Don't allow leaders to steal, urges Fr Bwalya

Don't allow leaders to steal, urges Fr Bwalya
By Mwila Chansa-Ntambi
Mon 30 Jan. 2012, 14:01 CAT

FATHER Frank Bwalya has urged Zambians never to allow their leaders to steal from them again. And Bonny Tembo has urged Zambians to manage the change they voted for because if it overwhelms them, it will be a disaster. Meanwhile, a former Zamtel employee says the sale of the telecoms company to LAP green Network of Libya was economic sabotage perpetrated by greed and foolishness.

Speaking at a Get Involved Zambia (GIZ) organised meeting in conjunction with former Zamtel employees at Norfred Hotel in Kitwe on Saturday, Fr Bwalya said Zambians should not allow their leaders to steal from the public coffers because such money once stolen was difficult to retrieve.

He gave an example of the London High Court judgment which found late president Frederick Chiluba and others liable of defrauding Zambians, adding that there was need to register the judgment in question.

"Do not ever allow leaders to steal from you because these leaders may die and their relatives will end up enjoying their loot. Prevention is better than cure. Whenever a thief goes out to steal, he always has a plan of how he is going to defend himself. So let's not allow them to steal our money," Fr Bwalya said.

On the review of the red card campaign, Fr Bwalya observed that whilst it had achieved some of the things it was intended for such as the removal of former president Rupiah Banda and the MMD from office, there were still other pending issues such as the non recovery of plundered monies and the continued stay in the Judiciary of judges that used to deliver politically engineered judgments.

And the meeting resolved that the red card campaign would continue as a way of pushing for the removal of former president Banda's immunity so that he answers to the various corruption allegations against him.

Fr Bwalya, who read the declaration, said the red card campaign would also continue to push for the resignation or removal of Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and all judges and magistrates that allegedly disregarded justice and common sense by hatching politically engineered judgments.

And Tembo cautioned Zambians against being overwhelmed by change by failing to provide necessary checks and balances to the current regime.

"After the removal of UNIP in 1991, we all got too drunk with change and became too satisfied to oppose. Don't be overwhelmed by this change. We shouldn't go to sleep. Change has to be managed. Otherwise if we allow change to manage us, it will be a disaster," Tembo said.

He observed that some opportunists had already started taking the ‘front row' as if they were responsible for bringing change.

And Tembo added that the sale of Zamtel was the worst plunder of all time.

He said the Zambia Development Agency must be held accountable for the manner it facilitated the sale of Zamtel.

Tembo wondered whether RP Capital Partners of Cayman Islands that was chosen to valuate Zamtel's assets even went round the entire country to check on the company's assets.

He said Zamtel's repossession should be supported and that defenders of the sale must be visited by the law.

Meanwhile, a former Zamtel employee described the sale of the company as an act of economic sabotage perpetrated by greed and foolishness.

The former employee said union leaders became spokespersons for management and the government and were therefore part of the Zamtel demolition team.

She demanded that justice over Zamtel should prevail and that the saboteurs should pay for their sins.

She recalled that in the run-up to the privatisation process, Zamtel employees, especially those that opposed the sale faced a lot of threats and intimidation and that she was one such person who was even taken to the police for interrogation for opposing the sale.

Another former Zamtel employee said the former workers only expected two things from the current government; either giving them money as redundancy packages or reinstatement.

And people who attended the meeting resolved to embark on a white ribbon campaign to express goodwill and support to the government so that they deliver a constitution that would represent the long standing aspirations of Zambians, put pressure on them to appeal against decisions not to register the London High Court judgment and ensure that aggrieved ex-Zamtel employees that were underpaid receive justice.

The white card campaign will be done on Wednesdays while the red card campaign will continue on Fridays.