STATE House has said the allegation by former task force on corruption chairperson Maxwell Nkole that President Rupiah Banda interferes with the delivery of justice in the country is demeaning to the Head of State and insulting to the judiciary.
Special assistant to the president for Press and public relations, Dickson Jere said in a statement yesterday that President Banda believed in the doctrine of separation of powers, which underpinned the independence of the judiciary from the other two arms of Government – the executive and legislature.
Mr Jere said Mr Nkole should avail himself with the necessary evidence before releasing false and libelous statements to the media, as he did in yesterday’s Post newspaper
“At no time did President Banda promise to terminate Dr Katele Kalumba’s corruption cases in return for political support in Chiengi.
“Likening the case of Dr Kalumba to that of the late second Republican president, Dr Frederick Chiluba, is doing injustice to the memory of the late president,” he said.
Mr Jere said Zambia was currently mourning Dr Chiluba and dragging his name through the mud, as Mr Nkole and others were trying to do, was an affront to the country’s culture and tradition.
He said for the record, Dr Chiluba faced the courts and was acquitted on corruption charges by the High Court and not President Banda.
“The president does not appeal acquittal cases to a higher court. The Constitution of the Republic of Zambia is very clear on the appeal process. It empowers the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal to a higher court based on his legal opinion,” reads the statement.
Mr Jere said the courts had convicted and sentenced a number of the president’s political colleagues and the conviction of Solomon Musonda, the former Health deputy minisiter, was one such example which demonstrated the independence of the courts.
Some former service and security chiefs had also been convicted by the courts and at no time did President Banda attempt to reverse the convictions.
Mr Jere said the accused defended themselves in courts and had, in some cases, been acquitted.
He said Mr Nkole was a bitter and frustrated man who tended to blame his failure to run the disbanded task force on corruption on others.
“As a former police officer, he must understand that Zambia is one of the few African countries which have upheld the independence of the judiciary. Let Mr Nkole learn to respect our courts of law,” Mr Jere said.
[Times of Zambia]
Imilandu taibola bane
Mr Nkole has been in the sysytem for sometime now and should know what he is talking about.
In zambia anyone who is jobless like this Mr Nkole can say anything to find money to feed him self…
Where was he all this time?
Dickson, are you sure about what you are saying? timely advice, your position is temporal and you may end up dining with the very people you are castigating, who in your view are not as ‘intelligent’ as you…Max is a disnguished lawyer and cant be saying things from without, remember he had all the records for the cases he was handling and obviously was convinced about prima facie cases..so be careful..
so did levy and chiluba and kk- why are you being so hard on rupiah?! Thats is the country he inherited!
If indeed president Banda does not pull the strings behind the scenes, why then did he tell a political rally in Luapula soon after Chiluba’s illegal acquittal that he had refused to appeal against the conviction? Just like he quickly re-instated Dora Siliya after engineering her acquittal, why did he all of a sudden promote Chinyama after the chap was forced to acquit Chiluba on baseless and vexatious grounds that make our judiciary delivery system look like a full muppet show? All these bogus judgements will be reviewed soon after elections and commissions of inquiry will have to be formed for every judge, Musonda Phillip and Geoffrey Chinyama included to explain themselves.
iyo bane ifishinka fisuma. Rupiah’s problem is that he doesnt even hide when making such manouvres. It wasnt Nkole who accused Banda. It was The MMD in Chiengi. Why didnt Jere respond to The Chiengi MMD accusations. Nkole Just commented on what the MMD official said nothing else. So if there is anyone Jere should have an issue with let it be the MMD in Chiengi and not Nkole.
We are tired of these people saying NO SENSE when the do not have a job
Mulongoti
Chitala
Mpombo
Phiri
The all have one thing in common…. UNEMPLOYED and UNEMPLOYABLE
People who tthink njala yamunyokola Nkole are kidding themselves. The man is on a generous UN pension and he lives in the EU with 24/7 security. He is telling the truth.
Ba kabwalala bonse
Ahhhh…Nkole, now looks like he has leather for a skin! Is he still unemployed?…Maybe ya munyokola njala….heeeheeeheee
hahahaa No 9
A generous UN pension.. you wish. The man is looking for a JOB
When a new government takes over the running of the affairs of our country, whenever that will be there is no doubt that there will be a lot of cleaning up of the MMD mess. We are being fed with too many denials.
Time for Rupiah Banda scrutiny is coming. Cases never go away. We will investigate him as soon as he leaves office. So he must be careful. Although life is given and taken by God, Chiluba being dragged to court for corruption brought about the deterioration of his health to the point where he has died relatively young. So Rupiah must be careful, however staunch Jere might try to defend him. As for Jere he shouldn’t forget how Richard Sakala has ended up in life. Richard Sakala used to be like Jere in State House. Learn from the mistakes of others. The fact is that Chiluba’s acquittal was assisted by Rupiah Banda who kept giving pre-judicial statements to the media ahead of judgement. We will visit him one day after he leaves State House. We never forget, and a precedent is now there.
Can any one tell, can unemployed refered to John solye ubwali?
Its common knowledge that most african leaders give directives to judges on delivery of high profile political related cases
Nkole is damn right, and just makes sense that Rupiah dances pelete just after the Elections. He is cooked and will have to answer on all his mismanagement and interference.
RB has publicly confessed stopping the appeal in Chiluba’s case, and that is interference into judiciary. Jere, just shut up and enjoy your numbered days before you crawl back to whatever hole you came from.
Max Nkole is a very every respectable man who has served not only the Zambian Policy but a man who sat on the panel of Judges on the Burundi/Rwanda commission under UN and represented Zambian as one of brilliant Lawyers from ZP. He served diligently in The Task Force Commission which was a barrier to Banda’s regime and late Chiluba…… Honesty people always have a short life…but watch out under PF government his coming back to handle them all… including Jere……..Viva Nkole, viva Sata Viva PF
The Engineer (Australia), it is you who is wishful thinking. Nkole is well off, probably ten times better than you. Yes, I can confirm he has a very decent UN pension. You probably did not even know he was taken from a very senior UN job to the Task Force. So keep on dreaming. Comment from a basis of facts, not out of hatred. Everyone who holds a contrary view to yours is looking for a job, unlike you! Go back home from the US and stop hiding where you are as Australia when you are in the US. Go back home and join in the looting which is what you are used to. You cannot compare Nkole to your Dickson Jere or Shikapwasha!
This DICK’S son makes me wanna puke.In any case Max is more credible than you,he was appointed to serve as head of a very sensitive institution by a very credible leader,not you who thinks with your balls and just yap anyhow.If Nkole is wrong,can you tell us who the mmd candidate in Chiengi will be and why are the people there claiming that rhupia promised to free their Katele?Dont take for a ride,we all know what transpired in kafupi’s case and why Chungu suddenly reappeard and was let scot free.
JERE, YOU’RE ARE A LIAR…….THE LATE FTJ WAS NEVER ACQUITED BY THE HIGH COURT. IT WAS IN THE MAGISTRATE’S COURT……..THIS IS A REFLECTION OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR CONSCIENCE THAT THESE CASES WERE NOT HANDLED IN THE MANNER EXPECTED……YOU OWN CONSCIENCE IS TELLING YOU THAT THESE CASES SHOULD HAVE BEEN DECIDED IN THE HIGH COURT!!!!!!!!!!! AND NOT MAGISTRATES COURT……