Magande questions Kunda’s defence of Chiluba

Magande questions Kunda’s defence of Chiluba
By Chibaula Silwamba
Sat 13 Mar. 2010, 10:00 CAT

IT is wrong for Vice-President George Kunda to claim that Frederick Chiluba has been ridiculed and abused since 2001 because he was the advisor in the prosecution process, Chilanga MMD member of parliament Ng’andu Magande said yesterday.

And Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Wynter Kabimba charged that Vice-President Kunda is prepared to worship the devil and swallow his own vomit in order to keep his job.

Commenting on Vice-President Kunda’s statement in Parliament on Wednesday that former president Chiluba has been a subject of ridicule and abuse since 2001, Magande, who served as finance minister in the Levy Mwanawasa administration, said Vice-President Kunda as Attorney General and Minister of Justice was the one advising whoever was prosecuting Chiluba; hence it was wrong for him to tell Parliament that the former president was abused and ridiculed.

“He must know why Dr Chiluba was in court. He was the one who was advising whoever was taking Dr Chiluba to court,” Magande said. “For him to now change would be wrong. That would be wrong, really. The best thing is if some people don’t want to be misunderstood, they have to keep quiet. Let others comment. But otherwise those who were in government, the prosecution of Dr Chiluba in court, they would find themselves in great difficulty if they were asked about that.”

Magande said Vice-President Kunda should make a public statement about what he meant that Chiluba was abused and ridiculed since 2001.

“That would obviously require him to make a clear statement to the public because saying it in Parliament where one can’t be asked questions by the public, it doesn’t make it any good. You should ask him to explain to people what he meant,” said Magande.

And Kabimba said Vice-President Kunda was a let-down to the legal profession.

“Obviously the first thing that comes to the mind of any reasonable person is that George, like anybody else, is in government not to serve the people of Zambia but to keep a job, which is typical of everybody that is in the MMD.

Even when they know what is right, in order to keep a job, they are prepared even to worship the devil. That is the stance that George has taken,” Kabimba said.

“If indeed he believes in what he said in Parliament, how does he reconcile that position with his statement even before the London High Court where he went to get Chiluba prosecuted for theft of public funds? How does he reconcile himself as an individual because he is the same MMD government? Today he is telling us that Chiluba has been a subject of ridicule not since last year or the year before but since 2001.”

He said Vice-President Kunda could not be a trustworthy person.

“The same way he has turned against the late president Mwanawasa on matters of principle, is the same way that he is capable and he is going to go against Rupiah Banda on matters on principle in future,” Kabimba said. “George is a let-down even to the legal profession.

Those of us who are in the legal profession had looked up to George as a moral compass for the lawyers but he has completely let us down by his contradictions in his personality, in his deeds, in his actions and in his pronouncements.”

Kabimba said Vice-President Kunda was a hypocrite.

“This is the man that holds the number two position in this country today. When he gets exposed for this kind of hypocrisy, he should not complain because he invites it upon himself. George is not a trustworthy person. He is a person who is prepared to eat his vomit to keep a job. He can swallow back his vomit in order to keep a job. That is extremely sad for a person of George’s calibre that comes from a noble profession like the legal profession,” Kabimba said.

“We would like to challenge our parliamentarians that when they hear this kind of talk from a person like George, they must remind him about his past.”

Kabimba said Zambians expected Parliament to debate issues in their interest.
“When they parliamentarians see a guy being a turncoat, they must remind him and say, ‘sir, have you just passed in Jik today and become a different colour because this is what you said to the people of Zambia and this is how you purported to serve the people of Zambia just five years ago’.

But we get let down by all these institutions because nobody can stand up to challenge a man like George Kunda. George has so many colours than those colours of a chameleon.”

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday when he supported the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) amendment bill, Vice-President Kunda said Chiluba was a subject of abuse since 2001.

“Some of us in government have been the subject of abuse for a long time. We have been insulted relentlessly, sometimes for three years. Lies every day, vulgar language or fabrications,” Vice-President Kunda had said.

“When some of us on this side react, maybe once, you will find people crying continuously. For example, one of the former presidents Chiluba has been the subject of abuse since 2001. He just reacted once and people were complaining.”