CONTEXT | Malanji Conviction, PF’s Cry of Persecution, and the Hard Facts
The conviction of Joseph Malanji, former Foreign Affairs Minister, has ignited two competing narratives. PF leaders insist the case is political persecution. Independent voices argue it is justice catching up with grand corruption.
PF vice president Given Lubinda told journalists that no member of his party is safe under UPND. “All of us are walking potential victims for what you say and now even for what you think. Because under the governance of UPND, unfortunately even your thoughts, just your thoughts can lead you to prison,” he charged. For him, Malanji’s four-year sentence is part of a wider campaign to cripple the PF ahead of 2026.
But Nalolo MP Imanga Wamunyima, who sits on the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, offers a different lens. He recalled how as early as 2022, the Committee flagged irregularities in the Turkish chancery deal now at the heart of Malanji’s case. “On 24th December 2020, Government entered into a sales contract worth $19.5 million, but failed to execute it fully. Proof of payments only covered $6.87 million, leaving an outstanding balance of $12.6 million by May 2022. Today, we read it was withdrawn from the counter, proper grand theft,” he wrote.
That testimony shows the scandal was documented long before UPND took office. These were not invented charges. They were in Auditor General’s reports, examined in Parliament, and questioned by oversight bodies. Wamunyima added: “When we travelled to Turkey as a committee, our colleagues there could not comprehend how a small economy like Zambia’s could sustain such blatant scandals. To them, it was unbelievable and frankly, we became a laughing stock. This Court outcome therefore restores our dignity on the front of diplomacy and international relations.”
Lubinda is right that convictions in lower courts are not final. “A conviction in a lower court is not the finality of the justice system. If a person is not convinced by a conviction by a lower court that person has a constitutional right to bail, pending appeal,” he said. But his point avoids the substance of what the court found: unexplained millions, helicopters, and properties acquired on a public servant’s salary.
Wamunyima pressed the case further by comparing it to other scandals. “Just over a year ago, Mr. Milingo Lungu surrendered $24 million in a consent judgment, money from the KCM case that was sitting in his personal bank account. To put that in perspective, that single shady deal alone could have fully financed the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for 16 constituencies.” His argument is simple: Malanji’s $11 million was not an isolated incident, but part of a broader culture of plunder.
This is where the two narratives clash. PF calls it persecution. Records in Parliament call it theft. For Zambians, the real concern is that billions meant for development were lost while hospitals went without medicine and schools without desks.
The judiciary now faces its own test. Citizens are asking why stock thieves get longer sentences than ministers who divert millions. If the courts want to rebuild trust, they must confront this imbalance and prove the fight against corruption is not selective or cosmetic.
© The People’s Brief | September 5, 2025
PF’s cry of persecution is hollow. Their former Secretary General, Mr. Davies Mwila, warned them during the run up to the 2021 general elections that they would ALL go to jail if they failed to win the elections. He knew what they did done and as long as they were in power, no one could touch them.
Mr.Lubinda himself and Ms. Jean Kapata sued the News Diggers newspaper over allegations of their involvement in the Mukula timber scandal. Tasila Lungu chickened out of the legal proceedings. Needless to say, the PF stalwarts lost the case.
Their life philosophy as espoused by their late leader, Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, was “uubomba mwibala alya mwibala”. This was the defacto PF government policy hence the wantom looting we witnessed. So, is it surprising that all PF leaders are potential theft suspects?
Checks and balances is just political rhetoric! I guess most of the latter hate and insults directed at HH result from realization by PF that the UPND administration was closing in on exposing the looting of national resources by the PF administration! Davies Mwila’s foresight warnings are commendable but nothing to greed blinded thieves! The adamant stance of the Lungu family exposes them wanting to have the cake and eat it! Normaly a thief is not celebrated and their legacy gets qualified with a “BUT” whenever its being talked about! Everyone in support of PF amidst all this revelation do not pity themselves and are in self denial choosing to heap blame on the country as not doing anything for them! Maybe Davies Mwila understood better than most what the choice of a professional accountant for president would entail. Zambians have to open their eyes and embrace governance of laws! The cartel of looters was housed in state house! As cleansing is taking place PF has to die and follow its late presidents for killing more people especially during Lungu’s tenure! UPND has no choice but to honor national obligations to burying former presidents despite how they governed the country and its peoples! Beloved Zambia your resources are meant to benefit all that reside within your boundaries! The embezzlers know that capital punishment is afforded in serious no nonsense countries!