We'll wait for Hakainde to fix us in 2016
By The Post
Tue 12 June 2012, 13:20 CAT
THE Post will never get into an alliance or a pact with anyone to pursue selfish interests, vanity, evil or indeed to do wrong things. A sense of justice, dignity, moral principles, self-respect, respect for others and love for our country and our people will never allow us to do that.
And it is this approach that has enabled us to survive and prosper under a very hostile political, financial and economic environment. Unlike privileged people like Hakainde Hichilema who had the opportunity to acquire many things on the cheap, we have had to pay a very high value for everything we have, including for our right to exist and still be there today.
The Post was not acquired through privatisation or the sale of some liquidation assets. We started it from scratch and with very little capitalisation. And today The Post is a big company employing many people across the width and breadth of our country and abroad.
The Post is contributing greatly to the income of government and is today one of this country's big taxpayers. In saying all this, we are not in any way trying to be like that narrow-minded gentleman who likes bragging about how rich he is and about what he owns, that rich man without money. We are merely stating facts that can be verified.
We have never asked anyone in this country or in this world to write off any of the debts of Zambian Airways. This airline still exists under receivership. Zambian Airways is not in liquidation. It is still in existence and is under the management of a receiver from Kenya appointed by the company's creditors. All matters pertaining to this airline can be addressed by the receiver and those who appointed him.
And there are no secrets, no cover-ups about what this airline did or did not do. Everything can be looked at from the receiver.
We are surprised to hear Hakainde threatening to make us pay the K14 billion Zambian Airways is said to be owing the Development Bank of Zambia when he becomes president. We don't need any threat from any president for us to pay our debts to anyone.
We have a duty to pay our debts as they fall due. If we fail, every debt contains conditions of what happens when there is failure to repay it. And commercial debts are legally enforceable. There is nothing one can do if the law requires them to pay a debt and they fail to do so, other than to face receivership and eventually liquidation.
K14 billion may sound a very huge amount to people like Hakainde. But it isn't something beyond The Post's ability to pay. The Post is a big company with a reasonable amount of assets and a steady flow of daily income. As such, The Post is in a position to service or repay an obligation in that range.
The issue here is not inability on the part of The Post to pay an obligation of K14 billion. What is in dispute is whether or not The Post has a legal obligation to pay the Development Bank of Zambia such money. As explained above, we sincerely believe The Post does not owe the Development Bank of Zambia such an obligation.
And we challenge Hakainde and his friends at the Development Bank of Zambia, including their lawyer Vincent Malambo, to put in the public domain every document in their possession that shows that The Post owes the Development Bank of Zambia K14 billion. We also challenge them to put in the public domain any document in their possession that shows that the Development Bank of Zambia had converted its loan to Zambian Airways into equity, into shares.
We sincerely believe the Development Bank of Zambia never converted its loan into equity to deserve the consideration of a share buyback by The Post. And even if the Development Bank of Zambia had managed to convert its loan into equity, we still believe that the guarantee for a buyback that was given to them was not for them to jump out when the company was in receivership.
It was for them to leave when the company was doing well and no longer needed them as shareholders. Acting otherwise would mean giving security to equity in the same way we do with debentures. We know things like these are not easy to understand for people whose minds are jaundiced by prejudice, hatred and envy like Hakainde.
This is not a frivolous argument. A dispute of this nature requires a fair and sober adjudicator. We did not get any of that in the court processes that were commenced against us. There were violations of the High Court Act in the manner the case was shifted around. And we challenged that within the Judiciary itself.
But in the end we realised that, and by its own admission, the Judiciary was not in a position to act in a just way and resolve our grievance against it. It was then when we brought the matter to the Minister of Justice. Again, this was not done behind the back of the Judiciary - we kept them, together with the Law Association of Zambia, informed about what we were doing.
We have never sought assistance from anyone, including President Michael Sata and finance minister Alexander Chikwanda, to be let off our alleged obligations to the Development Bank of Zambia or to anyone else for that matter. We have no problem with this matter being resolved by our courts.
What we had a quarrel with is the way the matter was being handled. If at the end of the day the Supreme Court says that we have to pay Development Bank of Zambia K14 billion, we will pay it. We have never made a plea to anyone to get us absolved of any legitimate liability owed by us.
However, we do appreciate that things like these are not the things people like Hakainde would like to hear. What Hakainde would love to see is us nailed to the cross. But this is wishful thinking. It won't happen that way; he is dreaming. What they can't forgive is our dignity, our independence. What they cannot forgive is that after 21 years of being fought so hard, we are still there.
As for Hakainde's threat to fix us in 2016 when he becomes president, we can only say that he will find us waiting for him and ready to be fixed by him. We have been through that route before with many politicians before him. We can only say good luck to him. And by that time everybody would have known the truth about what happened with the Zambian Airways loan to the Development Bank of Zambia.
We would like this issue to be dealt with by all those involved in the most transparent way and to let the public have access to all the information. This is the only way those who are trying to tell lies like Hakainde about this issue will dry up. If this is Hakainde's main election campaign issue, then his chances of being president in 2016 are very slim, if not nil.
Anyway, it shows great anger, bitterness, malice and envy on Hakainde's part. There is a lot we can say about Hakainde, his politics and his business life but it's not necessary, at this stage, for us to delve into that. The only thing we can say is that he needs to grow up and gain some maturity if he has to be taken seriously by the voters.
Bragging about who he is, when he is not what he is claiming to be, will not get him votes to become president of this country. Even about the money he brags about, what money does Hakainde have? Hakainde may be well-to-do, but he is not a rich man in the real sense of the word.
There are many Zambians with more money than Hakainde, but they don't go around bragging. What businesses does Hakainde own? This is why sometimes he attempts to claim businesses that are not his because he is desperate to project himself as a rich man.
And here is a rich man whose political party is sinking deeper and deeper into oblivion since he took it over. Since Hakainde became the leader of UPND, the party's performance at every election has been going down. Why? In saying this we are not in any way being malicious. We are merely stating facts as they stand.
And the fact is that since Hakainde took over UPND, the graph of its performance has been pointing downwards. These are the things Hakainde should concentrate on. Addressing these issues may win Hakainde some votes, rather than trying to concentrate on telling lies about us. If scandalising us will win him some votes, let him continue to do so.
We are not made of wax to be melted by Hakainde's wet mouth, full of lies, anger, bitterness and envy. A braggadocio of the Hakainde type cannot bring us down.
Labels: ELECTIONS, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Judiciary is being player, referee - Chikwanda
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tue 12 June 2012, 13:24 CAT
FINANCE minister Alexander Chikwanda has regretted that
a lot of lies have been peddled concerning the Zambian Airways debt. And Chikwanda says the Judiciary has advantage in an undesirable war of attrition because they have an enviable role of being player and referee.
Meanwhile, Chikwanda questioned the ability of "some regionally-strong political parties to organise nation-wide protest in pursuit of their cause".
Chikwanda, who by yesterday was acting Republican President in the absence of President Michael Sata, said it was inconceivable for the Executive to undermine the Judiciary
"It is in public interest that the minister of finance as shareholder directed Development Bank of Zambia to ask their lawyers to pend the action before the court and not to withdraw but to seek the Attorney General's opinion because the matter before the Court had acquired overtones which were contentious," Chikwanda said.
"It is government's practice to seek guidance of the Attorney General's opinion on matters where there is no certainty. This is not optional but mandatory.
"The government owns about 90 per cent of the DBZ with EximBank of India and Development Bank of Southern Africa returning the 10 per cent equity.
Chikwanda said it was "absolutely inconceivable" that President Sata could wittingly or inadvertently do anything that undermined any component of government.
Chikwanda said the strained relationship between the Executive and the Judiciary was regrettable as the two form the same government.
"As is public knowledge, the Judiciary has different views and the Executive has no alternative except to seek recourse to the same Judiciary by ways of appeal," Chikwanda told journalists yesterday.
"We know the Judiciary has advantage in this undesirable war of attrition because they have the enviable role of being a player and referee. Government will not take any precipitate measures in this matter and we appeal to both the general public and civil society to pend their anger and frustration."
Chikwanda said the government even with the demarcations of responsibilities of the three wings, namely the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature, was essentially one entity.
"The people of Zambia are now being dared to sit in moral judgment of the Executive and the Judiciary because what is happening is far beyond legality," he said.
"It is a moral issue for no government can stand with sustainability without distinct moral benchmarks. This is at the core of the very essence of any government premised on democracy and the rule of law."
On April 30 this year, President Sata suspended Supreme Court judge Philip Musonda and High Court judges Charles Kajimanga and Nigel Mutuna over their alleged professional misconduct and has since appointed a tribunal to investigate them.
President Sata suspended the three judges over their conduct in a civil case involving the Development Bank of Zambia as complainant, and The Post Newspapers Limited, Mutembo Nchito and JNC Holdings Limited as defendants.
The President subsequently appointed the tribunal led by Malawi High Court judge Justice Lovemore Chikopa to probe the three judges.
However on May 16, Lusaka High Court judge Fulgence Chisanga stayed proceedings of a tribunal appointed by President Sata to investigate the alleged misconduct of the three judges on grounds that it was illegal and premature.
"At inception of his administration, President Sata as a mark of respect to the Judiciary invited Chief Justice Ernest Sakala to address Cabinet," he revealed.
"In the words of justice Sakala, that was the only time he had been accorded that honour and privilege in his long tenure at the helm of the Judiciary. President Sata took advantage of the occasion to admonish his ministers to stay away from judicial matters. His Excellency the President is the head of government and has acted most diligently and dutifully to safeguard the integrity and respectability of all arms of government."
