Maravi

Kayukwa doesn’t need assistance on UPG

Kayukwa doesn’t need assistance on UPG
By The Post
Fri 19 Aug. 2011, 12:10 CAT

When we stated that Godfrey Kayukwa, the director general of the Anti Corruption Commission, has no integrity to continue running the affairs of the Commission because of the shameless lies he has told about the corruption of Universal Print Group, we meant what we stated.

It is now very clear that we were not wrong when we stated that Kayukwa has joined the efforts to shield the criminality of Universal Print Group. The question is: why? It is shameful that a person holding such an important position in the public life of our country can be so spineless as to willingly join a scheme whose only discernible purpose is to deceive our people in all sorts of ways.

We are not surprised that Kayukwa has now decided that the best way to cover up his wrongs, his shameless lies, is to pretend that he is carrying out an inquiry on the alleged corruption of Universal Print Group. His behaviour has proved what we have been saying. This man is a dangerous liar.

And at the rate he is going, we will not be surprised if he begins to commit all sorts of criminal wrongs to try and demonstrate that he did not lie when on August 11, 2011, he released a press statement stating that “there is no investigation concerning the ECZ or any of its suppliers”.

Only seven days ago, Kayukwa stated that there was no investigation, and yet yesterday, he sent us a letter, asking us to “kindly avail the information available with yourselves to the Commission in order to facilitate progression of the inquiry…” This is the same man who said there was no investigation against any supplier of the Electoral Commission of Zambia. Now he is asking us to “facilitate the progression of the inquiry”.

Which inquiry is being progressed? This is the man who said there was no investigation against any supplier of the Electoral Commission of Zambia. Yesterday, this same man had the audacity to send us a letter in which he is supposed to have been carrying out an inquiry about “Alleged corruption – Universal Print Group.”

This is what happens when people have no respect for others. We say this because we have made it clear to those who have cared to ask us and in our editorial comments that we, as a newspaper, are not in the habit of publishing things that we cannot prove. We do not call people corrupt simply because somebody has climbed on an anthill and called another person corrupt.

Whatever people may think, we are a responsible organisation that weighs every word we use in our publication. If somebody calls Universal Print Group corrupt, we do not publish those words unless they are proven to us.

It has been proved to us that Universal Print Group has been engaged in proven acts of corruption, bribery and money laundering. We also know that this information has been given to Kayukwa.

This is why we find Kayukwa’s nonsense of a letter to us annoying. We may not have a lot of respect for Kayukwa but we definitely respect his office because it is important in our country. We cannot countenance such an important office being used to tell the kinds of lies that Kayukwa wants to peddle on behalf of his paymasters.

We know that Kayukwa is not serious when he asks us for information because he has more information than us on the corruption of Universal Print Group.

When Kayukwa told the lies that he told about the corruption of Universal Print Group, he gambled on the fact that we did not know what we were talking about. He thought we could not prove what we were saying. Now Kayukwa knows that we know and he realises the implications of the cover-up that he has engaged in.

Instead of being honourable and telling the public that he lied to them when he stated that there was no investigation against any Electoral Commission of Zambia supplier, he wants to draw us into a side show that takes away the significance of the lies that he has told.

When this matter was first published, we did not do it without going to Kayukwa and justice Irene Mambilima, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia. We asked them for their comment on the story we were working on about the corruption of Universal Print Group. Justice Mambilima was not available on more than one occasion. As for Kayukwa, the reporter working on the story managed to get through to him.

His position which we published in the story that we carried was that we should give him a written press query, which we did. Kayukwa ignored our query for almost a week. And when he commented on this issue, he issued a statement which he did not even bother to send to us.

Kayukwa had it distributed to the state media and we were excluded although we were the ones who raised the query. This is the person who is today calling us to go and meet him.

It is unfortunate that Kayukwa wants to play games with such an important matter. This is a matter that could put this country in flames. A person in Kayukwa’s position should understand that and behave in the most responsible way. This is not about the people who gave him a job; this is about our country.

Kayukwa sent us a letter, which was delivered during lunch time, inviting us for a meeting. He expected us to meet him at 16 hours of the same day.

Before we even finished digesting the contents of his letter, we received a press statement in which he was announcing that he had invited Given Lubinda and this newspaper for a meeting so that “they can provide information on the alleged corrupt activities involving Universal Print Group of South Africa which has been contracted to print ballot papers for the September 2011 general elections”. Is this the way investigations are carried out?

Clearly, Kayukwa thinks this is a game. We have asked him very simple questions which he has refused to answer. Is he telling the nation that the Anti Corruption Commission has not investigated any corruption involving Universal Print Group? What about the alleged corruption of Mpundu Mfula that he talked about in his press statement? What is it about? Does it involve Universal Print Group?

What Kayukwa is doing is destroying an institution that this country desperately needs to function properly in order to stop the rampant vandalism and pillaging of public resources. But with people like Kayukwa at the helm of such an institution, what hope is there for our people? A man who lies and continues to lie as if that is what he is employed to do is a danger to himself and to the nation.

The issues that we have raised about Universal Print Group are not simple matters. We have carried stories that have demonstrated that Universal Print Group is a corrupt company. We have shown that they have been engaged in corruption with officers of the Electoral Commission.

Kayukwa has been challenged to deny that the Anti Corruption Commission has investigated Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited account number 0140034477502. He has not answered these questions. It is not for us to start telling Kayukwa what he has done or not done. He knows what he has done or not done.

Anyway, we understand the game that Kayukwa is playing. He wants to pretend to the public that he is investigating the allegations that have been made against Universal Print Group.

This is nonsense because we know for a fact that the Anti Corruption Commission has all the information about the corruption of Universal Print Group. Kayukwa knows that he lied when he said the Anti Corruption Commission was not investigating any corruption involving any supplier of the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

We say this because we know for a fact, and will prove it when the time is right, that the Anti Corruption Commission has investigated Universal Print Group’s payment of bribes to Electoral Commission of Zambia officials. If Kayukwa was truly interested in fighting corruption, he would have told the truth about this matter long ago.

Kayukwa knows that Universal Print Group should not be involved in the printing of ballot papers because of their corruption. But why is he not telling the truth? Who is he scared of? What kind of Anti Corruption commissioner is this? By calling us, in the way Kayukwa has done, they are simply trying to divert attention from their own mischief.

Kayukwa knows that Universal Print Group is corrupt. He knows that we know and all he is trying to do is to establish how much we know so that he can design more lies. This won’t work. It is an abuse of the Anti Corruption Commission and we will not be a party to such abuses.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, CORRUPTION, GODFREY KAYUKWA, VOTERIGGING

posted by MrK @ 1:40 PM