Maravi

Kunda and integrity of the judiciary

Kunda and integrity of the judiciary
By Editor
Sat 23 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

WHAT the Zambian people are looking for from their political leaders is not sweet words, empty rhetoric but concrete deeds.

Anyone can say anything good. But not everyone can live up to what they say. Even Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven” (Matt 7:21). Thus, spirituality is a way of living according to the spirit.

Jose Marti, outstanding hero and forerunner of Cuba’s liberation, said that “Doing is the best way of saying.” For Christians, one would say, living is the best way of believing. Faith without deeds is worthless; as James stated, “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but has not works? Can his faith save him?...So faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

Our way of life is the result of what we believe. No honest person can disagree with what George Kunda is saying when addressing the 6th Judicial Integrity Group reception. George is saying that integrity is one of the core values which any respected judiciary in any part of the world should aspire to.

He also said that it is not enough to call for the independence of the judiciary if such a judiciary does not possess integrity. George went on to observe that men and women of the judiciary need to be competent, independent and impartial. More importantly, George announced that the government had come to accept that corruption was a complex crosscutting problem, which required a multifaceted approach. He also announced that it is the intention of the government to review the Anti Corruption Commission Act to include provisions from the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

These are very good and welcome pronouncements. The only problem is that they are just that – pronouncements meant to placate our people into believing that they are serious about fighting corruption. We say this because George’s record in our people’s fight against corruption has more to do with him fighting the fight against corruption and not fighting corruption. George has not been known for championing the fight against corruption. Anyone doubting our observation on this matter should examine what the state-owned and government controlled-media have been saying about George’s role in the fight against corruption. George, according to reports in the state media, is on record objecting to the operation of the Task Force on Corruption.

The same media also reports that George has been fighting some of the officers who were engaged in this fight. The question is why? It would be understandable if George was fighting in order to defend some higher or greater public good. But what is on record is George fighting to defend wrong things. The one case that many of our people will recall and understand is one involving Kashiwa Bulaya.

In the Bulaya case, George conspired to pervert the course of justice by prevailing over the Director of Public Prosecutions Chalwe Mchenga to enter a nolle prosequi in favour of Bulaya. George lied and claimed that there were public interest reasons for stopping the prosecution of Bulaya.

It was only after massive public outcry that George allowed the case to go back to court. We have not forgotten that to achieve his goal, George ensured that Mchenga, who was prepared to do his bidding, and not Caroline Sokoni became Director of Public Prosecutions. This is the George we are dealing with.

This is the George who is today preaching integrity as one of the core values in the judiciary. The only time we are aware of when George champions prosecution of anybody is when he wants to fix a political opponent, real or imaginary.

The judiciary can never have the full confidence of the people if it does not possess the highest levels of integrity. One of the threats that the judiciary in our country suffers from is unnecessary political pressure. The judiciary comes under pressure when people like George do wrong things deliberately hoping that the judiciary will help them to cover up their evils.

A responsible government is supposed to adhere to the highest levels of integrity, which makes its interactions with the judiciary straightforward and predictable. When the government sets such an example, the whole judiciary will be able to work without fear of any recrimination from our country’s all-powerful executive.

George is the wrong person to call for integrity in the judiciary given the pressures that his own actions have put on the judiciary.

We have just cited the Bulaya case. What pressure did George’s reckless actions put on the judiciary? How did his actions help to increase integrity in the judiciary? It is good to say nice things but mere platitudes, which one is not prepared to live up to, will not help.

Who doesn’t know in this country that George has been the greatest defender of those who are being prosecuted for corruption in this country today? George has abused the Director of Public Prosecutions to allow his corrupt friends go scot-free. Who doesn’t know George’s role in the decision to allow Chiluba to go scot-free by stopping the appeal against his acquittal?

What George said on this issue is on record - a record that will never be erased. George made it very clear that if the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against Chiluba’s acquittal, that will amount to professional misconduct.

What professional misconduct is George talking about? The professional misconduct George is talking about concerns the Director of Public Prosecutions disobeying his wishes, or rather orders not to appeal that acquittal. At every time George is defending Chiluba; he is defending wrongdoers.

George cannot pretend not to know the corruption Chiluba was engaged in. George knows very well that Chiluba stole from the Zambia people. And he has a judgement in his hands obtained by the Zambian government against Chiluba. George was minister of justice and Attorney General when this matter was brought against Chiluba. But today George wants to pretend as if he was not part of it at all.

Probably he was not part of it; he did it just to please his boss – Levy Mwanawasa - who was fighting corruption. George not only undermined the integrity of the Director of Public Prosecutions – a very important part of our country’s judicial process – but also completely took away the integrity of the office of the Attorney General, a quasi judicial function in many ways. So what integrity is George talking about? Or is it a question of ‘do as I say and not as I do’?

What integrity can George preach to the judiciary? His tenure as minister for justice has seen him trying to do all sorts of wrong things that undermine not only the integrity of his own office but that of our country’s entire judicial system – the courts of law, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the office of the Attorney General, the police and indeed the Anti Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission. George has done so much to try and turn these institutions into tools of political abuse. Again, what integrity can George talk about?

Today George is telling us that the government has come to accept that corruption is a complex crosscutting problem which required a multifaceted approach. When did they realise this? When did they come to accept this? What did they see or experience that made them come to accept this? Indeed when did George become a champion against corruption?

Today, by his silence when his late boss Levy’s name is attacked in relation to his fight against corruption, George has joined those who are attacking Levy for his efforts to fight corruption. Today the state media, that George and his friends control, is constantly attacking Levy directly and indirectly on his fight against corruption – where is George in all this?

George today can talk about fighting corruption and integrity in the judiciary when he is at the centre of a government that is trying to undo everything that has been achieved over the last few years of fighting corruption by trying to allow corrupt elements go scot-free to enjoy their loot. George’s government is dilly-dallying to effect the London High Court judgment against Chiluba and we will not be surprised to see a total circumvention of all this at the end of the day. It will also be interesting to see how George and his friends are going to handle the appeal cases brought by their corrupt friends to the High Court.

We will not be surprised to see those cases deliberately bungled so that they too can be freed the Chiluba way.

George does not inspire confidence when he talks about fighting corruption. They are saying they want to bring the international convention against corruption into our laws. This is welcome but how will people who are failing to respect the ACC Act implement additional laws?

Labels: CORRUPTION, GEORGE KUNDA

posted by MrK @ 11:00 PM