PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema should consider the appeal by former Members of Parliament Association of Zambia and pardon Katele Kalumba who has been sent to jail for five years with hard labour, Moses Lungu has said.
Mr Lungu, the Social Economic Environmental Project (SEEP) executive director says the appeal by former the former MP’s association was justified because Dr Kalumba was a patient and his jailing was likely to worsen his health condition.
Rev. Lungu said in an interview that despite the gravity of the crime committed by the former finance minister, the nation needed to be considerate when handling cases of senior citizens who had contributed to the development of the country.
The former MPs association through its president, Yizukanji Siwanzi observed that the former finance minister was ailing and was advanced in age and thus needed to be pardoned so that he could spend his last days with his family.
Mr Siwanzi said that Dr Kalumba had contributed greatly to Zambia’s development having held various government portfolios.
Rev Lungu stated that people that had contributed to the nation’s development needed to be considered when they were found to have transgressed the law.
He said that it would be an act of lack of appreciation and consideration if a senior citizen of Dr. Kalumba’s stature would be left to serve such a sentence despite his age
