Wed, 01 Mar 2017 13:12:39 +0000
By SANDRA MACHIMA
THE Law Association of Zambia has been asked to explain to the nation where they will get the money from to hire lawyers to represent Nchima Nchito who is facing a charge of impersonation.
Zambia Republican Party president Wright Musoma said his party was vindicated when it had continued to tell Zambians that LAZ was not serving the interests of the country but those of individuals.
He called on the LAZ executive to resign failure to which the legal council must form another legal body to safeguard the interests of Zambians.
Mr Musoma wondered why some legal practitioners were quiet because at no time did LAZ ever appoint lawyers to represent its members, adding that the move taken by the legal body to appoint lawyers to represent Mr Nchito on charges of impersonation ‘‘tells it all that it has interest in the matter’’.
He accused LAZ of having been turned into a ‘‘branch’’ of certain individuals, including the opposition parties, who wanted to break the law with impunity.
‘‘LAZ is a statutory body and must protects all its members, but I mean how many lawyers who had cases that needed the protection of the legal body were represented by LAZ, and it is for that reason LAZ must explain to Zambians from whose expense are they hiring lawyers from and on what basis?” he said.
The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has appointed lawyers to represent Mr Nchito facing a charge of impersonation.
And LAZ has now turned itself into a mouthpiece for the opposition at a time when the Zambian people need a legal association that will interpret legal issues and guide the nation, People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) president Andyford Banda has charged.
Mr Banda noted with great concern that LAZ had turned itself into a mouthpiece for the opposition political parties and that they had become too critical of Government.
He said in an interview with the Daily Nation that the stance that LAZ had taken was unfortunate because the Zambian people currently needed an association that would guide the nation on legal matters.
Mr Banda said that LAZ had completely forgotten about its mandate and that it was now being used by the opposition to criticise Government programs.
He said that the people of Zambia needed to see a
liberalised association.