And Chikwanda said the Executive appealed against the decision of judge Chisanga because it believed in the separation of power.
"The Executive has no alternative; we will abide by their decision the Supreme Court is the last court of appeal and Zambia can only uphold its democratic arrangements if all arms of government work as part of the entity called government," he said.
"The government has no intention for confrontation. As your Minister of Finance, I cannot withhold payments or disbursements to the Judiciary; that's not right. The Judiciary has to function and function effectively and that is why in this ministry we do everything possible to try and make sure that the Judiciary is equipped to do what they are supposed to do."
"We can't have confrontation between the Executive and the Judiciary nor can we have confrontation between the Executive and Legislature. The democratic norms and imperatives entail us to accept the decisions of other arms of government but it must be realised that the government is literally one. That is why the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary all come here to get our requirements because the division of responsibilities is just for convenience."
Meanwhile, Chikwanda laughed off the suggestion that some political parties, in apparent reference to UPND, would hold nationwide demonstrations to the push for their agenda over the calls for judicial reforms.
He also blamed the UPND for the confrontation last week in which Lusaka Police dispersed a planned demonstration to Supreme Court by UPND cadres.
"The law requires that you seek police indulgence if you want to mount a demonstration. Government is committed to defending the rights and freedoms of the people; we are not looking for eulogies. The PF has a mandate to rule Zambia but to do so within the confines of the law. Let them demonstrate but let them do so within the confines of the law. And some people have illusions that they are going to demonstrate all over the country...where will they get people to join them in Chipata, Mansa or Kasama or even Solwezi, maybe even Mongu?" asked Chikwanda.
"Maybe not even in Choma because people would rather get on with productive functions than being used as cannon fodders soldiers forced to deliberately fight with the foreknowledge that they will suffer extremely high casualties in an effort to achieve a strategic goal by politicians with an agenda which is not in accord with the wishes of the people. But do not resort to confrontations which stall the development of our country. None of us here, if we are X tribe, is without relations in Y tribe. We have now become very fused; we are one. There are people who have different ideas, but the mainstream Zambians want to be one; they want to be a happy society. We want to be a very well embracing, accommodating and tolerant society."
Labels: ALEXANDER CHIKWANDA, FRED M'MEMBE, JUDICIARY, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Namugala’s dirty politics have failed - Magande
By Patson Chilemba
Thu 15 July 2010, 04:10 CAT
TOURISM minister Catherine Namugala’s dirty politics have failed to work, Chilanga MMD member of parliament Ng’andu Magande observed yesterday.
Commenting on Namugala’s statement that politics were dirty, especially for women who suffered too much character assassination, Magande said Namugala should not throw stones because she lived in a glass house.
“It is better when you see something dirty, you try to clean it. But then young people like Namugala thought at their age they would start getting into a dirty game and win. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working for them,” Magande said.
“I will give you the specific case of Zambian Airways; you know it came out in that Executive Issues a publication which was run by President Rupiah Banda’s spokesperson Dickson Jere. Namugala is one of those people propagating lies about Zambian Airways in the Executive Issues.”
Magande said Namugala was, in fact, one of the government officials propagating the untruthful stories involving Zambian Airways.
“Those are the people who were starting stories that have not achieved anything and have ended up not being correct. I think that is the whole point; they have just realised that by making politics dirty, they can also end up being victims,” Magande said.
“She is actually the one who was distributing pamphlets to the NEC national executive committee members when we went for voting in 2008 at Mulungushi, and I wanted to get a copy of the magazine, she refused. She thought by distributing that document to the members, then they would vote against me.”
Magande said Namugala fell into the category of people who wanted to maintain power at all costs, and when they failed to use that power properly, they cried foul.
He said Namugala should not be the one to talk about dirty politics because she should have helped to make them clean.
“All I can say is that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones,” Magande said.
He said people should not get into politics for the sake of personal gain but to give service to other people. Magande said when people went into politics with the objective of serving, they would not start trying to destroy others.
“If you asked her to say, ‘what do you mean by politics being dirty?’ She will fail to explain, except she will end up saying ‘no, I heard somebody talking about me in this way’,” said Magande.
Namugala on Sunday said Zambian politics were too dirty and rough for women. She said political parties, including the ruling MMD, should do more to make women feel safer because there was too much character assassination in politics.
Labels: CATHERINE NAMUGALA, MAGANDE, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Muyanda takes govt to task over Zambian Airways probe
By Ernest Chanda
Sat 27 Mar. 2010, 04:01 CAT
SINAZONGWE UPND member of parliament Raphael Muyanda yesterday took the government to task over its silence on the outcome of investigations into the operations of Zambian Airways.
And his Siavonga counterpart Douglas Siakalima asked Vice-President George Kunda to tell parliament whether or not as government they had regretted having secured a conviction against Frederick Chiluba and others in the London High Court.
During the Vice-President's Question and Answer session in parliament, Muyanda asked Vice-President George Kunda whether or not the pronounced investigations were meant to embarrass the owners of the defunct airline, especially that it had been over a year since the investigations were instituted.
"I would like to find out from His Honour the Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia, what has happened to the case of Zambian Airways? Was it meant to merely embarrass the owners of that airline since the nation has not been told anything about the outcome of those investigations? Why not apologise as government to the owners of Zambian Airways and allow them to continue operating because Zambians still need the services of Zambian Airways?" Muyanda asked.
In his response, Vice-President Kunda maintained the usual statement that the matter was still under investigation.
"The matter is still under investigation in Zambia and abroad. As you know a lot of tax payers money is the subject of investigation, as how it got into Zambian Airways. Police and other law enforcement agencies are still looking into this matter and as soon as these investigations are concluded, the nation will be informed," Vice President Kunda explained.
"We may all know that offshore investigations take time to conclude; the matter has not been closed. As you know, billions of Kwacha went into Zambian Airways and the people of Zambia deserve to know how it was used. If anything is found after investigations, appropriate measures will be taken. The airline closed on its own and we are following up on the issue of recovering public funds."
And Vice-President Kunda could neither deny nor confirm that his government has regretted securing a conviction against Chiluba in the London High Court.
Responding to Siakalima's question, Vice-President Kunda simply said: "The simple answer is that, that issue is subjudice."
In May 2007, the London High Court found Chiluba liable of defrauding the Zambian people.
Labels: CHILUBA, RAPHAEL MUYANDA, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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‘Zambian Airways, MoH scam investigations have progressed’
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Wed 23 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT
INSPECTOR General of Police Francis Kabonde yesterday said investigations into the operations of Zambian Airways and the Ministry of Health's K27 billion scam have progressed.
Briefing the press, Kabonde said much more progress had been made on the Ministry of Health scam where people were still appearing in court.
On the issue of Zambian Airways, Kabonde said the investigative wings were still getting more evidence from abroad and had even written to the host countries to get mutual legal assistant to clear the way if evidence was to be taken from there.
And Kabonde said all those who would be nabbed during this festive season would 'celebrate' their Christmas and New Year in police custody and would only be released on January 2, 2010.
Kabonde said all commanding officers had therefore been directed to decongest the cells to create room for would-be offenders during the festive period.
He said all commanding officers in divisions had been directed to intensify both motorised and foot patrols in all densely populated areas and to ensure that all bars were closed within the stipulated time and arrest the under-age found in those places.
"As we have entered Christmas and New Year periods, as usual, there is excitement in and around the country particularly in urban areas. To some people, this is the time for prayers in remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ while for others it is time for merry making, parties and holidays. Unfortunately, it is also a time when crime and traffic accidents increase," he said.
Kabonde said there were 248 road traffic accidents between December 2008 and January 2009 out of which 15 people died and 57 were seriously injured.
He said additionally, many people lost property in thefts while others were assaulted.
He advised people not to carry with them huge sums of money, not buy in excess and flash their wallets more especially at tills in shopping outlets as this often attracted criminals.
Kabonde urged people to avoid drunkenness, as it was not only unhealthy to a person but also dangerous to the family.
"Drink moderately and in so doing, please do not drive as you will put not only your life at stake but that of other road users. Our advice to you is that you lessen unnecessary movements on the roads and if possible remain indoors with your families. To those who will be travelling for holidays to celebrate their Christmas and New Year, you ought to be wary of people you meet on the way," he said
Kabonde also said the year 2009 had seen crime rates reducing in Lusaka.
He said in the past year, there were many cases of aggravated robberies on a daily basis and four to five thefts of motor vehicles daily, but now there was nothing sometimes.
Labels: CORRUPTION, FRANCIS KABONDE, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Destruction of Zambian Airways is a political curse, says Fr Miha
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Ndola
Sunday, September 20, 2009 8:22:20 AM
MISSION Press director Fr Miha Drevensek has said the destruction of Zambian Airways is a political curse on the country.
Commenting on Kenya Airways' launch of two direct flights every week between Nairobi and Ndola on Thursday evening, Fr Miha said it was folly for the government to have kicked Zambian Airways when it was ailing instead of helping it to survive.
"Whoever had that idea of bringing two flights to Ndola must have been a person of courage, of vision. Now at the same time as I am thinking and thanking these people for such courage, such strength, such vision, I feel very, very sad that the Kenyans have to come here and tell us that it is worth to do something with an airline which connects the people with the world and in Zambia we are happy, we are dancing when we destroy somebody," Fr Miha said.
"We had Zambian Airways which went into problems. Instead of looking at what was wrong and try to correct, the people stamped on it and just kicking and they were enjoying. And this is disaster, this is a curse, a political curse in Zambia that we are happy when we destroy somebody."
He said other airlines such as Kenya Airways saw the future in the country.
