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Chiluba is showing false loyalty to Rupiah – Sata

Chiluba is showing false loyalty to Rupiah – Sata
By George Chellah and Ernest Chanda
Fri 05 Mar. 2010, 04:02 CAT

FREDERICK Chiluba is showing Rupiah false loyalty, Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata said yesterday. And Sata said Lusaka Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu's response to Chiluba's attacks on him and the Catholic Church was timely.

In an interview, Sata appreciated United States' Cornell University law Professor Muna Ndulo's opinion on Chiluba's acquittal.

“We have heard those thoughts before that, that's what is supposed to happen. I am not a lawyer myself but I have appeared in court on several occasions so I have my own opinion as a layman on how my brother Chiluba got away with it,” Sata said.

“My brother will get away with several other things as long as he continues behaving the way he is behaving. He is trying to pay back by showing Rupiah Banda false loyalty so that Rupiah should think he is providing company for him when Chiluba doesn't mean anything. People should ask Vera Chiluba's ex-wife what she knows about him.”

And Sata said Archbishop Mpundu's remark that Chiluba harboured hatred for the Catholic Church had vindicated him. He said he would not like to comment much because Chiluba was under so much pressure to please the government.

“Like I have always said, Chiluba is under siege so I don't want to give him more pressure. Already we have lost one minister home affairs deputy minister Misheck Bonshe. So we don't want to lose him also. At the same time I must say that I always get vindicated, so for now I will not comment much,” said Sata.

And Transparency International Zambia president Reuben Lifuka said Prof Ndulo's analysis of the judgment in Chiluba's acquittal, reinforced the view held by many that the government, through the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should have appealed against the acquittal.

“The analysis eloquently points to the glaring omissions and errors in the manner which the Ndola High Court Registrar - Mr Jones Chinyama handled the whole case. We said it then and we reaffirm it now that the whole case involving the acquittal of Chiluba, which started off very well, soon transformed into nothing but a charade that was allergic to the merits of the case,” Lifuka said.

“Prof Muna Ndulo's opinion raises a number of critical points, which should not be glossed over. Chiluba is on record claiming his money and the questions raised by Prof Ndulo are important for the former President to answer i.e. where did he get the money from? What did he do for him to warrant receipt of US $8.5 million? The point that equally resonates with our analysis is why did Chiluba elect to give an unsworn statement if he was convinced about the source of funds and the use of a government account as opposed to his own personal account?”

Lifuka said Prof Ndulo's legal opinion helps to put the whole issue of Chiluba's acquittal back into the spotlight and it is TIZ's unqualified position that government, even at this late hour, should appeal against Chinyama's verdict.

“The MMD government has more to lose by defending this questionable acquittal than they would if the appeal went head. Chiluba's acquittal will remain an unnecessary blemish on the record of the judiciary in Zambia and a subject of folklore for many generations to come on how the justice system can be defeated for political ends,” Lifuka said.

“Unfortunately, President Rupiah Banda and his government will deservedly equally share in this record of ignominy. What is evident in what has been said by Prof Ndulo is that the ruling party in power can, through sheer arrogance, ignore the valiant attempts by citizens of goodwill to draw their attention to the numerable merits that lie with an appeal but this will not change the widely held position that this is one acquittal that is at variance with the evidence adduced.

“We can only advise that such actions have high political costs and the MMD government will only have themselves to blame when they drown in the sea of political oblivion because of the 'albatross around their waists'.”

Labels: CHILUBA, MUNA NDULO, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 5:26 PM