LETTERS

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:08:08 +0000

Chishimba Kambwili’s call for brotherhood in PF

Dear Editor,

I was shocked and bemused to learn from the former Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili’s revelation that there’s an aggressive propaganda campaign to destabilise the PF through outright lies and misinformation being published in some sections of the media with the intention of pitting PF members against each other and in the process destabilise and weaken the ruling party (“Watch out for anti-PF propaganda – Kambwili”, Daily Nation, January 9, 2017).

I thought for a long while about when the most popular political party in Zambia will be liberated from this type of outrageous behaviour from the cartel-controlled media.

Perhaps fearing the adverse publicity this was generating, Chishimba Kambwili has called on the PF leadership to close ranks and stop name-calling to remain united and focused in the face of many challenges that the party is facing.

Perhaps predictably, though, the former Information Minister’s widely quoted motor-mouth has since gone quiet in The Mast newspaper – and the PF’s continued to grow united, strong and organised following President Edgar Lungu’s announcement of his intention to stand in 2021.

Admittedly, I strongly believe now is the time to lift the enviable ruling party from the seemingly barren intra-party democratic wilderness to the solid rock of strength and stability.

Indeed, I believe that now is also the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of the protracted and fratricidal war-of-words between the PF old-timers and the PF newcomers, to the path of dialogue and to an egalitarian way of life.

Ultimately, there would be nothing so satisfying to the spirit or so defining of the PF’s original character that ensures lasting stability for the ruling party to survive and thrive.

Adopting this as the PF leadership’s guiding principle, PF will be able to transform the apparent discordant strains of factional conflicts within itself into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood and unity, regardless of the cartel-controlled media backlash.

Mubanga Luchembe,

Lusaka

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UPND going nowhere with HH

Dear Editor,

I quite agree with your story (Tuesday January 10 edition) that HH is stiff scared of President Lungu should he become PF presidential candidate in 2021.

We all know that there is no way HH can beat ECL at elections for obvious reasons.

HH wants to rely on the ‘Bantu Botatwe’ backing which will not take him anywhere because that grouping is in the minority.

Politics, they say, is about numbers, so if HH thinks that he can beat Mr Lungu or indeed any other presidential candidate by relying on Southern, North-Western and Western provinces, then he should forget about State House dreams for good. It is as simple as that.

We certainly have some politicians in Zambia who drive us nuts! And they are exhausting, frustrating and annoying to deal with.

Indeed if the Constitution allows Lungu to stand, HH has cause to be scared

Josiah Soko

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London judgment lunacy

Dear Editor,

I think some Zambians have a thinking problem. Every now and then, this very stale issue of registering the so-called London Judgement comes up.

My question to the proponents of this issue is, what is the point at the end of the day? In the beginning, the world was told that the Chiluba issue was intended as an example against corruption.

Well and good if at all there was corruption and those championing the agenda were people with clean hands.

People need to reflect on what happened during the so-called Task Force on Corruption era when the London Judgement was obtained.

Has it not turned out that the very people who accused Chiluba of being corrupt are actually more corrupt than the word itself?

Just look at the many cases they are involved in DBZ, NAPSA, ZRA, Airports Corp and Finance Bank.

These are very serious cases that involve public funds. Why haven’t these same proponents of the London judgment been making similar noise on the cases I have highlighted above?

The answer is simple. Some are beneficiaries. I know two big fish that I am ready to name later.

The mere fact that the Government and the previous one have given a blind eye to the Mwanawasa-era corruption does not mean that it was a clean period.

Most of the crimes highlighted above were committed during that era. There is a saying that “those who shout “thief!” the loudest are usually the thieves themselves”. Need I say more?

Now coming to registering this so-called London Judgment. What would be the purpose? To recover the so-called $50 million?

In the first place, the nation was told that these funds were stashed abroad, hence the reason why the trial needed to be in London.

To this day, we have never been told where and which Bank these monies are banked. Certainly, the FTJ shoes and suits did not cost $50 million.

After securing the judgement from a discredited judge, they thought it would pass in Zambia.

Both the High and Supreme Courts passed judgments that no foreign judgment could be registered in Zambia, and this was even before the London case was concluded.

So whether anybody likes it or not, the fact is that case is dead.

Since both men were in Government, can they highlight what provisions of the law or Constitution that will allow such a process? What will be the process? Please, do not fool us, we also have lawyer friends and they explain these things.

The only alternative is to ask London Court Bailiffs to enforce the order. The only problem is that it is only in England and Wales where that can be done.

On many occasions FTJ asked to be tried in Zambia by Zambian courts.

The reasons why he was tried in London is that funds would be siphoned in the name of London cases.

Ask them to tell us how much was spent, on whom and what was recovered?

These are some of the issues that current law enforcement should have pursuing.

I certainly have hope that one day these issues will be visited and culprits made to pay.

If the Chiluba London Judgment was meant as an example why is it that we still have even more serious corruption cases surfacing?

The London case issue is just a ploy to divert attention from many corruption cases in the public domain now.

Concerned citizen