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(LUSAKATIMES) Wynter Kabimba Don’t Bring Winter (ukwingisha abantu impepo) Over Our Democracy

Wynter Kabimba Don’t Bring Winter( ukwingisha abantu impepo) Over Our Democracy
TIME PUBLISHED - Thursday, December 20, 2012, 2:19 pm
By M. Makalu

As if the shortages of mealie meal and fuel, the misuse of the Public Order Act to suppress people’s political rights, the failures to implement election promises, etc were not enough doom and gloom in the nation, one Wynter Kabimba has embarked on a crusade to blanket our democracy under a heavy winter.

To begin with, no sooner had he become Minister of Justice than he banned NGOs from conducting constitution sensitization meetings unless under the supervision of the technical committee. And this is a committee of just about 18 people. How do you expect them to supervise massive constitution sensitisation programmes by various NGOs which must endevour to reach millions of people? How people-driven can such a constitution be?

He was asked, correctly and morally so, by some sections of society to relinquish either the ministerial post or the party post. In his defence, he cited a mediocre precedent set during the days of ‘political engineering’ under Chiluba, when we were dribbled into having Sata as both MMD Secretary General and Cabinet Minister. Should we be dribbled now just because we were dribbled then?

he defended this immorality by saying by-elections are budgeted for… we can have as many as possible, the budget will cater for them
.

Then allegations of corruption were leveled against him. He quickly wrote a letter to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), giving them a 7-day ultimatum to investigate him and announce their findings. He argued that as a citizen, he had the right not to have his name tarnished by baseless accusations. But this argument was fake. His real motives were to intimidate the ACC into not investigating him. This he proved when he went with an entourage of PF cadres to the ACC and refused to be interrogated except in the presence of his cadres. How does a Minister of Justice turn an institution intended to advance justice into a theatre for political fame?! Is he really a Minister of Justice or he is a Minister of Jokes? Not only that, how do you, as an executive, who claim to be allergic to corruption, intimidate the very institution that treats corruption allergies from checking you to ensure you are indeed free from the allergy?

Actions speak louder than words: Our leaders are allergic to fighting corruption.

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) was recently conducting constitution awareness activities in Kasama. Mr. Wynter Kabimba wrote them a letter, copied to the IG of Police, threatening them with arrest.
Clearly, spreading winter – ukwingisha abantu impepo – is the modus operendi for this Minister.

Fully aware that Given Lubinda was out on government business, Mr. Wynter hoped against hope that his 7-day winter (intimidation) notice to Given to exculpate himself of baseless accusations would pass without him doing so. He hoped he would then use this as an excuse to freeze Given out of PF, but Given knows better and he is smarter. He beat the winter, wrote the exculpatory letter and emailed it.

GBM must be laughing with pity as he watches Wynter’s one-man-against-the-party-and-country crusade, as Wynter mobilized PF cadres to demand that Given be expelled from the party, just to intimidate him (Given) further. Wynter should be eternally grateful to Kambwili for the courage and leadership he (Kambwili) has provided against pathetic foolishness (PF) in their party.

To crown it all, Wynter was quoted in the media telling blatant lies that the people of Zambia want one-party state. When he was challenged on radio that the PF were creating unnecessary by-elections with their ‘poaching tactics,’ he defended this immorality by saying by-elections are budgeted for… we can have as many as possible, the budget will cater for them.

Such comedy from a Minister is unacceptable. We want a Minister of Justice not a Minister of Jokes. Mr. Wynter Kabimba must not throw our democracy back into winter. The dark ages of UNIP and the corrupt ages of MMD were freezing enough!

No to Wynter! No to winter! Is there a Man of Action somewhere??!

Labels: GIVEN LUBINDA, PF, POLITICS, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 4:38 PM