"We ourselves we are enjoying when we are killing and torturing each other politically, economically, socially, medically... that is our mentality, a shameful mentality which will never take us beyond; we are all the time going to be slaves to somebody. Foreigners will come, they will make money out of us unless we change our mentality."
He said the Rupiah Banda government was afraid of its own shadow and wanted to suppress everybody.
"They want to suppress media, they want to regulate media, they want to regulate NGOs [non governmental organisations] and this is the mentality of the socialist, communist ideologies of 80s of [Dr Kenneth] Kaunda; control everything, every human being, every action, everything. I am a communist educated priest, I went to communist schools and so on. I resisted this mentality since I was four, five, six years old," Fr Miha said.
"That's why I am telling this to President Banda, please change. Freedom of expression, freedom of action, respect for anybody even with the most different opinion, respect him - we are going to prosper. As soon as we are going to start to suppress each other and insult each other, what we have now in our politics and everywhere, we are going to be slaving [for] anybody in the world who comes; very unfortunate. I praise Kenya Airways for having the courage of having two flights to have courage to get two flights from [a] god-forsaken place called Ndola."
He said information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha needed to control his brain a little bit because he could not control everybody.
"Let him control his brain a little bit if he can't control his thoughts, if he can't control his speaking out and so on when he wants to control everybody, you control nothing. You hardly control your own life, your own military life when you betray your own military honours and so on, how can you control the nation and the ideas of others?" said Fr Miha.
"And remember there is never any force greater and bigger and stronger than the idea and ideas when its time comes."
And officiating during the Kenya Airways cocktail, Copperbelt permanent secretary Villie Lombanya praised the airline for coming to Zambia's rescue by introducing direct flights into Ndola.
"There is no way we can foster tourism in this province even though we have very attractive sceneries without communication," said Lombanya. "So what has happened today is most welcome to us because as you know Zambia has no flag carrier. Since the demise of Zambia Airways many years ago we have been like orphans. We have been actually handicapped in terms of travel. Even though tourists will like to come to Zambia first of all they'll like to know how they are going to get there. What has happened today has answered the question and we thank you Kenya Airways for that support that you have given to us and we can now ask our missions abroad to market our products here, tourist products because we are sure that when they want to come to this region we shall be able to tell them 'yes! There is a reliable carrier that will take you into Ndola without problems'."
Kenya Airways chief executive officer Dr Titus Naikuni said the Ndola-Nairobi flights were helping Kenya Airways achieve its core purpose of creating sustainable development in Africa
Labels: MIHA DREVENSEK, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Attempting to divert public attention
Written by Editor
RUPIAH Banda’s league is one of shameless liars. For them, everything is about deceit, intrigue and manipulation. Realising that they are coming under a lot of criticism and mounting political pressure over their fraudulent acquittal of their corrupt friend Frederick Chiluba, they are now seeking to divert public attention from this matter to something else. And in their narrow thinking, smearing the filth they have brewed over Zambian Airways on The Post is something that can stop this newspaper from exposing the crimes of their league.
This is not the first time Zambian Airways is being used to divert attention. When Dora Siliya was in trouble over her conduct in relation to the Zamtel valuation and the way she engaged RP Capital, the state media and the police were utilised to use Zambian Airways to smear us. It seems this tactic will continue.
It requires little intelligence – if a little is all one has – to realise that the Inspector General of Police was instructed by them to call a press briefing and say something, even if it doesn’t make sense, about their investigations of Zambian Airways.
Police Inspector General Francis Kabonde knows very well and he knows that we know that there is nothing criminal or wrong they have found in their investigations over Zambian Airways. What Kabonde and his friends don’t have is the honesty, the moral and professional courage to tell Rupiah a sad story, bad news, what he doesn’t want to hear – that they have found nothing criminal in the way the affairs of Zambian Airways were conducted. But it is this dishonesty, this inability by individuals occupying important government or state positions to live up to the honesty, integrity and courage required by their offices that is ruining this country. It’s this behaviour that is making our people lose confidence in and respect for public institutions, including the judicial process of our country.
On the issue of Zambian Airways, we have made it very clear that if there is anything we did wrong, if there is any crime we committed in our association or dealings with that company, we are ready to be arrested and be prosecuted. And if indeed we are found to have done something wrong, we deserve much harsher punishment because we know very well the evils and consequences of corruption. However, we can say with absolute certainty and confidence that no one, including the police and other agencies, will find a ngwee or a cent stolen by us from or through Zambian Airways. We say this because not a cent, not a ngwee, not even a free ticket ever came in our direction, ever came to us from Zambian Airways. For someone to find us with any wrongdoing, they have to create something, they have to concoct something. But this will be very difficult for them to do given the way financial matters move – they always leave a trail.
Who in this country doesn’t know that Rupiah accused and convicted us of having pocketed US$ 30 million from state institutions? It was after this conviction that the police and other agencies working with them were tasked to put up evidence and a case that tied up to our conviction by Rupiah. It’s a crazy way to do things. But that’s how Rupiah does things. He convicted us and then started going round looking for evidence to support his conviction. But his policemen can’t find anything, any evidence to support his conviction and now they are in a catch-22: they can’t go back to him and tell him that there is nothing and because they can’t do this, it means that they can’t also close the case. They have to be telling the same story of “the investigations are progressing well and have reached an advanced stage”. Their lies about seeking assistance to check foreign accounts of Zambian Airways or of individuals associated with it is nonsense. All the statements from the accounts of Zambian Airways can be found in Zambia and where needed can be obtained very quickly by those now in charge of this company, the receiver.
As for the liabilities with statutory bodies, they are not a secret; Zambian Airways had liabilities with the Development Bank of Zambia, NAPSA and ZRA. But these do not constitute crimes in any way. And Kabonde and his friends know this very well. Even Rupiah knows this very well. But theirs is an agenda to lie, to deceive and manipulate. They are not dealing with the truth and they are not interested in the truth.
Anyway, over Zambian Airways they will have no choice in the end but to swallow their own lies. And they are keeping this issue ‘alive’ just to use against us in the most desperate way to divert public attention and make us look like we are corrupt elements like them whenever they are in trouble. It won’t do. Let them find something else to use against us because the Zambian Airways issue won’t take them anywhere.
Well, this is extreme desperation. They are in a moment in which, to use Lenin’s words, in their desperation they are wrongly thinking that untimely inaction would be worse than untimely action. Truly, their untimely inaction to deal with this matter in an honest way and accept failure or defeat will be worse than their untimely action of trying to deceive the public that it’s just a matter of time before they “catch” us with something wrong over Zambian Airways. This will never happen because we did nothing wrong, nothing of a criminal nature. We didn’t run Zambian Airways the way they run their tuntembas. We have lost a lot of money – over K16 billion – in investments in that company. But we took nothing from it. And the debts of Zambian Airways are legitimate or genuine commercial liabilities of a company that faced serious and legitimate business challenges. The aviation industry is not an easy one the world over, especially over that period of very high fuel prices. Business problems, yes, Zambian Airways faced; corruption, no, never.
These guys are in a hurry, are desperate to find wrongdoings with us. And that desperation could be seen in Rupiah at his last press conference at State House when he declared: “We will catch them one day.” They haven’t caught us yet. They are hoping to catch us one day. If Rupiah had found anything on us, any crime committed by us, he wouldn’t have the patience to wait a second, a minute, an hour or a day to arrest and prosecute us. And this is why he is hoping to catch us one day because he hasn’t caught us.
But lies, deceit don’t live long, they don’t endure; their lifespan is very short and that’s why they are said to have shorter legs. It won’t be long before it’s permanently established that Rupiah lied about us stealing US$ 30 million from state institutions.
We have nothing to fear and this is why we have been telling Rupiah and his agents in the police to arrest and prosecute us so that this matter can be put to rest permanently. But they are not ready for that. Why? It’s simply because doing so will quickly reveal their lies, deceit, manipulation, hatred and malice against us. If they proceed to court without the necessary evidence, this will clearly be a case of malicious prosecution for which litigations will be commenced in the future against those behind such proceedings.
For now, their desperate attempt at diverting public attention from their shameful complicity in the ridiculous and ludicrous acquittal of Chiluba will not work. Everyone can see what they are trying to do. Desperate men do desperate things; they can even cling to a straw to avoid drowning.
Labels: CHILUBA, RUPIAH BANDA, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Zambian Airways probe has reached an advanced stage, says Kabonde
Written by Ernest Chanda
Sunday, August 23, 2009 2:15:42 PM
POLICE Inspector General Francis Kabonde has said the investigations into Zambian Airways operations have reached an advanced stage. Briefing the media in Lusaka yesterday, Kabonde said the investigations had been extended to various countries where the airline operated routes.
"The Zambian Airways investigations are still ongoing and at a very advanced stage. In my earlier press briefing on this matter, I indicated that these investigations would be extended to all the countries that Zambian Airways operated routes. To be able to carry out the intended investigation that will involve among other things, identification of bank accounts and inspection of those bank accounts, that can only be done through the mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, in order to obtain evidence from those countries which will be admissible in our courts of law," Kabonde said.
"In this respect Requests for Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters (ROGATORY COMMISSION) were forwarded to respective countries by the Attorney General through diplomatic channels as required by law. The authorities to carry these investigations are still being awaited from those countries. On the other hand, forensic auditors that were assigned from Ministry of Finance to carry out audit inspection for the books of accounts of Zambian Airways are yet to conclude their work and submit a report."
Kabonde said investigations into institutions connected to the Zambian Airways case were almost concluded.
