Maravi

Crooks are now speaking freely – TIZ

Crooks are now speaking freely – TIZ
By Speedwell Mupuchi and Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 01 Mar. 2010, 07:00 CAT

It has now become fashionable for crooks to speak freely as the environment is becoming conducive for crooks and dangerous for genuine citizens who want to fight corruption, Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) executive director Goodwell Lungu said.

And Southern African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) programmes manager Obby Chibuluma has charged that former president Frederick Chiluba is ruling from the grave, which is a source of conflict in the country.

During the first Save Zambia Conference organized by Change Life Zambia at Buchi Hall in Kitwe on Saturday, Lungu said in next year’s elections citizens must demand for leaders that were clean to avoid corrupt people assuming office as there was completely no political will to fight corruption but political will to protect crooks.

During his presentation, Lungu said it had become fashionable for crooks to speak freely as the environment was becoming conducive for crooks and dangerous for genuine citizens who want to fight corruption.

“The fight against corruption has continued to be an orphan without a proper parent. The current Auditor General’s report is clear that even during the death of Mwanawasa, people were allowed to plunder public resources without shame. There are also several irregularities confirming that looting of public funds is well documented and what is missing is timely action from law enforcement agencies. Let us save Zambia from corruption and crooks,” Lungu said.

He further said the reinstatement of the appeal against Frederick Chiluba needed to be debated by all citizens to make issues of plunder of public resources an election issue adding that there was need for the country to move fast in registering the London High Court judgment against Chiluba.

Lungu said people must demand that President Rupiah Banda should start to protect and defend the Republican Constitution by not obstructing the course of justice by putting pressure on constitutional institutions charged with the dispensation of justice like was the case in the Chiluba and Dora Siliya cases.

Lungu said the launch of the Red Card Campaign (RCC) against the Rupiah Banda led government, which has been frustrating the fight against corruption and plunder of national resources was vital for the restoration on the country’s lost integrity.

And Chibuluma, who represented SACCORD executive director Lee Haabasonda, said there was need for people to fight the concept of ruling from the grave. He said that retired presidents must retire and not continue influencing government decisions.

“We have the power to ensure those who do not account to us are removed form public office. Let us not allow the dead to come and confuse us. Those that have been presidents and have left office should not be allowed to continue influencing our thinking. We need to be vigilant and defend the values of this country,” Chibuluma said in apperent reference to Chiluba’s recent activities.

He noted that late president Levy Mwanawasa’s death seemed to have brought Chiluba back closer to the MMD and that since his controversial acquittal last August, he had began participating in Zambia’s political environment.

“He is now fully supporting the Banda led administration and justifying that he had been president for a long time and he could not let things go wrong in the country while he was doing nothing. His support for President Banda has come with him discrediting other opposition parties and their leaders,” he noted.

After his address, members of the audience, led by Fr Frank Bwalya, in a Bemba adage – Chibanda laala – told Chiluba to sleep.

SACCORD also named the Constitution making process, political competition, access to resources, unequal distribution of resources, tribalism, non-issue based campaigns, human rights abuses and political persecutions, among others, as being the cause of conflict in the country.
Chibuluma said politicians must change the way they do politics and concentrate on delivering the promises they make during elections.

Citizens Forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda said the MMD government did not deserve to be given another chance of running the country because they have lamentably failed to give people a good Constitution since 1993.

Kabanda said Zambia deserved leaders that would be sincere to the people and be able to pursue the interests of the majority poor and not the minority rich.

He said it was ridiculous for the National Constitution Conference (NCC) to subject the 50 percent plus one presidential threshold to a referendum when the people decided that the clause should be enshrined in the new Constitution because they were tired of a minority presidents.

Kabanda said subjecting the 50 percent plus one to a referendum was another way of manipulating people’s wishes in the constitution making process by the MMD government because it feared that the clause would see them out of government.

He said there was an urgent need for Zambia to change the electoral system by including clauses that give power to the people and by creating an environment that would enable citizens to choose leaders of their choice in a free, fair and transparent manner.

“People’s votes are always stolen during elections due to rampant vote rigging in the country and they are still stealing. We need to get rid of these rotten laws, let us make noise and force members of the Parliament to review the electoral Act, we will also blow whistles until the 50 percent plus one is enshrined in the Constitution,” Kabanda said.

Immediately he said this, the whole auditorium broke into a whistle-blowing frenzy and flashing the red card that lasted almost 10 minutes.

Kabanda, however, told the people that now whistling had been proscribed.
He suggested for every household to buy a whistle and whistle to press for changes of electoral laws to provide for recount and verification of results if there was a dispute over votes.

And Fr Frank Bwalya said Zambia was faced with serious problems that threatened to wipe out gains in entrenching democracy and good governance, achievements in fighting corruption and blatant theft of public funds and people’s progress in embracing the culture of transparency and accountability.

“Zambia today stands at the cross-roads with a unique moment to choose between two options, namely life or death. Our country is under siege. We have seen known criminals, plunderers and thieves coming together to push an agenda that is clearly against the wishes of the people of Zambia,” Fr Bwalya said.

“The question is: if these criminals, plunderers and thieves can decide to forgive one another and form an alliance to achieve their selfish goals, why shouldn’t we patriotic Zambians come together and save our country?”

Fr Bwalya said people were tired of a government that did not consider people’s views who put them into power.

“It is time to start our journey to freedom, to the Promised Land,” he said.

Former Kitwe mayor Luxon Kazabu said Zambia was in trouble because crooks had united at a table with corruption as their food.

He said Zambian leaders considered themselves as landlords while the majority Zambians were tenants to be abused.

“They have gotten K5 billion to give to 15 people attending the NCC. If they got that K5 billion and shared it between Buchi, Kamitondo and Chimwemwe, wouldn’t we have development? Now your roads in Chimwemwe are streams taking water into Kitwe stream,” said Kazabu.

Labels: GOODWELL LUNGU, SACCORD, TIZ

posted by MrK @ 3:36 PM