Anti Corruption Commission has refused to provide updates on the investigation it is carrying out involving Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba and Defense Minister Geoffrey Mwamba because such information is confidential.
This came to light today during a media briefing by the Executive Director of Zambian Voices Chilufya Tayali who questioned the double standard being displayed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
On 28th January, the Zambian Voices wrote to ACC demanding that the nation be updated on the progress made on the investigation involving the two cabinet Ministers.
The Zambian voiced wondered why Former President Rupiah Banda’s investigation was being done in public while that of the two cabinet ministers was confidential.
“If the case has something to do with a Government, it is confidential but if it is for an ordinary citizen or opposition, the accused is tried and convicted in the public, ” they said.
Below is the full press briefing statement read to the media today.
ZAMBIAN VOICE PRESS BRIEFING
17TH FEBRUARY 2013
Rupiah Banda’s Immunity
Debate has ensued on the removal of immunity of our fourth President Dr. Rupiah Banda. The Nation is divided by those supporting the removal of RB’s immunity and those against. As an organization that espouses to bring unity and promote democracy we wish to throw some reflections in the light of our Constitution and Natural Law.
Article 43 (3) of our constitution protects our current and former Presidents from criminal prosecution unless immunity is lifted by National Assembly.
For National Assembly to lift the immunity there must be overwhelming evidence or prema facie case(s) that such a person would be accused of. Such evidence can only come after thorough investigations which might include questioning the accused person.
In other words the article in question does not protect a person from investigations or indeed being questioned.
In the case of RB we think it was not in the interest of Justice to have refused to appear before the Anti Corruption Commission to be questioned, citing this article, because it is only after such investigations that evidence or a prema facie case(s) can be established.
[pullquote]If the case has something to do with a Government, it is confidential but if it is for an ordinary citizen or opposition, the accused is tried and convicted in the public.[/pullquote]
We however note that RB has the right to refuse to be questioned or answer anything to ACC or any other Law enforcers, he is not obliged.
We however, note unprofessionalism and double standing in the operation of the ACC. It was unprofessional for ACC to provide or leak the letter to RB to the media because ACC must conduct its investigations in confidence.
It is also a double stand because on 28th January we wrote to ACC to update us on the corruption case involving Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba and Defense Minister Geoffrey Mwamba, we got a response that they would not devour such information to the public because its confidential. This tendency is very common with ACC and we are concerned.
If the case has something to do with a Government, it is confidential but if it is for an ordinary citizen or opposition, the accused is tried and convicted in the public.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me now address those individuals and our fellow Civil Society Organizations that are advocating for the lifting of immunity of our Fourth President Dr. Rupiah Banda to approach this issue with reason and love for our Nation and not personal vendettas or any other ill-intent because what goes around comes back around.
As I have stated earlier, in the interest of Justice and the Rule of Law, for the immunity to be lifted, there must be clear evidence or prema facie case(s) to justify this act.
[pullquote]Currently ACC or any other Law enforcing agency has not laid any case against our former president. We therefore wonder on what basis people are asking to have the immunity lifted.[/pullquote]
Currently ACC or any other Law enforcing agency has not laid any case against our former president. We therefore wonder on what basis people are asking to have the immunity lifted.
It is logical to speculate that these people calling for the removal of immunity have ill-intent to benefit themselves or settle scores.
We call upon Zambians not to be dragged into schemes and personal crusades to embarrass our former leaders without just cause.
State of Governance and democracy in the Country
We would like to commend the Catholic Bishops for their bold pastoral letter on a number of issues concerning governance and state of Democracy in this Country.
We hope more voices we will added to their call. As an organization we totally agree with the Bishops and call upon government to be receptive instead of being defensive.
We are however concerned with the desperation and panic that is being caused by the Patriotic Front in respect to promoting democracy.
[pullquote]While we agree that things in Zambia are not well, calling for sanctions is totally unacceptable because only poor people will suffer for this.[/pullquote]
The desperation is now sending people, especially the opposition party leaders, to actions that would affect the ordinary citizens retrogressively causing more misery.
The petition of the International Community and Commonwealth to suspend Zambia by the opposition in South Africa is extreme at this stage.
While we agree that things in Zambia are not well, calling for sanctions is totally unacceptable because only poor people will suffer for this.
We call upon the opposition to be prudent in the manner they approach these issues, motivated by love of the Nation and not as a shortcut to power.
Chilufya Tayali (Executive Director)
I couldn’t even bring myself to read the whole article..there really should be a limit on the number of words in an online article mwe..vi mvesa na ulesi!..I digress!! anyway GBM and Kabimba are public figures..and its in our best interests if ACC can be transparent with the proceedings -confidential for who?no..no..no..no..no..no!seems to me that ACC have clearly lost the plot and dont understand their mandate..can they be seen to be serious!
