By Sunday Chanda
The Book of Ecclesiastes took its name from the Greek “ekklesiastes”, a translation of the title by which the central figure refers to himself: “Kohelet”, meaning “one who convenes or addresses an assembly”.
According to rabbinic tradition, Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon in his old age.
Solomon understood “Justice” and in the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter ten, the sage provides a striking idiom regarding sound judgement, wisdom and honour:
“Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour”.
A few “Dead flies” or a little folly or mischief can spoil a whole container of a refreshing sweet smelling perfume and turn it into a repulsive mess.
Solomon was the head of the Judiciary of his time and he understood how “flies” could putrefy and ruin the sweet aroma of justice.
In contemporary society, the Judiciary has been regarded as a fountain of natural Justice.
The judiciary here in Zambia has over the years performed its role with dignity and honour and the majority of men and women in this noble profession have unwaveringly dedicated themselves to discharging the sacred duty of justice.
However there are a few flies in the oil and of late there has been a sordid whiff emanating from some quarters of the judiciary that is nauseating the air and space of justice.
Take the Choma based magistrates pitiful attempts to sully Dr Simon Miti who was a State witness in the case against Henry Kapoko and four others for instance.
Dr. Miti was made State Witness by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mr. Chalwe Mchenga and continued to be so, even under Mr. Mutembo Nchito.
He was cross-examined by the cream of the country’s top drawer of legal brains and as key State Witness; he duly cooperated leading to the Courts securing a conviction in the matter.
As a State Witness, Dr. Miti appeared before this magistrate and two or three others in this particular case and it’s strange that the magistrate didn’t at the time see the need for Dr. Miti to be cross-examined on issues he’s never been charged for.
It is unbelievably bizarre and outlandish that a State Witness should now be a subject of conviction by a magistrate.
Dr Miti has never been cited nor has he ever appeared before court so how did the Choma based magistrate judge him?
What ever happened to the principle of natural justice?
When has a judge ever directed who and should not be prosecuted?
Something just doesn’t smell right! It stinks! It is a foul unwholesome embarrassment to the judiciary.
Dr. Miti was never suspended but was sent on leave with full benefits to allow for investigations; he cooperated and was back at work thereafter.
The man has never been fired- neither for corruption nor any other offence for that matter, whether real or assumed.
This is a man – a true patriot who has diligently served his country through his service to Heads of State including the late Dr. Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba, the late Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, Rupiah Bwezani Banda, the late Michael Chilufya Sata and now the incumbent.
He has served with honour and devotion for over 15 years making him one of the longest- if not the longest serving Permanent Secretary among his peers. He served the late Mwanawasa faithfully and stayed with him until his death in Paris, France. At what point did late President Mwanawasa fire Dr. Miti for corruption as alleged by some moral misfits? Could it be that all the Presidents he served under where victims of poor judgement? Isn’t that just absurd?
This whole thing reeks! It is a politically charged personal vendetta against State House and calculated at tainting His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and it forms part of the bigger scheme sponsored by the opposition to attack and discredit the President and those close to him.
That should also explain the morbid interest in also soiling the image of State House Permanent Secretary Ms Christa Kalulu.
It is immoral and very wicked for the discredited wretched smugglers in the likes of Mwenya Musenge, and rejected political mercenaries in the despicably twisted form of Gregory Chifire to attempt to tarnish a luminary’s professional’s flawless image.
But then, what else can be expected of Musenge / Chifire and their company of morally challenged misfits? Their odious behaviour would embarrass the lowest forms of life and even the most primordial of primates would blush at their malice.
Court documents are public documents. We challenge the magistrate to show the public where Dr. Miti was charged. The magistrate wants Dr. Miti to answer to the charges and again we ask – where are the charges which you want Dr. Miti to answer to?
We ask the magistrate who it is that prosecuted Dr. Miti and who his defence counsel was?
It is public knowledge that courts exist to adjudicate on the merits and demerits of the prosecution and never to charge individuals. This is a very strange phenomenon and a rancid embarrassment to the judiciary.
It’s extremely shocking that the magistrate charged a person who has never been charged and attempts to convict him together with the people being convicted.
We challenge the magistrate to show the public Dr. Miti’s pending or active cases before any court of law in Zambia and outside including mars.
This confirms the existence of an agenda to divert the narrative from development gains scored by the PF, in order embarrass and undermine the current President using fiction and underhand methods by individuals abusing offices, which are expected to be fair in dispensing justice and which are sacred by design.
Let the Choma based Magistrate be reminded of the late President Mwanawasa’s wisdom in refusing to succumb to similar manoeuvres.
