By Oliver Chisenga
I THINK those judges saved my life, if I never went into exile maybe the PF could have harmed me, says Gregory Chifire.
In an interview following the presidential pardon last week, Chifire, who has been in exile from November 2018, said he could not have stopped calling out PF for their criminality.
On November 23, 2018, the Supreme Court sentenced Chifire, the anti-corruption campaigner, to six years imprisonment for contempt of court.
He had called for an investigation into potential judicial corruption involving two competing corporate entities, and it is believed he was targeted as a result of this.
But upon his pardon by President Hakainde Hichilema as part of the Africa Day celebration, Chifire said freedom is everything and “we only appreciate it when we don’t have it”.
He said judges mishandled the matter as they did not treat him justly.
“Words fail me to express how I am feeling about being free again. I tried to search the dictionary to find an appropriate expression for this huge phrase called freedom but found none. One can have everything in life, but if they don’t have freedom, they have nothing. On the flip side, I think those judges saved my life. If I never went into exile, maybe the PF could have harmed me. I couldn’t have stopped calling them out about their criminality,” Chifire said. “A man that has no freedom is as good as dead. I missed home, I missed family and friends. I missed going to places I wanted to go. Being in exile was a huge mental torture. It was a whole different life. A life full of restrictions. Working up daily on borrowed time, it is never easy.”
Chifire said he refused to be psychologically and mentally broken although the weight on his shoulders was too heavy.
He explained that exile was a lonely journey as he was deserted by friends and family.
“I could have easily been psychologically and mentally broken, but I refused. I refused the circumstances surrounding me to dictate my life.
Yes, there are nights when I felt the weight of the situation, but with the help of God and encouragements from friends and family, I renewed my strength and vigour,” he said. “Sometimes the sound of despair sounded louder,
but hope was always by my side. I had hope for tomorrow. Exile is a lonely journey. I was deserted by friends and family. I know of some that told me in my face never to contact them because to them I can bring them into a collision path with the PF regime. Well, I don’t blame them. They chose to sacrifice me at their expedience. I don’t hold it against them. They needed to survive. They have families to take care of.”
Reflecting on the 1,644 days of ‘prison’, Chifire added that there were times when he felt hurt by how the court treated him, further stating that he
never said the things he was accused of.
“I never said those things they accused me of saying. I hated those judges, especially judges [Marvin] Mwanamwambwa and [Nigel] Mutuna. They treated me like trash but not anymore. I am not cut from the cloth of bitterness,” said Chifire.