Make reading a passion, the last sentence says their is KR 90,000 buried in your garden
hmm funny :-/ …well F.Y.I. I am actually a keen reader..but I’m old school when it comes to online content..infact i really believe articles need to be brief..more so for online articles..as we are now living in an age where there is sooo much information and we are easily saturated with information..and nobody has the time (well I for one do not have the time) to read loooong articles..journalists need to be aware of this and summarize their articles..ni time and space my dear..
says is right ,as am reading this FB is waiting,Twitter ,Ebay ,skype, E mails ,school research, work. I must be able to get the writer’s point in the first sentence.Make them articles short.
I guess you hated essay writing in history and composition in English?
ROBIN you forgot watsup
@ meek mill-on the contrary i actually enjoyed history and was great at composition..my academic credentials can attest to that-…or perhaps this is a rhetorical question/insult…i was merely expressing my opinion chapwa!no need to try and hit below the belt..hmmm if i wasn’t sooo educated I’d actually take offense …
EXHAUST BLOWN DIFFUSER, what is that?
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Ya right…
Dont even waste time,there is no Anti corruption Commission in Zambia,it doesnt exist.Those workers from anti corruption are also corrupt.
Their will never be an update or a case against those two until PF goes out of power. Lets involve external investigators ACC wont do a thing especially with those in cabinet
ACC works for the gvt not the public
Hiring Winter and GBM was like using an old mop, it is dirty and stinky and full of shi.t
ACC has been watching a movie titled “Above The Law” staring winter & GBM. You cant touch them at the moment
Only in Zambia are public official’s corruption investigations kept confidential…when are the masses going to wake up from their docility given that they are the biggest contributors to treasury!!
Clearly We need an Anticorruption commission on the Anti-corruption commission because they are so corrupt we need to see why they want to sweep under the carpet Kabimba and GBM’s cases.
A commission on a commission that’s astronomically expensive lets just fire everyone @ ACC & recruit afresh
I think the author, Chilufya Tayali, has his/her heart in the right place and like many, his thinking about the interests of the nation in a democratic dispensation. However, I have to dissagree in two points. The issue of ” in the interest of justice RB should have appeared before the ACC and the raising of a complaint by the opposition leaders. Chilufya is under no illusion that the ACC discredited itself with its cowardice behaviour in the cases of Kabimba and GBM. In addition, we and the two Ministers knew the specific allegations for which they were being investigated for. For RB it was mere “criminal activities” when they should be specific to help him prepare for his case and in the interest of natural justice. On those two points I believe he was right to refuse to attend.
Continued…
The next issue was the complaint by the opposition to the commonwealth. My question to Chilufya is: when would it be right to submit a complaint? There is sufficient evidence that the PF lead Govt is intent on destroying democracy in Zambia and many voices including the Church, LAZ and other stakeholders have publicly raised concerns and yet it remains clear, from the responses and actions we are seeing from Govt, PF cadres and the Police, that there is no change on that front. To me, the opposition have considered the options and looking at the number of incarsarations, we do not need to wait for 2016 when we are refused our democratic right to vote before we start bringing this evil to the attention of the world. There is no better time like the present.
As elaborated in the statement, we agree with the content but surely the situation should not be exaggerated. There is something good we can talk about in this Nation. And the point we are emphasizing is the repercussion of a suspension by Commonwealth. I think it has more damage than bettering the situation especially for the people Zambians whom we advocate for.
Chilufya,
I appreciate your response and the concerns regarding the repercussions of Zambia being suspended from the commonwealth. Nonetheless, the damage to the common Zambian will be there either way and in my view, dealing with a problem sooner than later will limit the extent of that suffering. It is also my view that the commonwealth will issue sound advice before any act to suspend Zambia and if this advice is ignored by the PF Govt then we are better off in battle to save our democracy than bury our heads in the sand in the hope that we are sparing the common man from suffering. We are all well aware of what the consequences of a tyrannical regime are likely to be.
First and foremost, the Zambian Voice must seek legal advice before condemning the ACC or the PF regime. Information in relation to on-going investigations or matters which are sub judice, cannot be shared with anyone other than the investigating officers or the courts where the matters are still pending. In all progressive criminal justice systems around the globe, information about investigations and matters which are sub judice is protected and if it is accessed illegally, wrong parties are liable to criminal prosecutions.
The Zambian Voice must familiarise itself/make itself conversant with the Information Act/clauses regarding the protection of ‘Top Secret’ information.
I am not supporting Sata or other illegal acts. So far no top profile person has been prosecuted.
