(TIMES ZM) Own up, State House tells Musokotwane
Own up, State House tells MusokotwaneBy Times Reporter
STATE House has advised former Finance minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane and ‘his colleagues’ to own up and stop trivialising the serious and glaring illegalities that the MMD government perpetrated.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly, Patrick Matibini, has directed Minister of Finance and National Planning, Alexander Chikwanda, to issue a statement in the House on reports that the previous regime illegally printed money using two printers other than the country’s officially approved printers.
In taking a swipe at Dr Musokotwane, special assistant to the president for Press and public relations, George Chellah said it would soon dawn on the former Finance minister that there was nothing to defend about the “many excesses of the past regime’s unpatriotic conduct”.
He said it was not surprising that Dr Musokotwane had disputed a factual account that the previous regime illegitimately printed money.
“Not so surprising, Dr Musokotwane has gone further to describe the facts laid bare by this office as “false, shameful and embarrassing.
” “These are very serious charges from a man whose locus standi on this matter and many other oversights unearthed concerning the previous administration, is extremely hard to comprehend,” Mr Chellah said.
He said the former minister seemed to be acting like a useful, but out-of-control spokesperson of a troubled group seeking to confuse the due process of law with politics.
Mr Chellah said Dr Musokotwane’s incessant outbursts provided helpful pointers, especially to the investigators pursuing the many leads into the wrong-doing that went on under the previous regime.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to make it abundantly clear that the biggest and most serious challenge facing Zambia today, whether Dr Musokotwane and his colleagues agree or not, is excessive greed and corruption, he said.
Mr Chellah said under the previous administration which Dr Musokotwane served with pride, corruption assumed endemic proportions as authorities turned a blind eye to it for obvious reasons.
He said no reasonable person privy to the rot that went on under the immediate past leadership could ignore the deplorable state of affairs under which the MMD left Zambia.
“Dr Musokotwane and his colleagues must not panic and resort to half-truths but instead wait for the due process of the law to take its course.
“The Republican President, His Excellency Mr Michael Chilufya Sata has repeatedly stated that this is not a witch-hunt but a legitimate search for the truth. Let it be known that the president would definitely be the happiest to see that our former leaders are cleared of possible wrong-doing by law-enforcement agencies,” Mr Chellah said.
On the ministerial statement, Dr Matibini issued the directive following a point of order raised by Monze Central Member of Parliament Jack Mwiimbu (UPND) in Parliament yesterday.
Mr Mwiimbu said pursuant to Article 51 of the Constitution of Zambia, he wanted to find out from the vice-president whether the Government was in order to remain quiet over a serious issue that had been made public by President Sata on illegal currency that was in circulation in the country.
He said the issue had raised a lot of anxiety among the people of Zambia, especially in Monze Central Constituency.
“I have in possession a K50,000 note which was not printed by the official Government money printer, Thomas De La Rue, which I got as an allowance from the National Assembly. Is Government in order to raise anxiety like this,” Mr Mwiimbu asked.
He later laid the K50,000 in question on the table of the House.
Earlier in the day, Dr Musokotwane, at a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, denied that the MMD Government illegally printed money using two other printing companies instead of Zambia’s official printers, Thomas De La Rue.
He was reacting to President Sata’s revelations on Monday that the MMD illegally printed money which it was now using to destabilise the Patriotic Front (PF) Government.
Dr Musokotwane challenged President Sata to constitute a commission of inquiry to substantiate his assertions that the MMD illegally printed money.
He advised that Mr Sata should stop making wild allegations, which may be misconstrued by the outside world.
Dr Musokotwane said issues to do with the country’s currency were a serious matter.
He challenged Mr Sata and BoZ staff to come out in the open and tell the nation about what could have transpired.
He said BoZ should have printed the said money following the needs and tender procedures at the time and that the MMD government had nothing to do with it.
Dr Musokotwane said during his tenure as deputy BoZ governor, he knew the other two companies that were believed to have printed the money as reputable.
Labels: CORRUPTION, GEORGE CHELLAH, KWACHA, MMD, PATRICK MATIBINI, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE
posted by MrK @ 9:01 AM
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