"Other cases related to these investigations involving Development Bank of Zambia, NAPSA [National Pension Scheme Authority], Workman's Compensation [Fund] and Zambia Revenue Authority have almost been concluded. We are however avoiding segmentation of cases at this stage in order to detect what went wrong at Zambian Airways and further avoid duplication of work in the long run. We are leaving no stone unturned to detect what went wrong at Zambian Airways," he said.
Kabonde said the forensic audit into Zambian Airways' alleged failure to remit passenger fees to the National Airports Corporation Limited (NACL) were almost complete.
"Due to repeated queries surrounding the extent of investigations involving Zambian Airways' alleged failure to remit passenger fees to the National Airports Corporation, I am glad to confirm that forensic audits are progressing well and almost complete. These investigations have been quite diverse in nature but arrangements have been made to ensure that everything is completely done and within the confines of the law," said Kabonde said. "To this effect, officers are expected to travel to South Africa and Tanzania respectively for the purpose of conducting the same forensic audits in those countries. And sooner than later, the nation will be informed through the press on the outcome of such investigations."
Zambian Airways suspended operations in January this year owing to high cost of operations due to high fuel prices.
Kabonde also warned would-be cattle buyers in Southern Province to be cautious of people who called them on mobile phones purporting to sell animals, saying they would risk their lives.
The warning comes in the wake of businessmen that buy cattle, who had recently been shot and had their money stolen while others sustained gunshot wounds this month between Pemba and Choma.
Labels: FRANCIS KABONDE, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Rupiah promised to resolve Zambian Airways, NACL problems - Magande
Written by George Chellah
Thursday, June 18, 2009 10:54:15 PM
FORMER finance minister Ng'andu Magande on Wednesday told the joint investigating team probing the operations of Zambian Airways that President Rupiah Banda promised to intervene in resolving the problems between National Airports Corporation Limited (NACL) and Zambian Airways.
And Magande said under the
Loans and Guarantees Act Cap 366 the
minister of finance is responsible for all loans and guarantees to government and to all parastatals including NACL, a provision which gave him authority to get involved in the affairs of NACL and many other parastatals to resolve their problems.
Well-placed sources in the joint investigating team revealed that in his warn and caution statement to the investigating officers, Magande said he was aware that Zambian Airways owed some money to NACL in form of airport charges and that this came to his knowledge through a letter written by Zambian Airways to the minister of communication and transport on June 9, 2008 and copied to his ministry.
"Mr Magande said some information on this matter came through his officers who had discussions with management of Zambian Airways and NACL. He said these discussions were at his instructions in order to establish the status or the relationship between NACL and Zambian Airways in as far as the outstanding charges were concerned and how far these unpaid amounts would affect the capital investment programs of NACL. He said in the briefs from the officers he came to learn that the arrears owed to NACL were less that US$2 million accumulated overtime," the source said.
"He said after knowing the financial difficulties in the relationship of the two institutions he requested the minister of transport and communications to send to his ministry written documentation on the matter. He said the documents submitted to them included those from Zambian Airways and NACL and that all these documents were submitted to his officers for study and advice.
"He said on June 26, 2008 he received advice from his officers in a draft letter on what advice to render to the minister of communications and transport who had requested him to do so. He said on that same date he signed a letter signed to Honourable Dora Siliya headed; REQUEST FOR A DEFERMENT OF VARIOUS CHARGES BY ZA, since the matter had been with his ministry for some time when the documents had been submitted," the source said.
The sources said Magande explained that on June 25, 2008 in his farewell telephone conversation with the late president Mwanawasa he mentioned this problem and the possible course of action.
"He said in early July 2008 he heard that no action had been taken on the basis of his advice. He said this was from officers who were following up with the Ministry of Communications and Transport and NACL and that he checked with the managing director for NACL whether he had received any advice from the parent ministry on this matter. He said the managing director indicated that he was still awaiting communication from the Ministry of Communications and Transport. Mr Magande said somewhere in the middle of July 2008 he received information that there was a problem at the airport as Zambian Airways planes were not being attended to and that he contacted the managing director to find out what the problem was. He said the managing director assured him that there was no problem and that Zambian Airways operations were only affected by inefficiency, which delayed the departure of most of its flights including international flights," the source said.
"Mr Magande further said a few days later information from one of his officers that NACL had indicated that they would not be servicing Zambian Airways planes the following day due to financial problems, which had been brought to the attention of the government through the Ministry of Communications and Transport and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning. He said he immediately wanted to contact the minister of communications and transport and came to learn that she was out of the country and that he then contacted the managing director for NACL who indicated to him that since the problem of Zambian Airways had not been resolved they could take any action in order to recover their money. He said he informed the managing director that the timing was very poor as there was a very important international function being organized by the National Assembly.
"Mr Magande said this conference was being held in Livingstone Southern Province and that these delegates the following day were to be ferried to various parts of Zambia by local airlines including Zambian Airways in order to showcase Zambia's development efforts and that among the places to be visited were Nakambala Sugar Estates, Kafue Gorge Hydro Power Station, Lumwana mines in North-Western Province and the Copperbelt Province.
He said he also brought it to the attention of the managing director that the previous week, the rumour that His Excellency LP Mwanawasa had died has had a very poor and negative reaction from both investors and on the capital markets and that in fact the kwacha had depreciated on the spread of that news. He said he then directed that no such action should be taken on the following day as it will have serious negative effects on the confidence of both Zambians and the international community on the capability of the interim government to run the affairs of the nation."
The sources said Magande narrated that the managing director did not give him assurance that he would not obey his instructions.
"Mr Magande said he then phoned the acting president [then Vice-President] RB Banda to bring to his attention his conversation with the managing director for NACL and that he requested the acting President to get in touch with Ms Siliya as he obviously knew where she had gone so that she could assist in reinforcing his proposals to Mr Misitala. He said as his conversation with the acting President was late perhaps 22:00 hours he indicated that it might not be easy to talk to the minister but that he would see what he would do to make sure that the intended action by NACL was not carried out. Mr Magande said a day or two later he checked with the Clerk of the National Assembly whether the program of ferrying the Commonwealth parliamentarian delegates had been successful and she confirmed that this was so and evidence was there in the daily newspapers, where senior members of the Commonwealth Parliament commended Zambia's efforts in developing the nation," the source said.
"He said this according to his recollection was his last active participation in the resolutions of the issues between Zambian Airways and NACL and that for all he can recall somewhere in August, 2008 a newspaper article in the Executive Business magazine alleged that he had interfered in the operations of the Zambian Airways in their relationship with NACL as a way of campaigning towards his ambition to replace His Excellency Mwanawasa as president of Zambia. He said these allegations continued in various forms either through tabloids or the internet and were finally made public by His Excellency Rupiah B Banda somewhere in February 2009 while addressing a crowd of MMD cadres at State House and that a few days after His Excellency President Rupiah Banda's public announcement on the alleged commission of an offence while in office it was announced by the deputy minister of justice at a press conference that the matter of Zambian Airways and the former minister of finance was being investigated by a team of security officers."
The sources said Magande said under the Laws of Zambia, the Minister of Finance under Cap 349 is an incorporated entity who could sue and be sued.
"He explained that this is because the minister of finance and national planning is the shareholder [only shareholder] in all parastatals and private institutions on behalf of government and the people of Zambia and that under the Loans and Guarantees Act Cap 366 the minister of finance is responsible for all loans and guarantees to government and to all parastatals including NACL. He said this is the provision that gave him the authority as minister of finance at the time to get involved in the affairs of NACL and many other parastatals in order to resolve their problems," the source said.
"Mr Magande said the Loans and Guarantees Act and Cap 349 also gave him a personal responsibility to contract loans on behalf of government and that he used these same legal provisions to personally with advice of his officers to negotiate cancellation of loans to government with international multilateral and bilateral creditors. He said the international debt was reduced from US$7.2 billion to US$500 million and that most times he did this with his officers with minimum recourse to advice from His Excellence the President who was his supervisor. He said he feels sad that the problem with NACL of only US$2 million could not be resolved by his capable and efficient team at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning negotiate."
Labels: MAGANDE, NACL, RUPIAH BANDA, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Rupiah promised to resolve Zambian Airways, NACL problems - Magande
Written by George Chellah
Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:16:52 PM
FORMER finance minister Ng'andu Magande on Wednesday told the joint investigating team probing the operations of Zambian Airways that President Rupiah Banda promised to intervene in resolving the problems between National Airports Corporation Limited (NACL) and Zambian Airways.
And Magande said under the Loans and Guarantees Act Cap 366 the minister of finance is responsible for all loans and guarantees to government and to all parastatals including NACL, a provision which gave him authority to get involved in the affairs of NACL and many other parastatals to resolve their problems.
Well-placed sources in the joint investigating team revealed that in his warn and caution statement to the investigating officers, Magande said he was aware that Zambian Airways owed some money to NACL in form of airport charges and that this came to his knowledge through a letter written by Zambian Airways to the minister of communication and transport on June 9, 2008 and copied to his ministry.
"Mr Magande said some information on this matter came through his officers who had discussions with management of Zambian Airways and NACL. He said these discussions were at his instructions in order to establish the status or the relationship between NACL and Zambian Airways in as far as the outstanding charges were concerned and how far these unpaid amounts would affect the capital investment programs of NACL. He said in the briefs from the officers he came to learn that the arrears owed to NACL were less that US$2 million accumulated overtime," the source said. "He said after knowing the financial difficulties in the relationship of the two institutions he requested the minister of transport and communications to send to his ministry written documentation on the matter. He said the documents submitted to them included those from Zambian Airways and NACL and that all these documents were submitted to his officers for study and advice.
