Mr. President, Your Men are Very Corrupt
Open letter to President Hichilema.
Dear Mr. President, I hope that this letter finds you well and deeply reflecting on the future direction of our nation.
Mr. President, please accept my sincerest apologies for openly expressing myself in this manner. Having made several unsuccessful attempts to communicate privately with you through your advisors, I have been left with no choice but to submit my concerns in writing. I have consulted with most of your advisors, who, upon hearing my plight, have chosen to exercise restraint for fear of the individuals I have called out. I trust that you will treat the issues I raise with the seriousness and gravity they deserve, given their genuine and benevolent intent.
Mr. President, I feel obliged to discuss governance issues and your seeming nonchalance regarding some nominees, who appear to have been afforded excessive freedom to misconduct themselves without repercussions. Here, I specifically mention the unchecked misconduct of your Solicitor General, Marshal Muchende, who has, in collaboration with my former client Maba Medicals, caused me undue hardship.
Mr. President, as an attorney in good standing, I am available to provide legal services to any entity requiring my expertise. My former client, Maba Medicals, retained me for representation, and I provided the service. Unfortunately, Mr. President, I encountered Mr. Muchende, the Solicitor General, who allegedly utilized his position to acquire confidential information regarding the government’s plan to liquidate my client’s debt after admitting owing through us. Mr. Muchende’s actions, motivated by greed and abuse of authority, compromised my interests and demonstrated professional misconduct and corruption which I seek to bring to your attention through this letter.
In response to Mr Muchende’s misconduct, I sought assistance from the Attorney General, Mr Kabesha Mulilo SC, who, upon hearing my concerns, requested written documentation of my issues for him to take action, which I provided. For a considerable time, Mr Mulilo SC assured me that he would resolve my situation without any action until someone from within the Ministry of Health informed that about USD 1.6 million had since been paid out to Maba Medicals behind my back as an interested party.
Upon discovering this act of impunity, I consulted the Attorney General, who, despite his prior commitments to provide assistance, unexpectedly retreated from his position and claimed a familial connection to Mr. Muchende, citing him as his Siamese twin. I found this assertion detrimental to my cause, as it seemed designed to exonerate his subordinate of blatant professional misconduct, which I continue to allege. The Attorney General appears inclined to protect Muchende, and in so doing, he sought to tactfully dismiss my demands by requesting that I produce a court order, in the hope that the firm I operated under would stop me from instituting court proceedings to obtain the order, which I effectively fought.
What is remarkable is that the Attorney General resisted the court process once instituted, despite having initiated the demand for the court order and having conceded owing Maba Medicals through a letter addressed to us as Maba Medicals’ lawyers. This was subsequent to their payment of a substantial USD 1.6 million to Maba Medicals without our knowledge, having expressed concerns seven months prior.
Mr. President, I respectfully request your intervention in matter due to the unacceptable behavior exhibited by those who attempted to dishonestly deprive us of our legal fees, seemingly leveraging their connection with you to grant themselves unwarranted latitude, as if they are above reproach, which negatively impacts us. They have greatly abused their position owing to their collusion with our former client, a feat we have vowed to fight no matter the odds.
Typically, a courtroom should function as a forum for relief for individuals who have been wronged, and my resolve to pursue justice through the courts has remained steadfast. Nevertheless, I am sensing that the same individuals I am denouncing are attempting to manipulate the courts to undermine the pursuit of justice. They have deliberately sought a court order from us solely to impede our efforts to obtain our legitimate legal fees, which are owed to us due to their unprofessional actions intended to deprive us of our rightful fees.
Mr. President, you assumed office on a promise to eradicate impunity, a hallmark of the previous administration. You committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring equal justice for all citizens. However, your failure to censure Mr. Muchende for his multiple abuses of authority, including his attempt to sue Dr. O’Brien Kaaba, apparently aimed at preemptively silencing Dr. Kaaba from exposing his alleged abuse of state facilities, and Mr. Muchende’s attempts to gag me by reporting unsubstantiated professional misconduct against me to the Law Association of Zambia, has led many to question your administration’s resolve to create a more just society.
I have suffered injustice at the hands of your Solicitor General, sir. His relentless opposition has brought me to a point where, had my plight not gained public attention, I dread to think of the repercussions beyond his resolve to withhold my legally earned fees. Consequently, my children have been denied access to education, and I have faced systematic suppression for resisting his bullying behavior.
Mr. President, I would like to bring to your attention that every allegation inherently possesses two sides. Your decision not to take disciplinary action against Muchende, notwithstanding the widespread public awareness of my situation and similar concerns, leads me to infer that you either regard him highly and believe him to be incapable of misconduct or that you tend to accept his version of events without due consideration for opposing viewpoints. Should you not have endeavored to hear the alternative perspective, I hereby invite you to hear my side of the story. Muchende has been publicly bragging about his proximity to you, asserting that his actions are immune to consequences, despite the substantial evidence.
Over the past three years, I have vigorously pursued reimbursement for my legal fees, only to be met with fierce resistance from Muchende, who has exploited his impunity to frustrate my efforts. I humbly request a meeting with you, sir, to provide evidence corroborating my allegations, enabling us to reach a resolution and conserve the court’s resources for more meritorious cases. With your assistance, we can streamline the court’s docket, ensuring that more critical matters receive the urgent attention they warrant. It is imperative that the Attorney General’s chambers adhere to their mandate, litigating matters of public interest, rather than being manipulated to serve individual agendas that subvert justice.
I look forward to hearing from your good self sir believing that with this benevolent plea, I could finally see justice served as I have endured the impunity of your nominee without recourse.
Ndamana.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Gwaba.
