing all sorts of wrong things to acquire wealth when you can leave it the very next day? None of us can guarantee that we will be around to enjoy the wealth we acquire for ourselves. This is why it is foolish to be a thief, particularly, those thieves who steal from the public and deny many of our people meaningful public services like health, education and other social amenities. Those who want to acquire or have acquired wealth in this way should realise that they are chasing the wind and will never be satisfied, will never be happy, will never be truly happy. The Bible again reminds us in Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 that: “If you love money you will never be satisfied; if you long to be rich you will never get all you want. It is useless. The richer you are the more mouths you will have to feed. All you gain is the knowledge that you are rich. A working man may or may not have enough to eat, but at least he can get a good night’s sleep. A rich man, however, has so much that he stays awake worrying.” This is the reality of life. Living life just to acquire wealth in whatever way you do it may seem profitable but is a bitter pill on the death bed. Nobody ever takes their loot when they die.
Clearly, we should not be afraid of death’s decree. We should always remember that it came to those before us and it will come to those after us. And in the world of the dead no one will care whether you were rich, powerful, a king, a president, a minister.
Public servants have a duty to deliver services to the people they claim to serve. They owe these people loyalty and honesty, sincerity and integrity. As we said at the beginning, we all need to ask ourselves what the use of our lives is to our country. What contribution are we making to our world? When we have finished our journey of life, will it be said that we lived well and contributed to the best of our abilities; the world is a better place because we were here; the world is a better place because of the efforts we exerted? This is a challenge that is upon all of us, but more so, upon public servants. They have taken on responsibilities that require them to make our country better and leave a mark because they existed. They are also required to take the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of everyone of their people, especially those who are poor and afflicted in any way, as their own joys and hopes, sorrows and anxieties.
In this regard, our leaders are expected to carry the burden of delivery on the aspirations of our people. How many of them can say because I have been a minister, or because I have been president my people, my country men and women, boys and girls are better off, are more happier and filled with joy? How many can say with sincerity that they have totally subordinated their personal interests to those of the people? Today we have an army of children growing up without knowing the inside of a classroom. We have mothers giving birth in circumstances that should never exist in our country in this century, almost 45 years after independence. Is there anyone in our government today who can say with utmost sincerity that they have truly dedicated their public service to solving these problems; that they will not allow anything to stand in the way of delivering on these requirements? If such men and women exist in our government we wish them more days. Indeed when the appointment with death comes there will be no shortage of people to eulogise them. These are the types of public servants we want to see. These are the ones our nation needs.
As we said it is not our place to begin to discuss Tetamashimba’s accomplishments or lack of it. We know many things are being said. But for our part, all we can say is that not withstanding the many political battles we engaged in with Tetamashimba on the opposite end he was sometimes kind and humane towards us, even when a lot of his colleagues wanted us crushed. And this can be picked from his last speeches in Solwezi where he praised and sympathised with our work in the fight against corruption.
Like we said before, Tetamashimba’s death is a useful call to reflection. Not so much on Tetamashimba and what he did or did not do. But on what we are doing or not doing.
Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, MMD
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MMD will miss Teta’s aggressiveness – Mulongoti
Written by Patson Chilemba
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:56:01 PM
WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti yesterday said those who had issues with late local government minister Benny Tetamashimba will miss the person they used to have combat with.
Commenting on the death of Tetamashimba who was also the MMD spokesperson, Mulongoti said Tetamashimba feared nobody and the party would miss his aggressiveness.
"What will happen is that they [those who had issues with Tetamashimba] will miss the person whom they used to have combat with as a person. He feared nobody. He took on anybody. So in his absence, there is no one to do combat with," said Mulongoti who is MMD acting spokesperson. "What I will do is to ensure that the things he stood for are not left [behind]."
Mulongoti said the MMD would miss Tetamashimba's truthfulness, fearlessness, hard work and loyalty.
He said it was not possible to find a person who possessed the above attributes.
"It's very sad both at a party and personal level. It is very sad indeed. But we believe God has His own way of doing things. We can't question Him why He has taken him. We are going to give him a dignified send off. He was a good leader," said Mulongoti. "According to state protocol, a Cabinet minister is entitled to one day of national mourning. As a party, we wish his family our condolences."
Tetamashimba died in the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) on Saturday night. Tetamashimba had been evacuated to South Africa for specialist treatment on August 9, 2009 but was brought back to Zambia last week and admitted to the UTH intensive care unit.
Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, MMD
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ZNFU calls for practical approach to small-scale farmers’ problems
Written by Florence Bupe
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:51:50 PM
THE Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has called for a practical approach to problems affecting small-scale farmers in the country.
And Mansa District Farmers Association chairperson George Mwila has urged the government to normalise cross-border trade with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and allow small-scale farmers in the province to export their grain to that country.
Officiating at the launch of the ZNFU regional office in Mansa last Friday, ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said the problems facing the agricultural sector, particularly the small-scale farming community required a massive and decisive joint action by all stakeholders.
“The union has long observed that the problems facing farmers today, which are ranging from production, input access, agricultural finance and marketing are well known but what is lacking is a practical approach to resolve them,” Zimba said. “Put simply, implementation is lacking.”
Zimba said the small-scale farming sector had been strained further through the insistence of the local government ministry to make them pay council levies.
He observed that the use of the levies which the farmers were made to pay remained unclear.
He disclosed that the union had since proposed that 60 per cent of all the council levies received from farmers should go towards the rehabilitation of infrastructure that would benefit the agricultural sector, such as the road network.
“Last year, the union and the local government ministry established a joint working group which reviewed various council levies which farmers are forced to pay. Farmers will agree with me that in the recent past, council levies have become a huge cost being incurred by farmers when transferring their produce to markets,” Zimba said.
He said some district councils were charging as high as K7,000 per 50- kilogramme bag of maize for farmers to get their produce to the market.
Zimba further charged that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) had proved ineffective and incapable in offering market solutions to small-scale farmers.
“FRA both as a strategic food reserve and marketing institution has proved ineffective and incapable in providing market solutions. The problems of marketing have become ancient, perennial and infinitum,” said Zimba.
And Mwila has said DRC offers a ready market for farmers in Luapula Province, and called on the government to facilitate trade between the two regions.
Meanwhile, Luapula Province permanent secretary Jazzman Chikwakwa has called for the speedy payment of farmers’ dues to allow them to access farming inputs for the next season.
Labels: DRC, FARMERS, GEORGE MWILA, JAZZMAN CHIKWAKWA, JERVIS ZIMBA, LEVIES, ZNFU
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Mhango urges caution on Zamtel privatization
Written by Florence Bupe
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:49:44 PM
STANDARD Bank South Africa head of Africa Research Group Economics Yvonne Mhango has said privatisation could work positively for the economy if implemented cautiously with the involvement of all stakeholders.
Commenting on the pending partial privatisation of Zamtel, Mhango said if the concept was implemented with care through the proper channels, it could help address the inefficiencies that exist in parastatal institutions.
“There are some pluses that come with privatisation. Getting the private sector involved in the running of key institutions against state management could help address the inefficiencies that exist in state-owned companies,” she said.
She said the government should clarify to the public the steps being taken in the privatisation process, adding that there should be assurance from government over concerns being raised, such as security.
Mhango said a responsible government should not go ahead to privatise an institution if such an action poses serious security risks to the nation.
“Government should gauge the security risks involved in the sale of this entity, if this is one of the concerns being raised by stakeholders,” Mhango said.
“I don’t see why government should privatise an institution if it’s a move that will compromise the security of the state, unless it is a corrupt government that is after making money.”
She hoped the partial privatisation of Zamtel would improve the service delivery in the communications sector.
“As consumers, we need an efficient, aggressive and innovative service, which is something that’s not so present in most parastatals. Privatisation, in most cases, also helps enhance competitions,” she said.
However, Mhango expressed concern at the job losses that may come with the move to privatise the institution.
“The retrenchments that may come with the sale of Zamtel are a big concern. Government has to decide on how to address this negative result of the sale of the institution,” said Mhango.
Government is set to privatise 75 per cent of shares in Zamtel to an equity partner to be settled on later.
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, YVONNE MHANGO, ZAMTEL
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Wa Mutharika fails to show up at Kulamba ceremony
Written by Mwala Kalaluka and Christopher Miti in Mkaika, Katete
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:47:52 PM
MALAWIAN President Bingu wa Mutharika, who was expected to grace this year's Kulamba traditional ceremony with President Rupiah Banda in Eastern Province, did not make it but instead sent his local government minister to represent him.
And the Chewa people have maintained that paramount chief Kalonga Gawa Undi is not fit to be called a 'paramount chief' but a king because he rules over 13.5 million people in the three nations.
