By Dr Nevers Mumba
WHEN LOYALTY BECOMES AN OBSTACLE TO JUSTICE.
The undoing of the DPP, is a case of misplaced loyalty. Loyalty is one of the godly values upon which lasting relationships hang. However, when one’s loyalty to his or her friends or accomplices comes into conflict with one’s loyalty to God, to Truth, or to the greater good of society, it becomes a serious test of Character and an issue of Morality and Integrity.
In this case of The Director of Public Prosecutor (DPP), I believe that she refused to be disloyal to friends. She insisted that she will not betray her long held friendships at all costs and as a result, she refused to prosecute people she considered colleagues even when duty clearly demanded that she does so.
When taking up the position of DPP, she swore to defend the constitution of the Republic, and not to defend her friends. When faced with the difficult choice between the law and her friendships, she misapplied the virtue of loyalty.
One of the matters that was submitted for consideration by the Judicial Complaints Commission(JCC) in deciding that she be suspended, involved our party the Movement for Multi Party Democracy. In this matter, the DPP had repeatedly openly and defiantly turned down dockets from the police seeking to prosecute people who had blatantly broken the law. She chose to remain loyal to her friends than to the law of the land. She refused to prosecute her friends belonging to the then Patriotic Front and the expelled members of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy(MMD) despite court rulings in our favour.
When serving as Vice President, I also saw first hand another crisis or controversy involving the DPP. This time, Mr Mukelebai Mukelebai. It is very clear now, and I wish to submit, that this office is pivotal in any fight against corruption. It must, therefore, work with no other loyalties except loyalty to the law of the land.
We therefore recommend that constitutional changes be made to give new governments flexibility to change the DPP without such constraints. This is because, while it is possible to have a DPP who can shun being loyal to friends who break the law, most have struggled to bite the finger that appointed them and fed them. This is a big ask for many DPP’s. It definitely has been an impossible feat for Mrs Fuluta Lillian Siyuni.
She has shown a tendancy to chose sides and in doing so, made herself unusable in the urgent fight against corruption.
She chose loyalty to friends instead of loyalty to the law of the land and this has ultimately proved her undoing.
