Maravi

Rupiah faces more charges
By Roy Habaalu in Mumbwa
Mon 29 July 2013, 14:01 CAT

JUSTICE minister Wynter Kabimba says Rupiah Banda will be slapped with more charges. And Kabimba says Banda's instruction to his fugitive son Henry not to return to Zambia confirms that Henry is guilty.

Commenting on former president Banda's statement that Henry should stay where he is because he might be tortured if he comes back, Kabimba said Banda should know that his son would not be on the run forever.

"My piece of advice to former president Rupiah Banda is that he should remain calm, and that's what we expect from an accused person, instead of being provocative. There are still more charges coming against him. What you have heard in court is just the tip of an ice-berg and he should take this as a very serious matter," Kabimba said.

"If he continues playing politics, playing to the gallery and to pontificate, he won't be doing himself a favour. As government, we shall do what the people of Zambia have demanded to all people involved in acts of corruption irrespective of their age," he said.

Kabimba said so far, the people of Zambia were happy with the way the government was handling corruption charges. He said the people demanded that whoever was involved in corruption should be brought to account.

"There are others in history who tried to do that (run away). Some of the Nazi holocaust perpetrators were caught and arrested 60 years after committing those crimes. So Henry Banda won't be a free person on this planet as long as he has cases on his neck he committed against the Zambian people," he said.

On claims that Henry would be tortured if he returned to Zambia, Kabimba said the PF government was civilised and respected human rights.

"We are not a government that tortures its citizens. What we have done is subject everybody to the due process of the law. If Rupiah Banda was tortured, at his age, he would have been dead today," he said.

Kabimba said the fact that Banda gave interviews after his court appearances meant that he was living under a government that respects the human rights of its citizens.

"The reason he has advised Henry not to come back is because he knows his son is guilty of charges proffered against him," said Kabimba.
Meanwhile, acting chief government spokesperson Fackson Shamenda says government is disappointed with Banda for continuing to shield his children from facing the law for suspected wrongdoing.

"This is unfortunate and unacceptable for a former head of state who swore to uphold the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia before which every citizen is equal. It seems when he was in office, Mr Banda had two laws to govern this country - one for his family, another for ordinary citizens," Shamenda stated in a statement.

"This is why he is having difficulties to come to terms with the reality that, like all other citizens, his children are not above the law; they are liable for questioning or prosecution when they are suspected to have broken the law. This is not persecution. This is justice which provides that all are equal before the law."

Shamenda stated that Banda's utterances further vindicate government's decision to cancel his passport so that he does not evade justice like his son had done.

He assured Banda that government was not vindictive and would treat him with the respect he deserves.

"This government respects the rule of law and will not interfere with the operations of law enforcement agencies in the investigations and prosecution of the former Head of State and his children suspected of wrongdoing," Shamenda stated.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 3:49 PM