On 24 September 2003, the Supreme Court of Zambia recommended that Michael Mabenga be probed and prosecuted for alleged misuse of K29.8 million Constituency Development Funds (CDF).
Reacting to calls to prosecute Mabenga, former Justice Minister, the late George Kunda, had said the case that involved Mulobezi Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Mabenga some time back could not be prosecuted at the time because police had closed the matter after thorough investigations.
President Mwanawasa could not and did not succumb to such proposals from the judiciary, because investigations and the decisions to prosecute lie in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Police and the DPP as opposed to the court.
There are a few individuals in state institutions that are bent on fighting the President and the progress he has galvanised, to the extent of throwing justice and professional ethics to the wind. These individuals are flies in the ointment of justice and all that is progressive.
His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a man of impeccable standing. The President and the Patriotic Front Government will not be distracted by a smelly bunch of envious detractors. We are too busy delivering development to the people we serve.
The judicial wheel is rounded with equality, oiled with honour and is supposed to function smoothly with integrity.
We pray for the Wisdom of Solomon to prevail in the judiciary so that it can cleanse itself of this putrid stench.
The Author is the PF Media Director At the Patriotic Front Secretariat In Lusaka.
This man is difficult to like.
If this is part of his job description writing such drivel time after time, then there is winner here.
This is a load of tosh on here and should ignored for what it’s worth.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
That idyot is even calling a noble man as a “Choma based'”.
So much insults from Chanda, I can’t qoute here.
If judiciary is independent in Zambia, then that Sunday need arrested tomorrow for contept.
Absolutely TOSH… so much drivel and hot air.
This boy is urine! State house involving themselves in this has subliminal inkling that malfeasance circulates Miti.
Chanda is a child having the time defending this through the meadia. Is he trying to squash traction of the story gaining momentum… if it does gain momentum and Miti is innocent why worry?
To me the fly here is Chanda.
It’s a government matter and not a PF one but Sunday Chanda doesn’t seem to know. Dr Simon Miti is a government officer and not a PF officer and the money stolen isn’t PF money but govt money. When will Chanda learn to respect the difference?
Nothing new here the PF have never sided with the people on matters that have to do with corruption involving any person close to the president or dealing with them…. and somehow they want it to be an illogical deduction when the party is said to be corrupt
What Magistrate Zulu said about Dr.Miti needs further interrogation. We cannot have tainted individuals like Christa Kalulu and Simon Miti so close to the presidency, is State House a den of thieves?
If this boy joined upendi today he will invited to a high table banquet as celebrity
A waste of tax payers’ money to employ such chaps. Where is the value addition in all this long-winded hot air just to make a feeble single letter point of view?
In the United States, Gates is testifying against his former boss, Mr Manifold. This doess not mean that he will be exempt from any form of conviction. It only means that the court will exercise some leniency for his cooperation with the state. This is my take.
So will Gates be convicted without trial? The point Chanda is raising is that natural justice demands that if a person is accused of any offense, s/he should be given a chance to be heard before sentence is passed
The big question is: Where was the controlling officer(Dr.Miti) when Kapoko and others were siphoning all those huge sums of money from the Health Ministry?? These are the honest questions Dr. Miti needs to answer frankly….”President Edgar Lungu is a man of impeccable standing” and I quote from Sunday Chanda.My foot!! It is better to keep quiet than to be such a boot licker. Just keep eating quietly. We know you are enjoying the loot of this country
“….His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a man of impeccable standing. …”
Hehehehe ,
let lungu deny in public accusations that he is a corrupt theif……
“…His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a man of impeccable standing…”
Chanda , is this the same Edgar chagwa lungu who was debarred by LAZ for defrauding a widow ?
“..His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a man of impeccable standing…”
Times of Zambia, 2 August 2010
PF Lawyer Banned Over Client Funds
PATRIOIC Front chairperson for the committee on legal affairs Edgar Lungu has been suspended from practising as a lawyer with immediate effect on allegations of misappropriating money meant for retirees of Lafarge which was formerly known as Chilanga cement plc.
This is according to a letter dated July 30, 2010 and signed by Law Association of Zambia(LAZ) honorary secretary Musa Mwenye and copied to all relevant institutions and individuals that deal with lawyers.
Suspended. What happens after that?? Let me help you: the complainant/accuser is given audience by the LAZ disciplinary committee to prove his allegations while the respondent is equally given the chance to prove otherwise. When non conclusive evidence is given by the accuser and the respondent is able to exonerate themselves, then things revert back to normal and the accusation remains an unproven and speculative issue. That’s where your post remains!!
Iwe Citizen…..you are not even embarrassed ? Lungu had his law licence taken away and only got it back recently….