President Wa Mutharika, who was expected to co-officiate at the 2009 Kulamba ceremony of the people of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, with President Banda, failed to attend and but represented by Malawian local government minister Goodall Gondwe.
The attendance of President Mutharika at this year's ceremony, following last year's unprecedented attendance of presidents from the three countries, was marred with uncertainty.
President Mutharika was expected to arrive in Zambia for the Kulamba Ceremony on Saturday after an earlier tentative programme released by the Eastern Province administration indicated that he would be in Chipata ahead of the ceremony on Friday afternoon.
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza equally sent one of his ministers to represent him.
Speaking through his representative, former Malawian vice-president during the Bakili Muluzi administration, Justine Malewezi, Kalonga Gawa Undi thanked the three presidents from Malawi, Zambia and Malawi, for their presence at the event and he noted that the presidents of Malawi and Mozambique had sent representatives.
"We are most grateful to see in their absence (presidents) the attendance of the first president of the republic of Zambia, Dr Kenneth Kaunda," Kalonga Gawa Undi said. "Your presence is a testimony of the warm relations that exist among the three countries."
Kalonga Gawa Undi said Dr Kaunda's attendance would go a long way to cement the bilateral relations between Zambia and the two countries.
He said as the people celebrated Kulamba, they should remember all those that endured great difficulties to uphold the Chewa tradition and culture.
Kalonga Gawa Undi thanked Wa Mutharika and his government for upholding the Chewa tradition by adhering to the Chewa hierarchy and he observed that there had been a marked improvement in the communication between him and the chiefs in Mozambique since President Armando Guebuza's last visit to Katete.
Kalonga Gawa Undi thanked President Banda for his involvement in ensuring that presidents of the three countries attended the traditional ceremony.
He said the Kulamba ceremony was revived in the 1980s after the colonialists banned it, saying the ban was an act of subjugation by the colonialists.
Kalonga Gawa Undi thanked the Chewa Heritage Foundation and all the people that had played a role in ensuring that this year's Kulamba ceremony was a success.
He apologised to some of the dignitaries who may not have been satisfied with the hospitality accorded to them at this year's ceremony.
"I do not want to spoil the ceremony but allow me to bring to attention a few issues that need government attention," he said.
Kalonga Gawa Undi said peasant farmers in the province were unable to make ends meet because of the high costs of inputs.
He said the late entry of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) into the province's rural areas exposed small-scale farmers to briefcase business people, who usually bought maize at exploitative prices.
Kalonga Gawa Undi said the numerous interruptions and low electricity voltages experienced in the province affected the area's economic development.
"We are hopeful that with government involvement, these problems would be addressed," he said.
He urged President Banda to ensure that the government attracted investors in the agro-processing sector to the province, which he described as predominantly agricultural.
Several traditional leaders, from the three countries, including paramount chiefs M'mbelwa and Mpezeni of the Ngoni people in Malawi and Zambia respectively, attended the ceremony.
A representative of the 13 Chewa chiefs who travelled from Mozambique to Zambia to attend the traditional ceremony said the chiefs were always keen on having constant interaction with Kalonga Gawa Undi but that they had a problem of communication.
The chief said the Chewa chiefs in that country were fully behind the leadership of Kalonga Gawa Undi.
Several people from all walks of life and nationalities converged at the Chewa capital, situated about four kilometres from the Great East Road in Katete, as early as 08:00 hours to witness the proceedings of the ceremony, which were characterised by various dances.
And former Chipangali member of parliament Lucas Phiri said the classification of Kalonga Gawa Undi as a paramount chief was belittling because he was a king.
He said during his role as master of ceremony at the traditional event, that the title of paramount chief was lumped on the traditional leader, arising from the exploitation that the black man faced from the colonialists.
Officiating at the ceremony, President Banda said a few years from now, the people of Zambia and Malawi would be able to travel by train from Malawi to Kitwe following the completion on the rail link between the countries.
He said the government was in the process of drilling 500 boreholes to service some districts in the Eastern Province.
President Banda said he joined hands with Kalonga Gawa Undi in calling on Zambians to attach great importance to educating their children.
"That is why my government is busy building new schools...and encouraging education as the first front to fighting poverty," he said.
President Banda urged Zambians to utilise every available facility to further their education even at old age.
He encouraged all Zambians to go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing so that they know their HIV status and do something about it.