"He said on June 26, 2008 he received advice from his officers in a draft letter on what advice to render to the minister of communications and transport who had requested him to do so. He said on that same date he signed a letter signed to Honourable Dora Siliya headed; REQUEST FOR A DEFERMENT OF VARIOUS CHARGES BY ZA, since the matter had been with his ministry for some time when the documents had been submitted," the source said.
The sources said Magande explained that on June 25, 2008 in his farewell telephone conversation with the late president Mwanawasa he mentioned this problem and the possible course of action.
"He said in early July 2008 he heard that no action had been taken on the basis of his advice. He said this was from officers who were following up with the Ministry of Communications and Transport and NACL and that he checked with the managing director for NACL whether he had received any advice from the parent ministry on this matter. He said the managing director indicated that he was still awaiting communication from the Ministry of Communications and Transport. Mr Magande said somewhere in the middle of July 2008 he received information that there was a problem at the airport as Zambian Airways planes were not being attended to and that he contacted the managing director to find out what the problem was. He said the managing director assured him that there was no problem and that Zambian Airways operations were only affected by inefficiency, which delayed the departure of most of its flights including international flights," the source said. "Mr Magande further said a few days later information from one of his officers that NACL had indicated that they would not be servicing Zambian Airways planes the following day due to financial problems, which had been brought to the attention of the government through the Ministry of Communications and Transport and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning. He said he immediately wanted to contact the minister of communications and transport and came to learn that she was out of the country and that he then contacted the managing director for NACL who indicated to him that since the problem of Zambian Airways had not been resolved they could take any action in order to recover their money. He said he informed the managing director that the timing was very poor as there was a very important international function being organized by the National Assembly.
"Mr Magande said this conference was being held in Livingstone Southern Province and that these delegates the following day were to be ferried to various parts of Zambia by local airlines including Zambian Airways in order to showcase Zambia's development efforts and that among the places to be visited were Nakambala Sugar Estates, Kafue Gorge Hydro Power Station, Lumwana mines in North-Western Province and the Copperbelt Province. He said he also brought it to the attention of the managing director that the previous week, the rumour that His Excellency LP Mwanawasa had died has had a very poor and negative reaction from both investors and on the capital markets and that in fact the kwacha had depreciated on the spread of that news. He said he then directed that no such action should be taken on the following day as it will have serious negative effects on the confidence of both Zambians and the international community on the capability of the interim government to run the affairs of the nation."
The sources said Magande narrated that the managing director did not give him assurance that he would not obey his instructions.
"Mr Magande said he then phoned the acting president [then Vice-President] RB Banda to bring to his attention his conversation with the managing director for NACL and that he requested the acting President to get in touch with Ms Siliya as he obviously knew where she had gone so that she could assist in reinforcing his proposals to Mr Misitala. He said as his conversation with the acting President was late perhaps 22:00 hours he indicated that it might not be easy to talk to the minister but that he would see what he would do to make sure that the intended action by NACL was not carried out. Mr Magande said a day or two later he checked with the Clerk of the National Assembly whether the program of ferrying the Commonwealth parliamentarian delegates had been successful and she confirmed that this was so and evidence was there in the daily newspapers, where senior members of the Commonwealth Parliament commended Zambia's efforts in developing the nation," the source said.
"He said this according to his recollection was his last active participation in the resolutions of the issues between Zambian Airways and NACL and that for all he can recall somewhere in August, 2008 a newspaper article in the Executive Business magazine alleged that he had interfered in the operations of the Zambian Airways in their relationship with NACL as a way of campaigning towards his ambition to replace His Excellency Mwanawasa as president of Zambia. He said these allegations continued in various forms either through tabloids or the internet and were finally made public by His Excellency Rupiah B Banda somewhere in February 2009 while addressing a crowd of MMD cadres at State House and that a few days after His Excellency President Rupiah Banda's public announcement on the alleged commission of an offence while in office it was announced by the deputy minister of justice at a press conference that the matter of Zambian Airways and the former minister of finance was being investigated by a team of security officers."
The sources said Magande said under the Laws of Zambia, the Minister of Finance under Cap 349 is an incorporated entity who could sue and be sued.
"He explained that this is because the minister of finance and national planning is the shareholder [only shareholder] in all parastatals and private institutions on behalf of government and the people of Zambia and that under the Loans and Guarantees Act Cap 366 the minister of finance is responsible for all loans and guarantees to government and to all parastatals including NACL. He said this is the provision that gave him the authority as minister of finance at the time to get involved in the affairs of NACL and many other parastatals in order to resolve their problems," the source said.
"Mr Magande said the Loans and Guarantees Act and Cap 349 also gave him a personal responsibility to contract loans on behalf of government and that he used these same legal provisions to personally with advice of his officers to negotiate cancellation of loans to government with international multilateral and bilateral creditors. He said the international debt was reduced from US$7.2 billion to US$500 million and that most times he did this with his officers with minimum recourse to advice from His Excellence the President who was his supervisor. He said he feels sad that the problem with NACL of only US$2 million could not be resolved by his capable and efficient team at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning negotiate."
Labels: MAGANDE, NACL, RUPIAH BANDA, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Joint probe team broadens investigations in Zambian Airways operations
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
THE joint investigations team on the operations of Zambian Airways yesterday said the scope of the investigations has been broadened and have denied hitting a snag.
And Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) acting director general Rosewin Wandi said investigations into the K10 billion scam at Ministry of Health were still going on and would now involve the Zambia Police and Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).At a joint press briefing by the Police, ACC and DEC, Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde refuted assertions that investigations had hit a snag.
Kabonde said it was also not correct to hold the view that Zambia Police Service and its officers were the only ones conducting investigations into the operations of Zambian Airways and yet there were other officers from the ACC and DEC conducting joint investigations.He said the fact that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had advised the joint investigations team on certain issues did not imply that the matter had been halted.
"It is common practice that the DPP is consulted on various legal opinions before official arrests are effected in order to remove points of ambiguity and consolidate evidence against suspects," he said.Kabonde said the Zambia Police, ACC and DEC still remained committed to ensuring that every case being handled by their officers was thoroughly investigated within the context of professionalism, justice and fair play.He said it was not correct to say that investigations in the operations of Zambian Airways had hit a snag because the matter was still being probed by the three law enforcement agencies.
Kabonde also said it was not one matter that was being investigated on Zambian Airways.Recently, the joint investigations team announced that it had concluded the first phase of investigations into the operations of Zambian Airways and had forwarded the docket to the office of the DPP for further consideration.Kabonde explained that the first phase had to do with passenger fees that were supposed to have been remitted to the National Airports Corporation Limited (NACL).
But a police source last week said police officers investigating the Zambian Airways affairs had now gone for Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) officials whom they want to charge with abuse of office for allegedly failing to comply with board instructions on the airline.
The source said investigations on Zambian Airways had hit a snag.And Wandi said the investigations at the Ministry of Health were still going on and had broadened to include other aspects. "And in broadening the inquiry, we shall also be involving our colleagues from DEC and Zambia Police because of other aspects that have come to the fore," she said.On the concern that the ACC rushed to the media before concluding its investigations, Wandi said the public needed to know about the matter."They are not a secret so to say because abuse of public funds have been in the media even before this.
As the enquiry was progressing, information came to us that some of the assets, some suspects were hiding them so it was necessary to inform the public on what was going on," Wandi said "And as a result of that media briefing, the ACC has benefited as members of the pubic have come forward with further information linked to that enquiry which will prove that even more assets are likely to be exposed that were obtained through corrupt practices at the Ministry of Health."Kabonde said it was difficult to give a timeframe when investigating any matter."When a case is reported, what is supposed to be done is to investigate.
You cannot give a timeframe, for instance these cases happened over a long period of time," he said.Kabonde said in most cases suspected criminals buried their activities over a period of time."So you cannot investigate and conclude investigations in a shortest possible time for crimes that were committed two or three years maximum. The cases in point, what we are doing for Zambian Airways and the Ministry of Health started long time ago. We need to bring in a lot of things, look at the accounts being used, go to the bank and it takes a bit of time," Kabonde said.
"You are aware of cases in Zambia taking three or four years investigations, you cannot give a timeframe but what is important is to know that at one time we will reach there. Investigations means finding out the truth, it doesn't mean when you are investigating then you are taking someone to court, no. It means finding out whether the allegations are true or not. That's the meaning so it's very difficult to give a timeframe.
"Last week, the ACC unearthed a corruption scam in which over K10 billion government funds were suspected to have been corruptly obtained from the Ministry of Health.
Labels: ACC, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, ROSEWIN WANDI, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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They are stuck
Written by Editor
IT is clear that Rupiah Banda and his friends cooked nshima and then went to the river to try and catch fish for relish.But there was no fish to catch - and the nshima was waiting. What we are trying to say is that Rupiah accused us of stealing US$30 million from state institutions and promised the Zambian people that as long as he is President, he will make sure that we pay back that money to government.
Rupiah made this accusation, without any evidence of us stealing even a dime of that US$30 million. After making this accusation Rupiah then instructed the police to go and investigate and find the evidence to prove his allegation. The police went all over fishing. They fished in all the banks operating in Zambia hoping to catch something for Rupiah's relish - for the nshima he had already cooked.
After the police started their investigations, they announced that they were going to work with the Drug Enforcement Commission and the Anti Corruption Commission supposedly to show that we had stolen, we were corrupt and were involved in money laundering.
They cast their net in the Development Bank of Zambia stream but failed to catch anything, not even a fingerling. They have fished in all the banks trying to find something for Rupiah to eat his nshima with. But they have found nothing. But Rupiah wants his relish and they feel obligated to find something, come what may.
