Maravi

‘Mpombo’s conviction has exposed Changwe to prosecution’

‘Mpombo’s conviction has exposed Changwe to prosecution’
By Patson Chilemba
Tue 10 Aug. 2010, 04:01 CAT

George Mpombo(l) with his daughter Abigail at Ndola's magistrate court yesterday
Former Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Fackson Shamenda yesterday described as blackmail threats of exposure that are issued by those in government against people who criticise their actions. And Shamenda said the conviction of Kafulafuta MMD member of parliament George Mpombo has exposed gender deputy minister Lucy Changwe to prosecution.

Commenting on information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha’s statement that FDD president Edith Nawakwi should shut up because her record when she served as finance minister was well known, Shamenda said the statement was tantamount to blackmail aimed at stopping people from speaking.

“You are not supposed to blackmail anybody. Blackmail is an offence. If one says good things about them, they are happy but when they are criticized then they say ‘we shall expose you’. That’s blackmail,” Shamenda said.

“Our leaders know the mistakes which they make and they cover them up. So you can forget about good governance. It is very shameful and embarrassing for any person who is in authority to say that ‘if you do this, I am going to expose you’.”

Shamenda said it was dishonesty of leaders to threaten those who criticised them.

Shikapwasha recently told Nawakwi to shut up, saying her record when she served as finance minister was well known. He was reacting to Nawakwi’s earlier statement on mobile hospitals that President Rupiah Banda’s government was bent on receiving commissions from national deals.

And Shamenda said it was very unfortunate to use the judicial process to settle political scores against one's opponents.

“Mpombo is a very unfortunate guy because the fact that, if you accept a postdated cheque, meaning that ‘I don’t have the resources.

I am giving you the money. You are supposed to deposit when I tell you to’. But if you want to corner me and deposit it even if I have told you that ‘there is no money’, then it’s not good,” Shamenda said.

He said the conviction of Mpombo had put Changwe in an awkward position.

“People may be asking for her blood because of what they are doing to the other man because what goes around in trying to set a trap for the thief, if you don’t do it properly you may end up killing your son,” said Shamenda.

“People should let the law take its course to be fair to all the citizens, not because of their relationship to those who are in power. Maybe Mpombo has been talking the way he is talking, maybe he knows a lot about the leadership.”

Labels: COURTS, FACKSON SHAMENDA, GEORGE MPOMBO, LUCY CHANGWE, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 5:31 PM