Mcpherson Chanda Wrote;
MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH Amb Emmanuel Mwamba & Hon Harry Kalaba BECAUSE
SUFFERING STARTS WITH RESTRICTIONS, SEIZURES & INTERROGATIONS
I am not privy to the details of the allegations or the size of Mwamba’s and Kalaba’s Flats which are in question. We can only assume that for this to happen, the restricted Flats are disproportionate to their assessed income. I will only analyze Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba’s salary without gratuities and draw inferences. I will leave out Hon Kalaba’s as I do not have estimated figures.
An Ambassador’s Salary : K200,000.00
At today’s exchange rate K200,000 is the monthly income earned by the Zambian chief diplomat in South Africa which makes it K2.4million per year. With accommodation and fuel provided, the only major cost would be food and school fees for children which would still not be more than 20% of this income.
Over the years that Amb Mwamba served in diplomatic service, his monthly income alone without gratuities translates to about K16million. If one invested part of this money periodically, he can grow it even further to over K20m. This is certainly a lot of money when you consider that with the exception of, perhaps only, the Bank of Zambia Governor and the ZESCO MD, the rest of the CEOs earn less than K100,000 per month. 98% of Zambians will never have this kind of money in their lives!
And in case we feel envious, the Zambian Ambassador to the United States earns double what Mwamba got i.e K400,000 per month. How much can one do with that kind of money? Will former Ambassador to the USA Dr Simbyakula be investigated if he was found to have 30 Flats?
Therefore, with a K2.4m annual salary for Mwamba, anybody who is investing in real estate can set aside K1.8 m per year and build atleast four (4) Flats per year and over 25 Flats or houses over a 7 year period. ( This of course is besides income he earned in salaries and gratuities as Deputy PS and PS since 2003).
STATE MACHINERY IS OFTEN A VICIOUS & INDISCRIMINATE THING
I support the corruption fight. I hate theft and fraud. People have to account for their wealth. Wealth accumulation by anybody should not be a secret like #witchcraft.
Notably, state machinery is also inherently vicious. It is often malicious and indiscriminate. Behind titles and offices are people with biases like us all – calculative, fallen and morally frail human beings who can be both profesional or unethical, kind or malicious. Any targetted citizen can be paraded by state machinery as a thief or villain in life and only found innocent after he is dead (posthumously) – and great speeches made later at his/her grave.
Friends unless there is clear #evidence it is very cruel to tell someone facing doubtful court processes; “just wait, don’t talk – if you are innocent the courts will clear you” . Most of you who write things like that cannot withstand half the trauma of these processes. May God never allow you or your children to go through it 🙏.
“Icikalipa cumfwa umwine”, the adage says. Yes, I myself have gone through this experience and understood and felt why even strong people’s health suffers during interrogations and court trials.
Pending my bail, I further came to know what it is to sleep in a crowded jail besides someone who killed a person or stole from a shop. I know what it is to share a toilet with 80 people and lose privacy. It is a baptism of suffering I am however grateful for. I do not #fear it anymore. What you fear torments you.
During these processes friends also become fewer for fear of victimization by public association. Legal fees also set in immediately as lawyers accompany the suspect to appear before the investigators. It is ruinous in terms of both health and finances.Those of us who have gone through this kind of suffering must thus only occasion it on other citizens where it is warranted by clear evidence, if given control of the justice system by Heaven.
The trauma is high. We saw President Chiluba’s health publicly deteriorate during the long court process. Our revered late Veep Simon Kapwepwe – the bearded icon of our liberation struggle – suffered a stroke and died in Kalulushi en route to Lusaka to answer another round of silly court charges.
Kapwepwe died as a villain whose name could not be freely mentioned within Government circles. I was often bothered by the epitaph on his tomb which read; “he was a gallant warrior until 1970” [ bali cita ca calo ukufika mu 1970 – when he resigned?]. SMK only fully regained his recognition 11 years later under President Chiluba. Today, Zambia’s Presidents visit his grave and name some big national infrastructure after him. There are indeed many other innocent people who have unjustly suffered these injustices “legally” over the past decades while the crowd of partisan supporters cheered on . Legal is not always moral or just.
As the fight against corruption proceeds, therefore, it requires a strong sense of resolve, fairness and morality on Government’s part to avoid sowing long term seeds of vindictiveness and vengeance. While it is difficult to seperate the fight from prejudice and political differences, it must be demonstrated that it is a transparent and fair exercise.
If anyone has evidently stolen or has property they cannot #account for, let those properties be seized and let such persons be prosecuted. It is offensive and unpatriotic to steal public funds. If however there is nothing to reasonably suspect theft for, do not let the processes even begin. The processes themselves bring much suffering upon innocent people.
NO ONE CAN WITHSTAND STATE POWER
Unless one is a big opposition leader whose stature attracts strong direct international attention, no individual citizen can withstand the power and agenda of ACC, DEC, the Executive and the Judges appointed by the Executive.
Even in the United States the Judges who are appointed by Republicans and Democrats have certain respective leanings on some issues towards those political parties. It is far worse for a toddler country such as Zambia where apart from political differences, tribal leanings might also often become visible thereby undermining confidence in the neutrality and objectivity of the justice system. One only hopes that this great state power is mostly used in a righteous manner to fight evil in society.
To the two fellow sons of the soil Hon Kalaba and Amb Mwamba , I wish to say my thoughts and warm wishes are with you.I hope all goes well. I hope to learn about the details in due course. May God’s grace be with you.
May God be with our leaders in Government,
Long live One Zambia, One Nation,
Long live the Republic