"Thank you for the variety of names of this vicious disease. It can be managed," he said
President Banda said he heard the complaints from Kalonga Gawa Undi and chief Kawaza on the problems in the procurement of maize among other issues.
"There is a big problem in crop marketing but I want to assure everyone that government has learnt lessons from that and steps are being taken," President Banda said.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, CEREMONIES, KALONGA GAWA UNDI, KULAMBA CEREMONY
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COBUSU leaders to sue govt for false detention
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:46:12 PM
COPPERBELT University Student Union (COBUSU) vice-president Lucky Miyanda and secretary general Kenneth Sampa have indicated that they will sue the government for false detention and defamation of character.
Miyanda and Sampa who were detained after CBU students allegedly burnt down a vehicle belonging to a Kitwe businessman during a protest at the campus described their detention as politically motivated and meant to silence students.
"The whole thing is coming from above, our detention was politically motivated, and we were asked to give them the names of monks (male students), but I told them that I am not interested in other people's affairs. The interrogation officers were coming from Ndola," said Miyanda.
Miyanda said during the interrogations, police told him that he was detained because he was COBUSU vice-president..
"So because I am a vice-president for COBUSU, that is the reason why they detained me. In the near future, they should also consider arresting RB (President Rupiah Banda) or Sata (PF leader) when their cadres fight," he said.
He said the police had insufficient evidence over the matter and ended up labelling him a ‘stubborn leader’.
"They (police) started calling me stubborn, I am a good leader, that is why students like me at CBU," he said.
Miyanda wondered why the government just decided to single out the two COBUSU leaders who were not even on the scene when the incident happened.
And Sampa said the government was trying to look for loopholes so that they could silence the students.
He said the government would not stop their demands for it to look into the plight of Cornelius Mweetwa, the CBU student who was shot at by police.
Sampa reiterated the students' demands for President Banda to remove Dora Siliya as minister of education.
He said police were still following individual students at their respective homes.
"They are just looking for loopholes to silence us, we are not their enemies, we are enemies of injustice, we are intellectuals, we analyse issues, it is very unfortunate that the government is using poaching methods to try and silent us," he said.
Sampa said it was sad that CBU management had decided to close the learning institution indefinitely.
He said management at the campus would have solved the problems prevailing at the university without closing the institution.
Labels: ARRESTS, CBU, COBUSU, KENNETH SAMPA, LUCKY MIYANDA
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Criminal abuse of the police
Written by Editor
It is said that a leader who relies on authority, on the police and other repressive agencies to solve problems of a social or political nature is bound to come to grief. It is also said that life is like a big wheel: the one who is at the top, today is at the bottom.
Clearly, the mark of great leaders is their ability to understand the context in which they are operating and act accordingly. These are lessons that Rupiah Banda and the minions that cheat him will do well to understand and appreciate.
As we have consistently reminded Rupiah and his minions, the exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation, humility and modesty. It is now clear for everybody to see that the nation is in the grip of a repressive leader. We say this because of what is happening round about us.
On Friday, we saw a platoon of policemen having a lot of trouble to obey a High Court order. Although the High Court had decided that Fred M'membe the editor-in-chief of this newspaper should not be arrested, the police could not bring themselves to respect this order and follow its dictates.
What was clear from the behaviour of the police was that they seemed more scared of an invisible presence of the power that was directing their operations than the High Court order. One was forced to feel sorry for these humble policemen. No one in the hierarchy seemed capable of making the simple decision to obey a court order. They needed four hours of consultation to arrive at a decision to obey a court order.
This behaviour from an institution charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in our country is very worrying. Everyone present could see that these policemen had been given instructions, which they had to fulfill even if it meant bending or breaking the law. These humble sons of our people were too scared to communicate the bad news to the invisible power. Their orders were clear: Fred had to be arrested and humiliated. This is why we say the nation is in the grip of a repressive government.
Arresting, yes, this they could easily do. But humiliation never. We say this because we don't act out of pride. What was done had nothing to do with Fred's pride; but it had everything to do with the way our country is being governed and its institutions of governance are being run. And this includes the entire judicial process of our country. The formula is now well understood by all our people.
It starts with the declaration of one being wrong, of one being guilty, of one being a criminal by Rupiah. And then that declaration becomes an order to the police to effect arrest and for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to sanction or direct the prosecution. This is how the game is played. Once this is in motion, it rolls on like a rolling stone. This is the situation we found ourselves in last week. It was not a question of us being wrong or being right. That didn't matter.
