Maravi

Rupiah and our judiciary

Rupiah and our judiciary
By The Post
Mon 22 Aug. 2011, 15:00 CAT

“I respect our courts and when Chiluba was freed, I came under so much pressure from my opponents that I should go to London and see how they arrived at their decision.

They were saying 'take him to London so that Chiluba can be put in jail'…” This is a quote from Rupiah Banda’s speech at a campaign rally in Kitwe. What did he mean? What Rupiah said can only mean one thing: he stopped the registration of the London High Court judgment so that it could be enforced in this country against Frederick Chiluba and his tandem of thieves.

It requires little intelligence – if little is all one has – to discern and understand what Rupiah is telling us. Rupiah is simply telling us that he is happy with our judiciary because it does what he wants it to do; it gives him the judgment he wants and in the way he wants; it is cooperating to give him the decisions and space he wants.

Rupiah wanted Chiluba to be acquitted of all criminal charges against him. We are saying this because he has said it himself and we are not pushing words in his mouth. Our courts gave Rupiah the acquittal of Chiluba he wanted. Today, Rupiah is saying he resisted the pressure to have the London High Court judgment registered and enforced against Chiluba in this country.

Again, our courts gave him the judgment he wanted. And the judgments in the Chiluba cases have been highly questioned by all fair-minded lawyers in this country, including the Law Association of Zambia. The courts that handled the Chiluba cases in this country will have serious difficulties regaining their credibility and public confidence.

And to make it worse, Rupiah refused to even allow a mock appeal of these judgments lest some judge misbehave and rule against his wishes. This is what Rupiah means when he says he has “respect for our courts”. How can he fail to like courts that give him what he wants, that respect his wishes? Our courts respect Rupiah’s wishes. And in turn, Rupiah respects our courts for respecting his wishes.

This being the case, where does it leave the independence of our judiciary and the rule of law in this country? Where does it leave the right to equality before the law or equal protection of the law in this country? It is clear that there is no equality before the law in this country. If one is a friend or political ally of Rupiah, they will enjoy unlimited protection of the law – we mean protection from prosecution.

Chiluba received those favourable judgments simply because he had become a political ally and friend of Rupiah. If Chiluba had been a political opponent of Rupiah, he would probably have died in jail and a pauper because the London High Court judgment would have been registered in this country and enforced against him.

We saw this even in the small case of Lucy Changwe, who bounced a cheque but was not prosecuted because she was a political ally of Rupiah while George Mpombo, a political opponent of his, was prosecuted and convicted over a similar case with almost similar facts. There are many examples we can give of how Rupiah is in control of our judiciary and indeed the entire judicial process of this country.

It is clear that Rupiah did what he did for reasons of political expediency. Unfortunately for him, Chiluba did not live long enough to pay back his political debt - a debt that had freed him from going to jail and from bankruptcy and destitution. But Rupiah doesn’t have the patience and humility.

He is already trying to extract political capital out of his decision and action to prevent Chiluba from going to jail.

Rupiah is trying to turn a weakness or indeed a crime into a virtue. He wants to show himself as a kind man who helped Chiluba. Yes, this is true. Rupiah was kind to Chiluba.

It cannot be denied that he saved him from going to jail. But what about the people Chiluba wronged, stole from? What justice did the people get from Rupiah over their money which Chiluba abused? It is said that obligations to the people should take precedence over loyalty to a friend, to an individual. It is also said that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state.


And political power must have as its aim the achievement of the common good. The best way to fulfil one’s obligations of justice and love is to contribute to the common good. We say this because the common good is the reason for the existence of political, social and economic institutions.

It is clear that Rupiah is not concerned about the common good but the good of his friends, political allies and family. He has subordinated the common good to his own personal interests and the interests of his friends. And in pursuit of this, Rupiah has shown no restraint or self-limitation in abusing the criminal justice system to free his friends from prosecution and to victimise his opponents through unjustified prosecutions.

We know that in every society throughout history, those who administer the criminal justice system hold the power with potential for abuse and tyranny. In the name of the interest of the state, political allies and friends are shielded from prosecution for criminal acts while political opponents are harassed. We see this every day in our country. We see how law enforcement in this country is subjected to political manipulation by Rupiah. What is the root of these abuses?

Thirst for power is at the root of these abuses of our judiciary and the entire judicial process. The rule of law and the independence of our judiciary and of our entire judicial process therefore entails a critique of the blind thirst for political power.

The thirst for power is not even worse than the search for immediate wealth. It does not mind even about justice. Given the situation, the entire system of justice in this country is put aside to make way for the system of abuses that we are today seeing.

Look at the way our courts are being abused! Look at the way the Anti Corruption Commission, the Drug Enforcement Commission and the police are being abused! What we have today in this country is a judiciary and a judicial process that first and foremost serves the interests of Rupiah. It is justice according to Rupiah’s wishes.

Prosecutions and judgments are not expected to be in the real sense “independent”. Justice in this country has become a presidential prerogative of Rupiah, which he carries out through the judges he has appointed and through judicial officers like the Director of Public Prosecutions he has given jobs.

Our courts have simply been reduced to the status of agents of Rupiah. This is where we are today. And this is what Rupiah means when he says he respects our courts and he resisted so much pressure to have the London High Court judgment registered in this country and enforced against Chiluba.

Labels: JUDICIARY, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 10:07 PM