The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has challenged the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other law enforcement agencies to come out clear and provide the nation with evidence that would necessitate the lifting of immunity of former republican president, Rupiah Banda.
YALI says this will help to remove speculation and doubts from certain sections of society that the former Head of State is being persecuted at the instigation of persons or bodies who harbor hatred or seek vengeance against him.
YALI governance advisor Isaac Mwanza said his organisation will only support the lifting of Mr. Banda’s immunity if law enforcement agencies and government show solid evidence.
Mr. Mwanza said YALI is concerned with a growing cartel of criminals who wield too much power and are willing to use their resources to defend each other and abuse public trust for selfish interests.
In a statement to QFM, Mr. Mwanza has since asked the nation to firmly oppose such people who want to break the law and abuse public trust.
He has also called on civill society organizations and the media to wait and keenly look forward to evidence from law enforcement agencies on the alleged wrong-doing by Mr. Rupiah Banda before they could form opinions that incite and unnecessarily excite the nation to rise against the former President in the absence of such evidence.
Mr. Mwanza says YALI will stand to support government in its duty to protect public resources and bringing all persons connected with plunder of public resources to book as long as the due process of the law is followed and that the accused are treated in accordance with laws of natural justice.
[QFM]
I hope these clueless buffons will listen … ba chibwi no plan. Whatever rubbish the “PF god” called sata says when scratching his small balls becomes law. chi sata has said that RB stole and is seeking criminal assylum in RSA is 100% true becoz its chi sata who said so….cnp. what else do you thankless pagans want. ka sakeni , the bemba wizard will definitely use the word ‘bitter’ to drive the point home. just worship sata and things will be fine. . . . .luckily he will live for 200 years
No need to resort to insults..Etiquette
The govt does not need to present any evidence to parliament but merely a plausible case is enough.
Evidence will only be presented in court so that RB does not appear to be tried in public.
Kadansa your language is not acceptable!!You sound very uncivilised man.!!!
I think there is precedence set in that regard. We saw that process with the late ex-President Chiluba. Enough said.
Better then to just remove the immunity clause from the constitution. We certainly wouldnt want these delays when it will be Sata’s time to be persecuted!
Kadansa,
Those insults defy minimum standards of decency and reflect your bitterness and lack of understanding. This is an exercise in futility and will not propel anyone into State House.
By the way, do you remember that all major political Parties contesting 2011 elections made it clear they would pursue corruption unde RB?? I remember one UPND leader HH, warning RB and his sons that the law would take its course on them if he was elected, that is on record.
Now UPND falls under leadership of one Robert Amsterdam, I thought Zambian voters are suppossed to be the primary audience for any political Party and not some foregin media???
Well said!
You will never take away what belongs to RB, his international recognition as an ambasodor of peace. thats a great move guys, let them prove him wrong by informing the nation what exactly he has stolen.
What RB took through corrupstion does not belong to him!It belongs to the Zambian people and must be taken back,full stop!!
ZAMBIA SHOULD NEVER MAKE A MISTAKE AGAIN BY PRESENTING ALLEGATIONS THAT CANNOT BE PROVED IN COURT OF LAW.
THIS TIME LETS BE CAREFUL. CHILUBA’S CASES PRESENTED BEFORE PARLIAMENT HAD MANY HOLES AND APPEARED SENSATIONAL.
IT IS A BAD PRECEDENCE TO SET OF PROSECUTING ALL OUR FORMER PRESIDENTS.
ZAMBIANS, BY GONES SHOULD BE BY GONES. THE BIBLE EVEN SAYS FORGIVE.
ABUSE OF OFFICES WILL ALWAYS BE THERE AS LONG AS ONE IS GIVEN POWER HERE ON EARTH.
BUT LET US CONCENTRATE ON BUILDING SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES THAT WILL LESSEN THESE OFFICE ABUSES BY OUR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP.
YALI, bola panshi, RB is not the first president that has beeing asked to account for his deeds while he was in office. Chiluba’s case has already set the precedence. You just want to score political mileage on this one. It clear that the next step will be submission of RB’s deeds to parliament so that the august house can have a chance to review the evidence and if convinced that the evidence warrants a detailed investiagtion, then they will support the lifting of RB’s immunity.
so if i followed you clearly, are you suggesting that Presidents should use the immunity clause to abuse National resources? i think YALI are being very objective here. ask yourself 2 simple questions: of what benefit were the vitenges, bicycles, etc that littered the nation during RBs campaign? why did MMD remove the ‘abuse of office’ clause? we can not let all these go under the bridge beacuse UPND/HH & MMD are jealous of Sata…don’t be short-sighted!