What mattered to them was we had to be punished, humiliated. The behaviour of the police had nothing to do with the bench warrant. Actually, the bench warrant was a pretext for this behaviour and not the cause of it.
Not long ago, Rupiah told the nation that they will catch us one day. We may get away on this or that issue but one day Rupiah and his minions believe they will get even with us. It is this mindset that was driving the confusion of the police. Their failure to separate their professional duties from the whims and caprices of their political masters turned them into robots that were refusing to accept an instruction from a court of law.
Their political masters told them what to do: arrest Fred at whatever cost - so to them who is a judge of the High Court to come and change this instruction? This is where we are getting with Rupiah. And this is the process that we are expected to accept without challenging it. It would be naïve and criminal on our part to accept this type of behaviour without challenging it through all the other avenues available to us. It is for this reason that we sought the indulgence of the High Court over the conduct of the police.
We find the conduct of the leadership of the police in this country unacceptable. Their failure to face their political masters and tell them the truth about what is obtaining on the ground and how it differs with their wishes or desires is criminal. The police command do not seem to have a problem applying different standards to the same problems.
This is the kind of capriciousness they would like us to submit ourselves to. This is the kind of nonsense the like of shameless Shikapwasha would have us accept. What is even more unacceptable is the fact that whilst the police want to punish The Post for allegedly discussing a matter that is in court, Shikapwasha is free to discuss the same matter and call us names. Is there a different law for Shikapwasha? Anyway, nothing that Shikapwasha will say or do surprises us.
This is a man with no backbone. He seems ready to say anything as long as he thinks it’s going to help him to keep his job. These are the kinds of leaders that we have. These are the ones advising Rupiah today.
The systematic assault on the professionalism of our police by Rupiah and his minions should be stopped. We need that institution to safeguard our common interests. To use the police as an extension of the MMD is simply not acceptable. And to cooperate in this abuse is criminal. And no one should expect us to submit to such abuses. We can also not remain silent and neutral in matters of this nature.
These abuses need to be challenged, opposed and denounced in every way possible. Our conscience dictate that we must denounce these abuses; that we must oppose this injustice. We are not capable of doing nothing, of saying nothing, of not reacting to injustice and criminal abuse of legitimate institutions of the people. If in doing this they see us as criminals, then there is very little we can do. But they even then, in their heart of hearts, know very well that we are not criminals, we are decent and law-abiding citizens whose only crime is to refuse to submit to injustice and criminal abuse.
They are pursuing us today like criminals, but they know very well that we are not criminals. What they cannot stand, what they cannot accept is our independence from them and what we stand for, what we think and our conscience. This being the case, can it be any wonder to anybody that today Fred is being pursued with more vigour than fugitive Mathew Mohan who is facing a very serious case of murder?
What is happening today is a throw-back to the Chiluba days where law and order was secondary and subservient to the political wishes of Chiluba and his tandem of thieves.
When Chiluba came to power, he very quickly set about to destroy the processes and procedures that enabled government institutions to operate professionally. Chiluba and his innercircle dismissed any order and procedural operation of government entities as being Unipist and unacceptable. What was happening in the background was that government entities were being systematically destroyed to facilitate crime. Professional institutions such as the police were battered into submission. The result was it became easy to abuse government resources and get away with it. This is why even today Chiluba can argue that he kept private money in a government account. Every problem that government faced was blamed on poor laws and Kaunda-era legislation. To appease the donors, all sorts of new laws were enacted but there was never any intention to apply them to themselves.
We see similar things happening today. There is a deliberate attack on institutions of governance. Rupiah with the help of George Kunda, particularly, want to control all the important institutions of governance - the police, the courts, Parliament, important NGOs like the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) and even some churches. And those who refuse to cooperate, to give in or capitulate are categorised as enemies and are subjected to all sorts of attacks. We see this every day.
They will hide behind all sorts of nice-sounding words. They will even launch new anti-corruption policies and claim that the current laws are not sufficient. This is another Chiluba trick of hoodwinking the donors and the public. We say this because you can have all the best laws in the world but if the mechanism to effect or enforce those laws is stifled, muzzled, manipulated and rendered ineffective in all sorts of ways, such laws become useless.