There are things one can create and there are others which one has to find and can't simply make. No matter how much pressure is put on Rupiah's policemen, they will not be able to create a theft that has not taken place. If indeed we had stolen anything, by now they would have found relish for Rupiah to devour us with.
There is no doubt Rupiah and his friends want us to be nailed to the cross and they will not hesitate to do so even with the smallest, the most minute piece of evidence pointing to us having done something wrong in the management and direction of Zambian Airways. They would not also hesitate to let the public know what they have found if there is anything that supports their position even in the most remote way.
It's clear that their scheme has failed. Their investigations have not yielded anything meaningful, sensible for them to mount even a weak prosecution.
It's weeks now since Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde called a press conference to announced to the nation that they were handing over a docket to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for our prosecution. It was interesting that Kabonde chose a press conference as a forum to do his routine work.
Why did he need the whole press conference to say he has taken a file to the DPP? It is obvious that he was trying to show the appointing authorities that he was working, he was serving their interests. We challenged Kabonde to tell the nation what he had found because it didn't make sense for him to so quickly say he was handing over a docket and not say what for. Now the DPP has asked him to show what theft we committed in relation to National Airports Corporation Limited.
Why isn't Kabonde not calling another press conference to announce to the nation that the DPP has written back to him? The truth is Kabonde doesn't have anything positive for his bosses to announce. It is not in the interest of his bosses for him to tell the nation that the DPP sees no case in what he had submitted to him and has asked him for further evidence which he doesn't have and cannot manufacture.
Talking about removing Post editor Fred M'membe from the allegations does not help Kabonde answer the DPP's question on where the theft is. It is clear that Kabonde now wants to play politics. But this will not help him and his bosses' agenda.
We told them that we were very sure that no director had stolen anything from Zambian Airways or from any state institution using that airline. We have always admitted that the airline had financing problems but criminality was not one of them. We challenged them to institute a forensic audit and establish the allegations. One must be mad to call for an independent forensic audit of an institution he is being accused of having stolen money from or which he is said to have used to steal from state institutions.
We did that with the full confidence that an honest, sincere and innocent person exhibits when he is unjustifiably arraigned. We have never shied away from discussing the allegations that were thrown at us. We are not even afraid of being arrested and prosecuted. We have actually called for our arrest and prosecution so that we can have our day in court where evidence and not political propaganda reigns. We do this because we know that the allegations thrown at us by Rupiah and his friends are simply not true.
And when we say allegations thrown at us by Rupiah, we are not in any way trying to be malicious or to politicise the matter. It is a matter of fact that it was not the police who accused us of stealing. The police did not even suspect us of having stolen anything; they were simply drafted in to find evidence to support Rupiah's charges. This is not a police matter; it is Rupiah's matter.
The police is just being abused by Rupiah. This is why they are not able to tell Rupiah that they have found nothing. If it was their own matter, the police would have by now closed the investigations. But this matter is beyond them; it can only be concluded by Rupiah himself.
We know that the police are working under pressure. There is disappointment in government that when Rupiah announced US$30 million having been pocketed by us, the police are only talking about less than US$1.7 million allegedly stolen from National Airports Corporation Limited.
And now the police are being accused of incompetence for failing to find evidence of how we pocketed US$30 million. It is not incompetence on the part of the police. It is simply because there was no such theft and they can't invent it.
The police know that the National Airports matter is a commercial one and not a criminal issue. But they have a problem: how do they tell their boss, who has told the nation that we pocketed US$30 million, that he was wrong! Probably, the way out for the police is to go back to Rupiah and ask him where he got the information about this US$30 million theft and seek clues from him.
But the truth is that he has no clues; Rupiah picked the issue from rumours, from lies being peddled by jealous and empty heads who were looking for favours, jobs from him. Probably, Rupiah should also turn to his sources and ask them to provide more information that may be helpful to the police.
It is this frustration, this desperation that is making the police now turn on the people who were supposed to help them to nail us to the cross. They are now turning on innocent bankers and are starting to accuse them of corruption, of abuse of office. This is why they are today in panic, in desperation targeting officers from the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ). DBZ have sued us and we will be in court with them but this does not stop us from speaking out when people are doing wrong things, unjust and unfair things against them. Just the other day, Rupiah was telling the nation that we stole. How do they now turn to innocent officers and start accusing them of all sorts of things before they even finish dealing with us? Rupiah tried to turn the commercial problems that Zambian Airways faced into a political tool to silence us. And now that the people he had sent to fix us have failed, they will stop at nothing. This explains the attacks on DBZ officers. We know that they have been harassing all the commercial banks that dealt with Zambian Airways. But why harass them if money has been stolen from them? It was actually these same banks that should have approached them to seek help to recover their stolen money from us. But now the banks which are supposed to be victims are being pursued. There is no logic in what is going on. It is just a matter of senseless politics and it is unfortunate that innocent bankers have to be harassed for doing what they exist for - lending money. No one is above the law, we certainly are not. But even we deserve to be treated fairly. If commercial transactions such as the one that Zambian Airways entered into are criminal offences, we continue to wonder how many companies would be existing today. And for this reason, we still insist that they should arrest and prosecute us so that this criminalising of commercial transactions can be put to test.
There is no way out of this web for Rupiah. There will be no fish caught for his nshima and he has only two options: to throw it away or eat it without relish and risk being choked. There is no sensible alternative for Rupiah out of this other than to back out of the issue and admit that he was misled and accordingly apologise to the nation. But we know that this is not possible for Rupiah to do. This can only be done by honest people who are misled and later on realise they are wrong. Rupiah was not misled. Rupiah has not been dealing with this matter in an honest manner. Rupiah has been deliberately telling lies about us. Rupiah is not in the truth business. Rupiah deals in lies. And he will continue to lie to the very end. Rupiah will not accept the truth or acknowledge it in this matter.
As we have stated before, we are able to prove and justify every allegation, every word we have used on and against Rupiah. But can he do the same? Certainly not. Rupiah already has serious problems proving his allegations against us of having pocketed US$30 million from state institutions, among other many allegations and insinuations. This is where the balance sheet stands. It will require a serious change of attitude on Rupiah's part to correct this situation because this is not a matter that will be resolved through lies and cheap propaganda. Only truth can permanently put this matter to rest. And that truth is that we have never stolen a ngwee or a dime from Zambian Airways or any state institution - or any other entity for that matter - using that airline. And no one, no matter how much they search, no matter how long it takes them to do so, will find anything against us on this matter. And it is for this reason that we have repeatedly challenged Rupiah to get us arrested and prosecuted over this matter. We are ready to give account for everything we did and to answer every question that will be asked of us in court. We are confident that no director of Zambian Airways is guilty of the allegations that Rupiah is making. This same Rupiah is busy going round talking to foreign companies to see what assistance the government can render some of the distressed ones because of the current economic situation and yet for Zambian Airways, they were ready to play the role of assassins. According to them, the foreign companies have commercial problems because of the economy and Zambian Airways had criminal problems. This is the level of reasoning Rupiah and his friends engaged in over Zambian Airways. We repeat our cry: arrest us if we have done anything wrong!
Labels: FRED M'MEMBE, RUPIAH BANDA, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Zambian Airways probe in problems
Written by Staff Reporters
Monday, May 18, 2009 4:23:48 PM
Police officers investigating the Zambian Airways affairs have now gone for Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) officials whom they want to charge with abuse of office for allegedly failing to comply with board instructions on Zambian Airways. A police source revealed last week that investigations on Zambian Airways have hit a snag.
“The investigations on Zambian Airways have hit a snag and now we are being forced to even turn our attention to officers within DBZ,” the source said.
“We have looked at the private banks, there is nothing. Any time soon, we will start recording warn and caution statements from DBZ officers for abuse of office. We all know that there is no case but nobody is prepared to come out in the open and say it.
“The officers at DBZ are being accused of not having followed all the loan conditions for Zambian Airways. We have investigated this and found that in fact all the conditions were followed. But it seems the bosses just want to show the higher authorities that they are working.”
The source said they had a problem because this matter was elevated to a very high level before investigations and now they were being forced to try and fill in the gaps.
“The investigations about theft by agent which were handed to the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] has also hit a snag,” the source said.
“The DPP has asked us to show the theft by the Zambian Airways directors which we are not able to do. There is panic now in the investigations with some people proposing that we remove Mr Fred M'membe from the case; maybe the DPP will agree to proceed with other directors.”
The source said all this was being done because their bosses did not want to accept that there was no case.
“We have done everything and now we are even being forced to turn against innocent DBZ officers. I do not know where this is going to end. But what is clear is that our investigations have not shown any criminal activities on the part of Zambian Airways directors. This was just a commercial transaction. Other investigative agencies have even lost interest in the matter, leaving us from the police trying to push this on our own. But even we know that there is nothing. And in not so many words, the DPP has told us as much.”
Labels: DBZ, FRED M'MEMBE, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Investrust’s loan to Zambian Airways was purely commercial – Ndhlovu
Written by Joan Chirwa
Monday, May 11, 2009 11:46:08 PM
INVESTRUST Bank's decision to lend money to Zambian Airways was purely a commercial undertaking, managing director Friday Ndhlovu has said.
And Investrust Bank deputy managing director Richard Phiri explained that Zambian Airways was committed to paying back the US $1.3 million loan acquired from the Bank.
During its annual general meeting in Lusaka on Friday, Ndhlovu said the issue surrounding Investrust Bank’s loan to Zambian Airways was partly political and commercial.
