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2009 and 2010 have been painful years - Hansungule

2009 and 2010 have been painful years - Hansungule
By Ernest Chanda
Sat 01 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT

PROFESSOR Michelo Hansungule has declared the 2011 general election an instrument for liberation from MMD corruption. Reviewing the year and looking at the way forward for Zambia, the South Africa-based human rights law lecturer urged the electorate to vote wisely.

“The way forward is very simple, straightforward and within reach. You cannot have a person in the Presidency who courts corruption by embracing a former head of state who cannot explain where and for what purpose he got the US$8 million,” Prof Hansungule said.

“This is a man whose property is being seized and sold in other jurisdictions and countries as corruptly obtained loot while at Zambian State House he is treated as a king. Let the average Zambian decide this question in an election that is free and fair. Cry the beloved country!”

He said 2009 and 2010 had been painful years in the governance of the nation.

Prof Hansungule observed that the nation was robbed of justice by the questionable acquittals of Frederick Chiluba and his wife Regina on charges of corruption.

He expressed disappointment with President Rupiah Banda who he said had betrayed late president Levy Mwanawasa’s quest for transparency.

“What is particularly interesting is that President Banda was Vice-President in president Mwanawasa’s government when the state decided to arrest Chiluba. He never uttered a word against President Mwanawasa’s action against Chiluba. He continued serving Mwanawasa loyally as number two in the country’s hierarchy. But it is not very surprising because most African politicians behave this way – hypocritically,” Prof Hansungule said.

On the constitution making process, Prof Hansungule described it as a show of political power.

“It National Constitutional Conference (NCC) certainly was not a sovereign body. Two splits in particular pointed to the NCC’s lack of legitimacy: in the first instance, independent civil society easily understood that the whole exercise was meant to ratify government preconceived policies on the Constitution and when the question of ‘membership’ could not be tabled to an open discussion, it independent civil society withdrew from the invitation to serve on the conference,” he said.

“However, government found compromised individuals and even established some friendly ‘NGOs’ and ‘churches’ whom they co-opted to the conference. Second, opposition political parties were completely caught unprepared by the development. Largely due to the fear to lose hefty allowances the members were promised for sitting on the conference, some of the individual members of parliament from opposition went as far as defying their parties which had officially gone along with NGOs and rejected the invitation to sit on the conference.”

Prof Hansungule hoped that the opposition would be united in their quest to remove the MMD from power.

“The only hope, however, is that the opposition comes together and puts up one candidate for the presidency in the coming elections. I mean the opposition in a united front (I don’t want to use the word ‘pact’) including Michael Sata, Hakainde Hichilema, Roger Chongwe, General Miyanda, Edith Nawakwi, Charles Milupi, Tilyenji Kaunda, that kind of a broad pact, if I may use the word now,” said Prof Hansungule.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, CORRUPTION, MICHELO HANSUNGULE

posted by MrK @ 9:58 PM