The DPP's office is a good example of an office that should operate with the best possible professional independence. The DPP enjoys security of tenure and should not therefore worry about being fired if he differs with the political establishment. But who doesn't know that today Chalwe Mchenga, the current DPP, is under the clutches of Rupiah and George? It is obvious he will only do their bidding. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is also under the control of George. They will not prosecute any case which George does not approve or tells them not to. This is why the DPP has no shame in withdrawing an appeal against a clearly questionable acquittal of Chiluba. It has nothing to do with inadequacy of laws or weak grounds of appeal. The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) is also not in a different position. They will only follow that which they are allowed to follow.
Clearly, what this shows is that you can have all the good laws in your statute books, all the good constitutional provisions you need but if there is no spirit in the hearts of men and women charged to enforce these statutory and constitutional provisions; or if the spirits in their hearts to do so are dead, no constitution, no act of parliament, no court order will save the situation. They will go around boasting about these legal or constitutional provisions and how good their system is and yet do the very opposite; behave as if no such laws existed.
This is the way this country is being run. It doesn't matter how many internal controls a system has on paper, if there is collusion or unwillingness on the part of those responsible for its effective, efficient and orderly functioning nothing good will come out of it - it will just be as good as having nothing. Again, this is the situation Zambia and Zambians find themselves in.
The question is; are we going to allow this to continue forever unabated? Are we going to remain silent and neutral on a matter that appears to be one of life and death for our people and our country? For our part we have made our choice: we will not accept this. And we believe that only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can this behaviour, this attitude be changed.
Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, FRED M'MEMBE, THE POST
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Cops attempt to arrest M’membe
Written by Ernest Chanda and George Chellah
Sunday, September 06, 2009 7:12:58 PM
POLICE on Friday stormed Post Newspapers offices to arrest Post editor-in-chief Fred M'membe despite High Court judge Albert Wood’s directive and order that proceedings relating to the alleged contempt case be stayed.
Judge Wood directed that the proceedings relating to the alleged contempt of court case involving M'membe, his deputy Sam Mujuda and Professor Muna Ndulo be stayed until after the hearing of a motion for judicial review.
A team of six plain-clothe police officers from Lusaka Central Police led by the Criminal Investigations Officer (CIO) - a Mr Shula - stormed The Post premises at about 17:20 hours and demanded to see M'membe.
The officers were then led to where M'membe was in the company of Mujuda.
They demanded that they arrest M'membe but Mujuda produced a High Court order granted by judge Wood in favour of M'membe and other applicants.
When judge Wood's order was availed, the police officers doubted the authenticity of the document.
The officers then contended that they were not aware of the court order, arguing that if they had known about it they would not have come for M'membe.
After scrutinising the court order, Shula insisted that they could not leave M'membe until they proved the genuineness of the court order and receive further instructions from their unnamed superiors.
Shula was in constant communication with his superiors on phone enquiring the next step to take.
Amidst this drama, M'membe was still in the office and he was not allowed to leave.
Later, Mujuda took a copy of the court order to Lusaka division police commanding officer Greenwell Ng'uni who had earlier on demanded to see it.
At approximately 18:36 hours, Post lawyers George Chisanga and Remmy Mainza arrived and joined Mujuda in trying to convince the police officers.
Shula then explained to the lawyers that they no longer doubted the court order, but that they could not just leave until they received further instructions.
One police officer was heard saying theirs was a difficult profession where people were made to just follow orders.
"Sir you should understand that police is a disciplined profession. We are not like you people, we follow orders. Yes. I've seen the court order and in my view it's genuine, but I can't just leave without my bosses ordering me to leave. Please don't think we are here to cause problems, we are just following orders. I wish you could understand our predicament Sir," said the officer.
But Mainza reminded him that under normal circumstances police should have left his client the moment they saw the court order.
"We have given you a court order that has the signature of a High Court judge. The bench warrant you are talking about was issued by magistrate [Charles] Kafunda and has now been superseded by a High Court order. So what is your problem?" Mainza asked.
Chisanga warned the police officers that they would face the consequences of disobeying a court order if they went ahead with the arrest.
"It is quite a disappointment that you as police officers can choose to disobey a court order. And it is only in Zambia where such behaviour can be displayed. Are you as an individual disputing this court order?" Chisanga asked one of the officers.
The police officer responded that he was not disputing but working under orders.
"There are many bench warrants issued in our courts everyday and you people are always there. You know what I'm talking about, but have you ever treated such bench warrants in the same manner you are treating my client's bench warrant? There are some bench warrants that you do not even execute as police officers, but on this one you are so eager to arrest my client even after being shown a High Court order restraining you from doing so. Mind you, a High Court is superior to a magistrate court. And if you force yourselves on my client I will file for contempt against you as individual police officers. You will face the consequences alone and your bosses will not be there for you," Chisanga warned.