Thanks for your advise. Actually we are in consultation with our Lawyers and this week we are writing back to ACC copied to the public so that you too can read about this. NOTE however, the double standard by ACC is evident, in that only govt rivals’ information on investigations find themselves in the public domain, howcome?
@Chilufya Tayali#12.1
No, it is not true that investigations into the conducts of Banda or other persons i.e. HH were/ are in the public domain. The ACC simply communicated to Mr. Banda that he it was in his interest to honour the subpoena which they conveyed to his premises. The subpoena was conveyed to Mr. Banda’s residence on the premise that suspect/s mentioned that he was involved in criminal activities and corruption. His level of involvement and the names of suspect were not mentioned. The amount of money involved was not disclosed and so many other aspects of the investigations were not revealed.
The same can be said about Kabimba and ‘GBM’. The same media brought to the fore of our attention that the aforesaid two were under investigations for criminal deeds. Allegations were
While I wish I could agree with you that your letter was delivered to Dr. Banda’s house, it beats me that the media already had the information and they were commenting on it before RB could even respond. How do you explain that?
I expected RB to show his INTEGRITY by cooperating with the ACC, by his refusal to meet the ACC four issues come out as follows:
1) The man is stubborn, arrogant and lacks integrity.
2) A contest (challenge) has been laid down between himself and the state as to who will submit to the others demands.
3) By implicity the man has pleaded guilty to the laid down investigations which ACC had invited him for.
4) This is a jigsaw puzzle which can only be solved by lifting the immunity of RB so that he proves his innocence by answering questions that ACC are inviting him for.
He has immunity so he has the right to refuse if he feels what they are calling him for is bush-it
How does one expect Kabimba to shoot himself in the foot when he is the boss? Until the next government, his case and GBM’s will remain confidential at the ACC.
That is the way it is in Africa. Take or leave it. We are the Africans and furthermore, as Zambians we must continue to enjoy our beloved peace and tranquility as our leaders enjoy our wealth. That is great, eeh!!
No my dear this Country does not belong to an individual or a group of people. It belongs to all of us Zambians, including Guy Scout and all my Indian brothers and sisters, so we should stand up and say NO! to all form of abuse. We want peace but not abuse.
Anso ACC muli mbwa Rose Wandi uli mbwa sana .How special re these fools bag of maize and this contaminated man dull justice minister.Full of tushishi.Wait 2016 imilandu taibola mind you.You think PF will rule forever .Twalica nao after duping us.Rosie Wandi uzaciona amai iwe .U will have to answer and these people wont even be there .ACC for what .Just close it .
The rhetoric made by the Zambian Voice does not inform anything despite revealing its underlying true unbalanced approach. If you want to defeat Sata, then your tools in form of information must inform the end-users the reality not self-defeating rhetoric.Every single item you bring to the attention of the end-users must scrutinized and if available facts do not support your criticisms against Sata, please do not twist them. Twisted facts will only confirm your susceptibility to falsehoods whereas Sata’s legal standing is strengthened which flows from twisted facts.
The Zambian Voice should understand Zambian law, it must have above average knowledge about Zambian law, and how law is interpreted and applied or it must surround itself with law practitioners.
We are not fighting Sata but bad governance and abuse of Human Rights and Rule of Law using positive engagement as a tool. Our advocacy is not a nasty one or biasness but based on TRUTH and objectivity not siding with politicians unless it is for common good.
ACC = PF = ZP………next please!
This immunity business bestowed on Presidents in third world African countries is getting out of hand. Does it mean that if Rupiah Banda or Michael Sata were to shoot their wives dead, they cannot be prosecuted? Zambians should learn to distinguish between decisions made by the President during the course of DUTY and criminal activities like corruption,stealing from the Treasury and bribery.These are covered by the immunity from prosecution. Criminal acts like bribery, corruption,stealing are NOT presidential duties. When HH becomes President ( God knows when), he should lift Michael Sata’s immunity, so that Zambians can know all the criminal activities he would have done.
You are right my brother/sister, no one is above the Law, this is why we want to know what criminal activities where committed by RB. Thank God Thandiwe is alive, so it can’t be murder of his wife, hahahaha.
Knowing someone’s criminal activity should not be done after lifting of his immunity but should rather be the opposite I.e knowing should lead to lifting of immunity. I also think we still need this immunity clause in African politics. Not to protect presidents against the crimes you articulate but to protect them from persecution by former rivals. Our politics are often so personal and people will be dragged into detention for all the wrong reasons. I’m sure RB would have been incarsarated by now had it not been for his immunity.
Agree with it’s a worry, imagine if HH or Mumba came into power in 2016 they detest MCS so much they would want him jailed a second after they take oath of office.