In the age of the internet you kaponya rats have no where to hide….
Hehehehe citizen…..
So tell us what happened to that case, what was the out come ?
Watch this rat take cover…..
How can you ask the outcome when you seem sure that his license was revoked. Tell us, was he convicted?? And if he was, how was he able to file papers for public office in 2011 when in opposition???
It’s rare that we attack judicial pronouncements, but magistrate Zulu’s comments on Miti are a reflection of what happens when a professional spends too much time in a tribal area. Personally I’m not surprised, Magistrate Zulu is serving his masters. Well done Zulu!
Sunday Chanda is just an *****…
“…His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a man of impeccable standing…”
Yaba but matako yeve muyanunsha bad! Try as you might you will not launder some people: too dirty!!!
Another public holiday come 6th September 2018
we the people of eastern province request that 6th September 2018 be declared a public holiday so that we turn in numbers to vote in the Kasenengwa by-elections.This is the only way victory is assured. We should not let the opposition grab this seat. lets honor Victoria even in death by ensuring that the seat is returned to the PF
God bless ECL
Long live ECL!!!
This is where I have issues with PF. Each time serious questions are asked, PF always tries to duck away. What does PF take us for? Do you think we are f.o.o.ls?
Remember one thing, the time is surely ticking. At one time Mugabe had Zimbabwe in his pockets but today Zimbabweans has put him in their pockets. Remember the powerful Isabel Santos, former president Santos daughter from Angola? Today she is being stripped of her billions by a stroke of a pen. Nothing goes forever. Whatever goes around, comes around. That is the rule of nature. Be ware
Half way Chanda’s drivel loads of tosh compels one to stop and spare their intelligence from subjective ignorance.
Point: Every Permanent Secretary in any ministry is the chief technocrat. He/She is answerable to the powers above him/her in the efficacy of government policy, administrative direction, monitoring and implementation of budgetary activities and delivery of services to government and nation. The administrative technical back stops at a permanent secretary’s desk in any ministry. Dr. Miti need to answer questions why donors funds were stolen by convicts currently in jail, when Miti was heading the operations of the ministry of health.
mmmm I smell a big rat. Is Dr Miti a PF cader to be defended by PF?? Why cant Dr Miti go to court and answer the charges if he is really innocent?? Please ba PF naimwe fimbi kwikala fye tondolo. Dr Miti has a mouth , let him speak for himself.
This clown has overstayed his welcome. He must insult our intelligence; if it waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a duck! Dr. Miti is the big fish in this scandal. Kapoko and his accomplices in the theft and corruption are the guilty sacrificial lambs. Dr. Miti cannot escape the dragnet because likes of Sunday Chanda stand up to protect and shield him. He stole from the people of Zambia and must be stand trial for the crimes he is alleged to have committed. No sacred cows in the name of god. All ought to be equal before the law!
sunday chanda pali chizungu vambili vanipita ni chaya chabe guess work, though the main point is clear that MITTI IS INNOCENT!! Congrats brother Sunday
Its Sunday Chanda that should shup up his smelly mouth. These thieves cost me a reputation and curtailed donor funding that meant to alleviate suffering in the hospitals which the cash – strapped government could not fund. In other countries like China, people who take liberties with government monies face the firing squad. This is no laughing matter!
One may be compelled to conclude that Kapoko and his accomplices were too smart for the controlling officer Miti. But then how possible is it that Kapoko and the lot could syphon such a colossal amount (K6.8 million) by circumventing the controlling officer? My understanding of the term ‘state witness’ is that the person is in the know about the goings-on and probably takes part in what was going on, and when the chips are down, becomes state witness just to avoid incarceration. What does the law say on state witness?
But, on the hindsight, the question is why did the judge not raise this issue at the time the case started, why now?
Doctor Sunday Chanda, where do you get the courage to discredit the courts of law? It is not strange in Zambia to convict a witness especially when witnesses tell lies or are found wanting by the courts. I thought you guys in the ruling party you have the interest for the courts of law do its work? You sound to be an enemy of Justice. You must be one of those whose education has failed to educate.
Bishop Mambo has been drugged to court for contempt of court for commenting on the ruling of the court. Can Dr. Sunday Chanda be drugged to court for criticizing the courts of law without the duly constituted procedure please. This chappy in undermining the courts of law. Chimangeni imwe Chi Chanda.
Let those who have not sinned cast the first stone. Rant injustice for expediency and hope you get justice when put in dock. If hanged wrongly, too bad isn’t it!!!
No matter the leanings, learn that Justice is sacred and should not be subject to odium. You could be hanged for nothing.
Intimidation of the judiciary.