OUR PRESIDENT IS VERY INJURED
…I know he portrays a picture that he’s alright
By Fanny Kalonda
GOLDEN Party of Zambia president Jackson Silavwe has urged the Anti-Corruption Commission to handle graft cases devoid of personal emotions, vindictiveness and innuendos.
He argues that there’s vindictiveness from the UPND because of what they went through while in opposition.
“I sympathise greatly with what the UPND went through during their quest to come into power. A lot of people were hurt. A lot of people lost property. A lot of people were injured including our President,’’ he said. ‘’Our President, if you look at reverse psychology, he is also very injured. I know he tries to portray a picture that he is alright, but he is not alright. He keeps on referring to the treatment that he went through.”
On Thursday, court squashed the warrant of seizure by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bowman Lusambo’s property.
And on Wednesday, the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court discharged Ronald Chitotela of his two charges of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
But the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said it would appeal the decision of the court to free Chitotela.
But Silavwe has accused the Commission of making decisions out of emotions.
“We are extremely concerned about the loss of preliminary cases by the ACC in the courts of law. We urge the ACC to be professional in handling corruption cases devoid of personal emotions, vindictiveness and innuendos. The nation risks losing millions of kwachas in counter lawsuits surpassing what the ACC is pursuing if not handled properly. ACC must remain sober and adduce solid evidence before the judges. As a party, we reiterate our support on the fight against corruption which is free from political biasness,” Silavwe said. “You have a president who has too much power. When you have a president who has too much authority moving in that direction, the result is what we saw; we saw the police going after anyone and arresting people. They said they had evidence of former ministers who owned houses. There was Chitotela’s house being confiscated and a lot of people were under investigation. And then nearly three months from that press statement, we have seen record acquittals. We are extremely concerned, this is embarrassing; embarrassing to the President. It is embarrassing to the people who are involved in the fight against corruption. The ACC is again making decisions out of emotions. The fight against corruption is very dear to the Zambian people.”
Silavwe, who featured on KBN TV’s State of the Nation programme on Thursday evening, urged the government to retreat and plan on how to deal with the corruption fight.
“My counsel and my wisdom to the UPND-led government, they need to retreat and be able to re-plan. Some of the things they are pandering to the nation, they should not even mention that they are investigating. We should just see results of people being arrested, and people getting convicted,” he said. “What is the essence of the sensation we have been treated to as a nation? When there are no convictions, the result is what we are talking about, counter lawsuits and Zambia is going to lose millions of kwacha. Already we have a former minister of health [Dr Chitalu Chilufya] who has sued the ACC demanding US $50 million. That can cover the expenses of desks of those sitting on the floor in schools who are enjoying the benefits of education. So, we need ACC to be absolutely professional. We need ACC to be extremely sober. We are not just talking about the ACC. I am also talking about the DEC (Drug Enforcement Commission), the Zambia Police and all law enforcement agencies. We need normalcy, we need people to have sober heads.”
Silavwe said the problem with the fight against corruption with the UPND is that there is a lot of vindictiveness.
He said when President Hakainde Hichilema talks about what he went through when he was in opposition, “it is to remind law enforcement agencies to go for those responsible” for his persecution.
“I always say this, and I want to say it again, I sympathise greatly with what the UPND went through during their quest to become in power. A lot of people were hurt. A lot of people lost property. A lot of people were injured including our President. Our President, if you look at reverse psychology, he is also very injured,’’ said further. ‘’I know he tries to portray a picture that he is alright, but he is not alright. He keeps on referring to the treatment that he went through. It is not to draw lessons from there. It is to remind the law enforcement agencies that it is time for those people who made me go through terrible stuff to pay. You have a president who is hurting.”
Silavwe further highlighted what he termed defects he had found the in the current fight against corruption.
“My problem with the fight against corruption with the UPND is that there is a lot of vindictiveness. In the process they are destroying names of anyone so long as they associated themselves with the PF. If they are going to proceed in that fashion, again they will fail. Because like I said, the law is blind. It does not care whether it is the President who has said it or not, there have to be facts produced before a judge,’’ Silavwe said. ‘’A judge needs to be satisfied with the evidence that you produce before him. So, the sentiment by the ACC, yes, they have a right of appeal but again I see emotions at play. The ACC should accept that they have lost this one, and get back to the drawing board. But if I was a president without interfering with the operations, I would have instructed them to find fresh charges. Something that is substantial, something that has got evidence. It will not do them any good for them to keep flogging a dead horse. The judiciary moves in what we call precedence. The judiciary cannot mispronounce itself.”
Silavwe said the new dawn administration should not continue on the path of emotions, personal vindictiveness and innuendos.
“You have a president who is hurting. When you have a party that goes through what they went through, revenge naturally comes to them. They want the people that were holding the instruments of power to feel what they felt. And that is where I believe the UPND, the new dawn administration they are getting it wrong. They must be able not to really forget but they need to look at these issues form an independent part because, if they continue on the path of emotions, personal vindictiveness and innuendos, it is only in this administration when we have heard people being exhumed on the pretext that they were buried with money. That is not Zambian. That is below leadership. We need to get away from innuendos so that we deal with the issues of corruption professionally,” said Silavwe. “I think the President’s men are embarrassing the President. Or is it that the President knows what really transpired and is allowing himself to be misled? These are critical questions Zambian people must ask the Executive. We will make sure that the President and the Executive we hold them accountable in the name of the Zambian people. Because when the President succeeds, it is my children who will benefit…We will not allow President Hakainde Hichilema to fail. He has so much of a big mandate to the Zambian people for him to fail, nor his officers, nor himself to mislead the Zambian people. We promise as Golden Party of Zambia to hold him accountable for these five years until again when the Zambian people decide on what happens to him in 2026.”