Strive to restore sanity in DPP's office, Nawakwi urges Nchito

Strive to restore sanity in DPP's office, Nawakwi urges Nchito
By Kombe Chimpinde
Sun 25 Dec. 2011, 13:57 CAT

MUTEMBO Nchito must strive to restore sanity in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, urges Edith Nawakwi.

Welcoming the appointment and subsequent ratification of Mutembo Nchito and Musa Mwenye as DPP and Solicitor General respectively by parliament on Tuesday, Nawakwi said the office of the DPP had lost public confidence because of high levels of unprofessionalism exhibited previously.

She also urged Nchito to execute his duties with high levels of integrity and impartiality.

"We expect that the appointment of Mutembo Nchito will not be an appointment to delve in the past but to create confidence in the office of the DPP. That confidence was not there previously. It has to be a whole new track record, it requires a new outlook, new resoluteness," said Nawakwi, the leader of opposition Forum for Democracy and Development.

"The law in this country is not applied retrospectively. We expect that the appointment of Mutembo Nchito will not be an appointment to delve in the past but to create confidence in the office of the DPP. That confidence was not there previously. It has to a whole new track record, that requires a new outlook, new resoluteness."

Nawakwi said there was a lot of criminality occurring in the country that Nchito and Mwenye should tackle.

"There is a lot that has to be done. Drug trafficking is on the increase, white collar crimes are on the increase. Sometimes it's not for the DPP to decide who has to be prosecuted or not, but I think the best that can happen for this country is for these individuals to create a track record of fairness for the future of the Judiciary in this country," she said.

Nawakwi cautioned Nchito to be above board in his execution of national duties, stressing that Zambians had bequeathed him with the duties of the office of DPP because of the confidence they had in him.

Nawakwi also noted that Nchito's office was key in the fight against corruption, a vice that had taken its toll on the governance of the country.

She said Nchito must be supported by all well-meaning Zambians that had the interest of the country at heart.

"This appointment is not the end in itself, it's a burden that has been placed on the shoulders of the two gentlemen requiring them to be fair, impartial. Non-partisan and professional, none of what the people in the House said should be dismissed as a by the way, because those members represent their own people and whatever has been said in the adoption should be weighed heavily in their execution of their duties on behalf of the people of Zambia," said Nawakwi.

"The President says he does not want corruption, it starts from the office of the DPP, it must not be an office to settle scores."