He was responding to a question from one of the bank’s shareholders who wondered why Investrust loaned Zambian Airways money even when the airline was in a financial crisis.
“We gave a loan to Zambian Airways after analysing the financial difficulties the airline was in before releasing the loan,” Ndhlovu said. “Banks are there to deal with issues such as financial difficulties. We gave conditions to the airline which were supposed to met; one of issues we agreed on was that Zambian Airways should clean up its balance sheet. Another condition was that the CEO, Mr Mutembo Nchito, should resign. Mr Nchito was in fact in the process of resigning at the time the airline suspended operations in January.”
Ndhlovu indicated that Zambian Airways had started repaying the loan up to the time of suspension of its operations.
And Phiri said it was wrong for people to treat the Zambian Airways loan as non-performing because the airline had started liquidating the debt until the time of suspension of its operations in January.
“All repayments were on schedule - the current exposure is about US $900,000,” said Phiri. “The bank is now awaiting an initial report from the receiver since the airline is under receivership, and after that, we will determine the way forward.”
Zambian Airways, in 2007, acquired a US $5.5 million loan from Investrust, Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) and Intermarket Banking Corporation, with Investrust being the lead institution that syndicated the loan.
Labels: FRIDAY NDHLOVU, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Mujuda dismisses DBZ suit as a legal joke, nonsense
Written by George Chellah
Saturday, May 09, 2009 4:08:33 PM
POST legal counsel Sam Mujuda yesterday dismissed the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) legal suit as a legal joke, a nonsense.
Reacting to a legal suit filed by DBZ in the High Court against JCN Holdings Limited, Post Newspapers and Mutembo Nchito as first, second and third defendants respectively, Mujuda, who is also the deputy editor-in-chief and deputy managing director dismissed the legal suit describing it as a desperate suit, by desperate people.
"Today, DBZ is suing us demanding that we buy back shares that they acquired in Zambian Airways. What shares? Let them show the nation the shares they acquired in Zambian Airways. This is what happens when people mix politics with commercial transactions. DBZ have got their legal matrix wrong," Mujuda said.
"The general framework of their statement of claim shows that this was a commercial transaction. Those who may want to understand the Zambian Airways transaction can read the DBZ statement of claim. To start with this is a desperate suit by desperate people. They have failed to come up with any evidence of criminal wrongdoing on our part."
He said the falsity of their claim that The Post had stolen US$ 30 million from state institutions seemed to be haunting them.
"Now they are resorting to civil claims that have no basis at all, at law and even in common sense or logic. Today, they can claim that they are shareholders of Zambian Airways when all along they were accusing us of trying to get DBZ on board as shareholders and they told Parliament that they had refused to do that," Mujuda said.
He said the case against The Post was very simple.
"Anyway, that is how liars behave, they easily forget what they did or said yesterday. Today, they are suing us to buy back shares, which they told Parliament that they never acquired. It's a very simple case for us, we are very happy that they have taken us to court where we will teach them a lesson that it does not pay to lie, to be dishonest or deceitful," Mujuda said.
"This writ does not disclose the cause of action. They wrote to us through their lawyers, demanding that we buy back shares and we replied to them. It seems this writ has not addressed any of the things that we raised in our letter to them."
According to a letter dated March 23, 2009, which was written to DBZ's lawyers by MNB legal practitioners, who are acting for JCN holdings and Post Newspapers in the matter, its client's position in the matter was that any and all documents signed by them and delivered to DBZ were so signed, as evidenced in writing, subject to negotiations between the two sides.
"These negotiations have never been concluded and that is where the matter ended. We note that contrary to the position now being taken by your client, your client's shareholder (s) and/or their agents or representatives have made unequivocal pronouncements in Parliament that they had rejected the offer to convert the debt facility into equity/shares," read the letter in part.
"Our instructions are therefore, as follows; the issue of conversion from debt to shares never proceeded beyond the negotiations that had commenced between your clients and ours. The parties were never ad idem thereon, as the contemporaneous correspondences passing between them, which you no doubt have in your possession, will show. The document you assert constitutes an enforceable share buy-back undertaking was executed subject to negotiations, which negotiations as noted above, have never concluded.
"In any event, even assuming the document you refer to was binding, and our client's position is that it is not, the undertaking referred to at paragraph two of your letter was contingent upon the consideration of conversion of the debt facility to Zambian Airways Limited into shares. Since this has not occurred, that undertaking is wholly unenforceable for lack of consideration."
They further stated that since no conversion of debt into shares took place, there are no shares to buy back.
"Our clients are still open to an amicable resolution of this matter. Should yours decide to institute suit, as they are well entitled to do, you may assume that we are instructed to receive process," stated the letter.
And according to the statement of claim filed in the High Court, the DBZ is claiming a sum of K14 billion.
The plaintiff is also claiming interest at the contractual rate.
"In the alternative, for an order that Mr Mutembo Nchito executes a guarantee or be deemed to have executed the guarantee under clause 8.6 of the Syndication Loan Agreement," stated DBZ's claim in part.
The DBZ is further demanding that Nchito pay the sum of US$ 3.0 million under the Personal Guarantee.
"Such order as the court may deem just and equitable," stated the claim.
They are also claiming costs of the action.
And the background of the case filed in the High Court states that, desirous of expanding its operations, by inter alia, the acquisition of new equipment, Zambian Airways in or about 2007 approached Investrust to syndicate a loan facility in favour of the company aforesaid in the sum of US$ 5.5 million, [the loan] to be secured against certain assets of the company.
"Investrust then as the lead bank put together a consortium of banks comprising itself, Intermarket and the plaintiff who together as joint lenders ("the lenders") agreed to provide banking facilities up to the said sum to be secured by; a fixed debenture of two Boeing aircraft registration No. 9CJ JCN and 9CJ JOY, subordination of shareholders loans to the lenders, assignment of receivables duly executed, personal guarantee of Mr Mutembo Nchito for the full value of US$ 5,5 million and Key Man Insurance of the key promoter Mr Mutembo Nchito for the period provided for in the various offer letters from the banks party to the transaction," they stated.
They further stated that the plaintiff's portion of the loan was US$ 3.0 million then equivalent to K14 billion, which sum was duly drawn and utilised by the company.
"The full terms and conditions are contained in the syndication loan agreement signed by the company and the lenders, including the plaintiff on the 3rd November 2007. The lenders agreed to share pari passu the securities referred to in paragraph 10 hereof and/or as in the security sharing agreement executed by the lenders and the company. By mid 2008, it was clear that in spite of the injection of US$ 5.5 million into the company, the said company was facing serious liquidity problems and was in arrears in the repayment of both interest and principal on the sum advanced to it by the plaintiff," read the statement in part. "By clause 8.6 of the syndication loan agreement executed by the plaintiff on the 3rd November, 2007, Mr Mutembo Nchito was to give a personal guarantee for the repayment of the loan facility for the full value of US$ 5,5000,000-00. Mr Mutembo Nchito executed the said syndication loan agreement on behalf of the company but he did not and until now has not executed the personal guarantee envisaged under the agreement aforesaid. By reason of Mr Mutembo Nchito's failure to execute the guarantee as hereinbefore pleaded, the plaintiff suffered a dimunition in the security offered by the company for the due repayment of the loan, and the plaintiff is entitled to call upon Mr Mutembo Nchito to execute the guarantee as agreed by the parties."
They also stated that at the request of the company and in light of the company's failure to meet its debt obligations and to avert its liquidation, the plaintiff agreed to participate in the restructuring of the capital of the company, in consideration of the defendants executing an equity buy-back guarantee in favour of the plaintiff.
"The restructuring referred to in the above paragraph was necessary and a condition precedent to the company accessing further loans from Finance Bank to fund working capital for the company. The capital restructuring agreed to included: that the plaintiff converts its portion of the loan to the company into common stock equity in the said company, that the said common stock equity was in the sum of K14 billion redeemable at the plaintiff's discretion in with interest calculated at the current 182 Government of the Republic of Zambia treasury bill rate (at the material time at 16 per cent per annum) plus eight per cent margin or a floor rate of 20 per cent per annum, whichever is higher," they stated. "That the first and second defendants would jointly and/or severally guarantee the repayment to the plaintiff of the sums referred to in paragraph 19.2 in any of the circumstances referred to in the offer letter dated 6th October 2008, that the plaintiff would in consideration of Finance Bank lending the company the sum of US$ 3.0 million relinquish its interest in securities referred to in paragraph 10 hereof in favour of Finance Bank. The plaintiff did relinquish their interest in the securities and Finance Bank did avail the company banking facilities in the sum of US$ 3.0 million, which the company drew and utilised.
"In consideration of and as a condition precedent to the plaintiff converting its loan to the company into common stock equity as aforesaid, and the plaintiff relinquishing its interests in the securities in favour of Finance Bank to enable the said Finance Bank lend US$ 3 million to the company, the first and second defendants executed an irrevocable undertaking to buy back the common stock equity referred to in paragraph 19 hereof."
They stated that: "The equity buy-back guarantee executed or signed severally by the first and second defendants and dated 13th October 2008 provided that the defendants jointly and severally; in consideration of the plaintiff's "Conversion of a debt facility, amounting to K14 billion plus interest calculated at the 182 GRZ treasury bill rate plus eight per cent margin or a floor rate of 20 per cent annum, whichever is higher. Hereby irrevocably undertake to buy back the said equity from the bank as may be determined in accordance with the terms of the shareholders agreement. In the event that the shareholders agreement is not executed the buy back will be determined by the bank. Further undertake to hold this undertaking valid and legally binding on ourselves until the execution of the irrevocable joint and several share buy-back guarantee by all the shareholders of the Zambian Airways. Also undertake to buy-back the equity from the bank on demand upon presentation of reasonable notice from the bank to do so."
