Mon, 10 Apr 2017 05:57:35 +0000
THE sudden disappearance of Fred M’membe from Zambia few days prior to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest by the High Court is fishy. Why should Mr M’membe go into hiding?
Demands by the Bishops Council of Zambia for Mr M’membe to come out of hiding and face the law if truly he is innocent is not only a challenge to prove his innocence but also an opportunity to enable him have free conscious. What is Mr M’membe afraid of?
It is common knowledge that the Post newspaper (in liquidation) engaged in tax fraud and it is on this premise that the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) pursued the media house through lawful procedures to recover what was due to it.
This legal tussle reached its crescendo when the appellate court, the Supreme Court, found the Post guilty and ordered it to settle its tax liabilities to the ZRA but he chose to defy this decision with impunity.
What followed thereafter was a court action by Post former employees for the company to be wound up so that they could be given what their employer owed to them in gratuities accrued over the years they worked for the company.
This provided a window of opportunity for the Post creditors to jump on the bandwagon to claim was is due to them.
The High Court procedurally appointed a provisional liquidator to superintend the process of winding up the company as per the law.
As expected of Mr M’membe, he never complied with the above outlined court process despite being fully aware that it was devoid of any political interference as some politicians would want to make people believe.
As such the appointed provisional liquidator literally went flat out in search of assets for the Post because Mr. M’membe did not file into court any detailed catalogue to show properties under its custody.
The liquidator discovered many of the Post’s chattels hidden at car parks both within and beyond the borders of Zambia. Why hide these properties?
And when Mr M’membe realised that he was losing grip on the winding up process, he launched a vicious campaign discrediting High Court Judge Sunday Nkonde who is presiding over the Post newspaper liquidation process.
Justice Nkonde and the entire judiciary were vilified, chastised merely because the time of reckoning had caught up with Mr M’membe.
The attacks on the credibility of the Judge to preside over the court case fairly were nothing but a ploy to divert attention and appeal for public sympathy which unfortunately did not work out.
Upon realising that his arrogance could not make the courts budge, Mr M’membe decided to bolt and deceive the law enforcement agencies into believing that he would return to the country sooner. What does Fred M’membe take Zambians for?
In a clear show of kicks of a dying horse, the embattled veteran journalist went to an extend of hiring hypocritical organisations like the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) to unreasonably castigate Government over the Post newspaper liquidation process currently before the High Court.
With the unfolding turmoil in South Africa, it is shocking that NUMSA is dead silent over a number of issues affecting its government but found it fit to spread its tentacles over the Post liquidation process in Zambia in the mistaken belief that it was muzzling press freedom. Where is NUMSA’s credibility?
Mr M’membe must own up and prove his innocence if indeed his claims are justified. Why should he run away?
Let him gather enough courage and face the courts of law as that is the only way he will exculpate himself. It is only the due process of law that will set him free and not turning fugitive.