Shula later told the lawyers that the court order that Mujuda had earlier delivered to Lusaka Central Police had been taken to Police force headquarters for verification.
At this point, Chisanga asked on what basis the Inspector General of Police could verify a court order.
"I'm so disappointed that people can't obey a court order until the IG has seen it. Disobeying a court order is a serious contempt. I'm sure as a person who granted the order; judge Wood would be angry with you if he heard this. What it means is that you have chosen to say 'to hell with the court order', that's what you are telling the judge. Are you not supposed to go back now that you have seen a court order? We have served this court order on Mr Shula who is your team leader and that's enough," Chisanga argued.
And M'membe complained that police were detaining him illegally since the court order had been served on them.
"If their boss can take a court order to Force headquarters for verification, then you can understand their predicament. I imagine what would have happened to me if they found me at my home. Imagine if they came to my home and then I showed them the court order, they could have just ignored it and arrested me with a court order in my hands. If they can disobey a court order in the presence of lawyers then it could have been worse if I was alone. They have been given specific orders to arrest this 'dangerous criminal, M'membe and lock him up'," M'membe said. "But their bosses are failing to accept the reality that there is a court order stopping them from going ahead with the arrest. I know that if you arrest me today it would bring a lot of excitement to the people who sent you. But they are so disappointed with the court order that they can't accept the reality on the ground. I know that all this is coming from Rupiah because he had said that one day he would catch us. And maybe he thought that today he has caught us. So this court order has disappointed him and his colleagues. And in any case, why am I being detained here with a court order?"
M'membe and his lawyers were made to wait for over two hours before Shula got instructions that they should proceed to Lusaka Central Police Station.
But Chisanga refused to have M'membe accompany them to the police since there was a court order.
"My client is not going with you to the police station. As far as I'm concerned he is a free man because there is a court order in his favour," Chisanga argued.
It was then resolved that only the lawyers should accompany police to the station, around 19:59 hours.
Upon arriving at Lusaka Central Police Station at 20:06 hours, Ng'uni demanded that everyone else stayed behind, except for Mujuda, Chisanga and Mainza.
"Let us have order, we want to reason with you. We are only going in with the three lawyers, the rest can remain here and wait," Ng'uni said.
Ng'uni and M'membe's lawyers, who were joined by Prof Ndulo's lawyer Vincent Malambo then went into a meeting for over an hour.
And when the meeting finished around 21:16 hours, Mainza said the police had made an undertaking to comply with the court order.
"They are going to verify whether or not the Attorney General has been served with the order tomorrow. But in the mean-time they are not taking any further steps until they have verified. If the Attorney General confirms that the order has been served on them they are prepared to comply with the court order. As things stand the order will have to be obeyed by the police," Mainza said. "We don't expect the police to start looking for Fred in the night, they have made an undertaking. We met Mr Ng'uni who is the commanding officer and his deputy, there was also the district prosecutions officer (DPO) and the CIO was also in attendance in the meeting so that is how the meeting ended. Mr [Frank] Mumbuna was also in attendance so they have undertaken not to enforce the bench warrant until they have verified with the Attorney General tomorrow [yesterday]."
On Friday, judge Wood directed and ordered that proceedings relating to the alleged contempt of court case involving M'membe, Mujuda and Prof Ndulo be stayed until after the hearing of the motion for judicial review.
According to an order granting leave to apply for judicial review filed in the Lusaka High Court at the principal registry, justice Wood directed that further proceedings relating to the case be stayed.
Judge Wood's directive comes in the wake of the decision by Lusaka chief resident magistrate Charles Kafunda last Wednesday to issue a bench warrant for arrest against M'membe on grounds that he was fully aware of having been summoned to court but did not present himself before court.
But the defence lawyers in the case where US-based Zambian Professor of law Ndulo and The Post editor-in-chief have been cited for contempt argued that the matter was improperly taken before court.
This follows a complaint by the prosecutors in the matter in which Post news editor Chansa Kabwela is facing one count of circulating obscene matters or things contrary to the law that an article authored by Prof Ndulo and published in The Post newspaper edition of August 27, 2009 was contemptuous.
Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, COURTS, FRED M'MEMBE, THE POST
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