They also stated that on or about January 10th 2009, the company and Zambian Airways Limited informed the lenders that their board had resolved to suspend the operations of the company.
"By a letter dated 13th January 2009 the plaintiff, considering the suspension of operations an event of default, made a demand for payment by the defendants in terms of the agreement evidenced by the defendants' letter of the 13th October 2008, referred to in paragraph 18 hereon. The first and second defendants have failed to make payment of the sum demanded or any sum at all," they stated.
"The plaintiff is entitled to and claims payment of the sum of K14 billion plus interest calculated at the 182 GRZ treasury bill rate currently at 16 per cent per annum plus eight per cent margin or a floor rate of 20 per cent per annum whichever is higher from the date of the disbursement of the loan and under the terms of the guarantee."
Labels: DBZ, SAM MUJUDA, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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Probe team completes first phase Zambia Airways investigation
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Thursday, April 23, 2009 8:58:27 PM
THE joint investigation team of government has concluded the first phase of investigations into the operations of Zambian Airways and have since forwarded the docket to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for further consideration.
Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde said at a press briefing yesterday that the joint investigations team comprising Zambia Police Service, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) had now concluded the first phase of the investigations.
He said the DPP would now determine whether what the three bodies had collected warranted further action.
Kabonde said the office of the DPP may advice the three investigative wings on what to do or may need to be done.
He explained that the first phase had to do with passenger fees that were supposed to have been remitted to the National Airport Corporation (NAC).
However, Kabonde said he could not mention the findings of their investigations until the DPP looks at the matter.
He said investigations could not be hurried as Zambian Airways had been operating for a long time and investigations only started recently.
"So we need to dig out the truth, it can't be done by the brick of the eye. Zambians must be patient. This is not a political thing. It is about the alleged crime, nothing to do with politics so we are not targeting certain individuals. This is why we decided to combine so that investigations so that investigations are done in all areas," he said.
Kabonde said warn and caution statements had been taken from all the four directors of Zambian Airways Fred M'membe, Mutembo Nchito, Nchima Nchito and Passmore Hamukoma including some other people from South Africa which were part of the investigations.
He said investigations into other areas of operations by Zambian Airways were still continuing.
The joint investigations team has been probing the alleged failure to remit passenger service charges to government as agents of NAC.
And Kabonde said investigations in the alleged overpayments docket of the case had also been forwarded to the office of the DPP for perusal.
He said this comes in the wake of complaints received from the Patriotic Front regarding the letter written to the then permanent secretary in the ministry of home affairs Susan Sikaneta by MMD Lusaka provincial chairman Jeff Kande.
In the letter addressed to Sikaneta, figures were reported to have been inflated as opposed to the original amounts quoted by the food suppliers.
And Kabonde also said they had received a complaint from members of the public on Father Frank Bwalya and their duty was to open investigations to determine whether an offence was committed or not
He said they would seek guidance from the DPP and a docket had been opened and the matter was receiving attention.
Labels: ACC, DPP, FRANCIS KABONDE, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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We are waiting!
Written by Editor
There is nothing to investigate about us stealing US $30 million through Zambian Airways from state institutions. And those investigating us know that there is nothing truthful in this claim. US $30 million is a lot of money and it cannot take that long to discover how it was stolen. And this is much more so because Rupiah Banda did not put it as an allegation against us. He categorically stated that we had pocketed US $30 million from state institutions and he was going to make sure that this money is recovered from us and returned to government.
Rupiah spoke as a man who had all the evidence required to come to that conclusion. There is no one who listened to him that day who could have imagined that Rupiah was making all those charges without any piece of evidence in his pocket. But the truth is Rupiah had and has no evidence in his pocket of us stealing any money from anyone. All he had was a pocketful of rumours, concoctions and fabrications by those looking for jobs from him against us. And no one else has any evidence of us stealing any money because it’s not there, we have not stolen anything for there to be evidence of theft against us. Nobody in this world will ever be able to come up with any evidence of us having stolen any money because it’s not there. It would only be there if we had stolen.
But this raises serious questions about Rupiah’s integrity and the way he is running his government. He confidently told the Zambian people we had pocketed US $30 million. Where did he get that information from? What was the source of this information? Who told him that we had stolen US $30 million? The man was even obsessed with the type of houses we live in, the cars we drive, claiming we had bought them with the US $30 million we had stolen. It wouldn’t have taken him more than five minutes to find out how the houses we live in were acquired or built and where the money came from. It would have equally taken him less than a minute to find out when the so-called strange cars we drive were bought. The houses and the cars that are chocking him with envy were bought long before we invested a ngwee or a cent in Zambian Airways. This being the case, how would they have been bought with money stolen from state institutions through this airline?
It is not honourable for a head of state to make such serious pronouncements, such accusations or charges against ordinary citizens without evidence. What he is doing now, the investigations that he has commissioned should have been carried out before making such accusations or charges. What Rupiah raised against us were not allegations of theft but a matter of fact about theft. Where did he get his facts? If he had his facts at that time, why is he wasting taxpayers’ money on these futile investigations?
The problem with Rupiah and his friends is that they hate us so much that any rumour from any idiot about us is easily swallowed by them as a matter of fact. They don’t take time to digest any claim or allegation against us to find out whether it is true or not. What happened to Rupiah is sad. This old man swallowed all the lies and propaganda Dickson Jere was publishing about Zambian Airways and The Post in his Executive Issues as truth. But if he asked Jere today to provide any evidence of theft in Zambian Airways, the young man would not be able to show him anything. Probably, Rupiah should ask Jere to join the investigations team and show them where our theft lies. It’s frightening to live in a country where the President can be cheated and totally misled by an empty head like Jere. The boy simply wanted a job from Rupiah and the only way to get it was to show excessive viciousness and rare in-depth knowledge of his opponents, of those who criticised him. But what did Jere in truth know about Zambian Airways and The Post? The boy has gone around claiming he once worked for The Post. Jere has never been an employee of The Post. He was simply on attachment as a student from Evelyn Hone College. And when he sought a job with The Post, he was not offered one. And from that time, the boy has been bitter with us. How can Jere today claim to know more about The Post and totally mislead Rupiah? Jere knows nothing about The Post and he knows nothing about Zambian Airways apart from the innocent documents about the innocent endeavours the airline was pursuing which were leaked to him by some stupid people in our country’s banking system. This is the type of people Rupiah relies on for advice, for guidance. What sound advice can Jere give Rupiah? Let’s see what he will do about this mess they have put Rupiah in. Let’s see what evidence Jere and his friends will give Rupiah against us concerning the affairs of Zambian Airways. They promised Rupiah that they had all the dirt on us. Let them bring it out. All they can do now is publish anonymous circulars against us because they know there is no truth in them, they will not be able to defend anything in them.
Rupiah would have been better served if his Vice-President George Kunda behaved in a better way, in a more sensible and mature manner than Jere was behaving. As a lawyer, George should have proceeded in a more cautious way. But because of his hatred and the pettiness towards us, George stopped thinking. In his eagerness to throw dirt at us, he even created offences that don’t exist in the laws of this country. We were accused by George of racketeering. George knew that there was no basis for such attacks and yet he went ahead to make these statements. And in the process, he is about to embarrass Rupiah in the same way that he humiliated Levy Mwanawasa over Kashiwa Bulaya. George has chosen to act recklessly because of his hatred. These are the advisors that Rupiah has. Instead of surrounding himself with people who are able to think objectively and sensibly about issues, Rupiah’s closest advisors seem to be people whose mouths are drooling with malice. It is difficult to see anybody in Rupiah’s inner circle today who is level-headed, sobre-minded. All that we see is empty and pompous characters trying to throw their dead weight around.
But this is not to say Rupiah is an innocent victim of George or Jere’s capriciousness. He has not behaved any differently himself, he has equally been reckless.
It is clear that Rupiah has not cared to understand the recent history of our politics. Bullies have not done very well in our politics. Our people have learnt to stand up when it matters most. The people speaking on this issue today against him are not mercenaries hired by us, or anyone else for that matter; they are not those mercenaries they hire to denounce us, to call us all sorts of names. The people defending us are individuals who have been moved by their own sense of justice and humanity. While Rupiah and his friends are advancing their criminal campaign against us, we are being defended by decent human beings moved by nothing other than kindness, love for truth and justice. While they are hiring discredited elements to do their dirty work, we are being defended by dignified human beings. This only goes to show where they stand on the moral scale. It is said that you can judge a man’s character by those who defend him, by those who speak for him.
It is clear that their game over this matter is over. They can try to delay things but it won’t be long before the whole truth comes out – and that is, their investigators have found nothing. Well, it is a well-paying undertaking for those involved in it, there are allowances to be earned. And as long as this continues to be the case, the investigations will go on because those involved in them have nothing to lose but everything to gain from a financial point of view. However, everything has got a limit. One day, they will have to stop and disclose their findings. The Inspector General of Police stated clearly that the investigations were meant to clear the air. We hope that he keeps his promise and tell the nation how much we stole so that the air can be cleared as he had promised.
If we thought this investigation was professional and legitimate, we would whole-heartedly support it. But we all know that this was a ploy to malign us, smear us with filth and silence us. This is why we continue to say please arrest us so that we face our accusers in a court of law. Rupiah and his friends will not be the first to drag us to a court of law for doing nothing wrong. Their friend Frederick Chiluba did so many times. And just in case somebody has forgotten, Chiluba is in the position he is today because he dragged us to court for calling him something that he was: a thief.
Labels: THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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