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Rupiah is fighting hard for Chiluba’s immunity – Sata

Rupiah is fighting hard for Chiluba’s immunity – Sata
By Patson Chilemba
Fri 29 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

RUPIAH Banda is fighting very hard to restore Chiluba's immunity, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata said yesterday.

Reacting to the resolution by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) that a former president whose immunity is removed because of criminal allegations should have it restored immediately after being cleared by the courts of law, Sata, who featured on a Joy FM radio programme, said President Banda was now using the NCC to restore former president Frederick Chiluba's immunity.

Sata said presently President Banda had failed to do so because the current Constitution did not provide for the restoration of the immunity once lifted.

“Yesterday they said they are going to put in the Constitution to reinstate the immunity of a President who has lost immunity. Everybody knows Rupiah Banda has been fighting very hard to reinstate Chiluba's immunity, but because in the current Constitution...because he lost his immunity, there are still more investigations, he might be close to Mr Banda today, who knows next year most of these cases are going to come back, and there are some more cases. We have the London judgment which has never been registered, and so many more other things. When we didn't know, it was something else, now we know," Sata said.

"They want to put a clause because what they want is as soon as they amend that clause, then immediately they will go to Parliament and reinstate Chiluba's immunity, and then Chiluba will become untouchable again. That is why you find Chiluba is working very hard, extremely hard. He has gone to assault the MPs on the Copperbelt, knowing very well the Copperbelt is dominated by PF.

“Now those are things he is working for because already his property which was confiscated by the Task Force, it has already been given to him, so if he can get his immunity, well and good."

Sata said it was bribery on the part of Chiluba to be dishing out money to people.

He said people could not allow one person to get everything to himself, including US $8 million.

On the adoption of the degree clause by the NCC for one to be presidential candidate, Sata said although he had a degree, the clause was discriminatory.

He said this same government was a signatory to the African Union charter, which guaranteed citizens in their specific countries to participate freely in the governance of their countries either directly or through chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law.

On MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba's assertions that Sata's degree would have to be certified, Sata said Kalumba had to say something because he was currently under siege because he was viewed as one of Sata's blue-eyed boys in the MMD.

"If they are saying it is going to be certified, then the allegations which people are saying that it is aimed at Michael Sata is becoming true," he said.

Asked if the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) would be able to organise free and fair elections, Sata there was no way the ECZ, under the directorship of Danny Kalale could conduct free and credible elections, adding that it was surprising that Kalale was the longest-serving ECZ director.

He said the opposition political parties had always called for the independence of ECZ.

"In UNIP, if there was no Tobias Mbewe, Frederick Chiluba would never have been president. It is not human for anyone to organise against the person who pays him," said Sata. "Comrade Vernon Mwaanga came to Kasama, but he failed to penetrate because we were too tight."

On the fuel price hikes, Sata said nobody had given any credible explanation as to why the prices of the commodity had been hiked.

Labels: CHILUBA, JOY FM, NCC, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 1:59 PM