I think Tayali and co are right,we can not afford double standards in a crime-fighting agency. Transparency and evenness are the essentila hallmarks of anti-corruption drives.
The very fact that detailed aspects of ACC investigations involving matters before them have not been divulged to the media, it serves the purposes of being impartia and prfessional. This not to argue that the ACC is free of flaws but it does manage to keep its head above the ever rising wave.
The war against corruption, irresponsible governance and dictatorial tendences cannot only be fought against these mentioned characteristics of a one party state, but the regime cannot be divorced from the above elements and therefore it becomes a target as well. All the above elements and Sata’s regime are one and the same.
The war should be taken to their door step through sanctions and other strident isolationists policies aimed at crippling their financial muscles.
Attention
@BOOM & WHATEVER#19
Two were misspelt/misspelled above, sorry for that.
1. ‘impartial’ not ‘impartia’
2.’professional’ not ‘prfessional’
Thank you for your time.
Someone remember animal farm? George Orwell clearly depicted African Politics even before we were independent!
It is selective justice, isn’t it. We all know about it now.
yah! it pays to be in govt….chikubabe chikubabe!
“such information is confidential” LoL
For example suspects caught by police immediately the names are passed to the presse, do you think that of the people’s reputation? Not for once daily you are destroying people’s names and non of you is ready to wash them clean after proven innocent, what is here so confidential,to update the Zambians people on small criminals you update the public almost every minute, just bring on if you aren’t investigating don’t waste our time
As you go on Great East Road before Chinyunyu Hot Springs there is a new beautiful graded road leading to a new farm belonging to Dr. Christine Kaseba. Its in Rufunsa district. Sylvia and Wynter including Chieften Nkomeshya know and are holding Michael to ransom for this and his Sons deals. We took some 100 animals there and found several more. The road is better than the tarred GER. The question is how did she acquire this big farm so early before even she gets her K1.5 billion slash fund? RB and his wife Thandiwe are being probed for flats they got a loan to build or are they all kabwalala’s?
IF THERE IS EVIDENCE IMPLICATING KABIMBA AND GBM WHERE IS IT? OR THESE ARE THE USUAL MERE SPECULATIONS COUPLED WITH “PULL HIM DOWN” AT EVERY MENTION OF A SMALL THING.
WE ALSO HAVE A VERY LONG WAY TO GO. ALMOST EVERY POLITICAL LEADER HAS BEEN ACUSED OF SOMETHING ILLEGAL. IF ALL WERE TO BE TAKEN TO ACC THEN WHAT ARE WE DOING? BUT CRIMINALS WITH A HISTORY OF BURYING BILLIONS OF KWACHA IN THE GROUND NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED FOR SURE INCLUDING THEIR LEADER.
If ACC is reported to have refused to provide an update on the corruption involving GBM and Kabimba just because President Sata intervened to protect his Ministers for their corrupt practives, then the ACC Director is part of the political conspiracy to destroy this constitutional institution. ACC and PF have formed a partnership to slap fake corruption charges on opposition leaders and RB as they modify mechanisms to shield their own thefts of public finances. We are praying for the time when God will come to the rescue of the innocent and restore sanity in this country.
what confidentiality are you talking about you immoral people..ACC should just be disbanded,..!
Then treat RB’s immunity as confidential since we dont know exactly what he stole. Just tell us your findings.
All this is selfishness!!!
@ Chilufya Tayali suspension from the Common wealth is not synonymous with sanctions. I thought people leading organisations were more knowledgeable. A country is only suspended from taking part in the activities of the common wealth. I now doubt your abilities sir.
RB may camp in SA until 3rd March then leave for observer mission to Kenya from there.
What I think is that he might not come into the country, until he follows the proceedings of his immunity in parliament.
If it turns out that his immunity are lifted, then we could as well forget about his coming back into the country.
This is as a result of combination of political and criminal analysis. I may be right or I may be wrong. Lets wait and see.
Tayali is 100% right. Keep on my brother
BA TAYALIKO, NGE NSONI?
WE RESPECT RB FAR MORE THAN KABIMBA AND GBM. SO, RB’S CASE SHOULD EVEN BE MORE SECRET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am now hearing about Christine Kaseba’s vast piece of land in Chongwe/Rufunsa and that a well graded road leading to this area already exists. There is also talk about a lot of cattle on this same farm. I am wondering where all of a sudden Kaseba found money to acquire this huge piece of land and stock it with cattle so quickly. Please shed more light on this. Isn’t this hypocrisy because Sata is persecuting Thandiwe Banda over the property she and her husband acquired with a bank loan. Is there any evidence of Kaseba getting a bank loan to set up the farm? Please give us more information on this.
i can consent using the article