By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
The Purge Continues
The Police have issued a statement informing the nation that Mongu High Court Judge, Wilfred Kopa Muma was charged and arrested for the offence of Wilfull Failure to Comply with the Law.
The details are that when Judge Muma previously worked as Commissioner of Lands, he allegedly expired and cancelled the title deeds for the property belonging to the Zambia Army.
The land was later issued to the Patriotic Front-Registered Trustees.
The Police allege that the act by Judge Muma was arbitrary and prejudicial to the rights and interests of Government.
Further, Last week the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC) received a complaint lodged by NAREP President, Charles Maboshe against Judge Muma in a case NAREP accuses the judge of unnecessary delay in their matter.
When the case of Mumbi Phiri came up under his own jurisdiction, the judiciary forced Judge Muma to recuse himself in the matter.
Clearly the intention is to force Judge Muma to resign.
It is part of a larger scheme seen to conduct a purge against petsons appointed or asscoiated with the previous regime.
Matters related to Judge Muma’s previous work as Commissioner of Lands, must have formed part of the process of his thorough clearance and parliamentary ratification for the job of High Court Judge.
This case that the Joint Investigations Team has arrested Judge Muma on should have been treated the same way as that of Judge Joshua Banda by lodging a complaint to the JCC, now that Muma is now a Judge who was appointed after establsihed and thorough scrutiny.
The JCC proceedings are confidential but with this public humiliation by his arrest, what would happen if later he is acquitted? Can he confidently perform his judicial duties? No.
It is for this reason that this appears to be a strategic way of removing Judges appointed by the previous Government by finding something they allegedly did before being appointed and justifying this by contending that there was no serious scrutiny previously.
But where will this end ….
Clearly there is a purge under the Judiciary as under other public bodies and agencies. Similar activities preceded the removal of the Clerk of the National Assembly.
Simply stated, the purge, after the removal of Judge Sunday Nkonde, Joshua Banda and the Director of Public Prosecutions Lillian Shawa Siyuni, is being conducted everywhere in the public service…and their replacement is sadly raising even more serious questions of nepotism, tribalism and cadreism!