Yes RB should account for his deeds! However it would be very helpful to tell us exactly what he did!
that’s very right Goncalves! government is definitely putting the details together motivated by his international lawyer, who will surely make more cash out of RB….let us sit back & enjoy the movie, its free of charge!
I for would support the august house to lift RB immunity that is the only way our leaders will be held accountable otherwise if he gets away with it so will the next leader, and then the leader,then next one. so lets support this course of action if we want normacy in our country with regards to abuse of office.
What exactly is it that he will get away with? Please tell us the crime or crimes he committed so that will punish him!
DID THE MMD GOVERNMENT TELL THE NATION OR PUBLISH CHILUBA’S WRONGS BEFORE THEY REMOVED HIS IMMMUNITY?IF NOT WHY SHOULD THE PF BE ASKED TO PUBLISH ALL THE WORNGS RB DID BEFORE THEY REMOVE HIS IMMMUNITY?RB WAS ONLY IN POWER FOR THREE (3) YEARS AND HE AND HIS FAMILY BECAME VERY RICH IN THIS SHORT PERIOD.WHY DID HE REMOVE THE ABUSE OF OFFICE FROM THE CORRUPTION OFFENCES?WHAT ABOUT THE MPUNDU TRUST?DID RB’S FARM IN CHIPATA GENERATE SO MUCH MONEY THAT THE MPUNDU TRUST CAN HAVE MILLIONS IN DOLLARS?IWE MWANZA STOP PROTECTING THIEVES WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK,PERIOD!!AMSTERDAM ALSO WANTS PART OF THE LOOT BECAUSE HE KNOWS RB STOLE AND HAS MILLIONS OF DOLARS
Yes they did. Mwanawasa went to Parliament and made his case to the nation in Parliament. You need to tell Parliament why immunity has to be removed because it is only parliament that can remove his immunity. You need two thirds of the MPs to support it! That is the only way you can remove his immunity. I think you PF chaps are just fishing….you have nothing on RB!
Zambians really defy logic. Firstly, the very people state that RB cannot be investigated with immunity, now, how can you obtain evidence when you cannot investigate someone? RB is really on thin ice because he does not realize that Mumba does not have command of all his MPs.
So you mean there’s no case against RB and you are just fishing? You are the one who is defying logic. Should I order the police to investigateyou just in case I will find something on you? Is this the way a civilised country should be run? Ever heard of the presumption of innocence? My dear it is upto the ones accusing RB to justify the grounds for theur accusations. RB is right not to cooperate with them. Prove your acuisations or shut up! If you cannot tell us what he stole……then he is not a thief!
The evidence to be produced must be strong and compelling to remove the immunity of a former president.It should not be cheap propaganda campaign to damage the reputation of a former head of state.The fact that Chiluba`s immunity was lifted is not a must the RB`s immunity should be removed too.The task of for the accuser to tell the nation the exact wrongs ( SUPPORTED WITH STRONG AND COMPELLING EVIDENCE)committed by RB to justify their action.Otherwise stay put.
Yes,he is not the first one to under go that, there ia lot corruption in his term. especially his children and Mpundu trust fund is one among more. He is not clean,
wait till it is lifted.
I think it’s high time we started respecting our former heads of state and stop embarrassing them like *****s …. I know the people who are championing the removal of Rupia Banda’s Immunity are the ones who championed the removal of FTJ’s Immunity too and they are not doing it in good faith like they did before. I think the same people in the forefront like mr Mmeembe should also be in the forefront pushing for the resignation of the Attorney General mr Nchito, and these three other boys, I mean Wynter Kabimba, GBM and steven Masumba the play boy. Let us not divert our attention we are very much alive to what is happening! Chiwamila Galu kuluma mbuzi and not mbuzi kuluma galu
Kanitundila osatitaila nthawi we dont have enough money in the treasury to go through the process you are asking because you stole the money. Just turn up at ACC ngati niwe mwamuna!
Its is the duty of every Zambian to do their best to present a good image of the country to outsiders (I wonder why Zambians feel the need to wash dirty bambas in public). The eargnerss to have your country expelled from a global institution makes one question the motive, and unfortunatley, this does not contribute to a stable political and social environment. In haste to hold the reigns of power some individuals are willing to distablise the country. Whether we like the president or not he is our leader so we need to respect him and all those we selected for public service. Logic truly dictates that Zambians are waking up to the perils of democracy and how to handle free speech, rule of law in the 21st century.
Sakeni bakanwa kwati mukolwe its time for progress not for antimafio
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