By Prince Bill M. Kaping’a Political & Social Analyst
We have taken time to dissect and chew over Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba’s article which was trending on social media last couple of days, entitled – “Stop harassing former presidents.” He spews forth conspiracy theories and draws a myriad of inferences.
In one of the paragraphs, Mwamba offers, “There is a pattern that has emerged where new Presidents engage in trashing the legacy of their predecessors, accuse them of massive acts of corruption, and prosecute them while seeking to consolidate their new power gained.”
Wait a minute……According to Wikipedia, a diplomat is someone who can be sensitive in dealing with others and who can achieve peaceful resolutions or facilitate discussion. A person who doesn’t take sides in a fight but who instead helps others to resolve their differences is an example of someone who is diplomatic.
We therefore find it ludicrous that a seasoned diplomat of Mwamba’s stature elects to spin around issues, as if he’s a party apparatchik, in his feeble attempt to defend past misdeeds, instead of endeavouring to help seek justice as etiquettes of diplomacy dictate, indeed!
If we may take time to school our diplomat who is just arriving from war torn Ethiopia: most of our former African leaders, and indeed some that are still clinging on to power, simply deserve titles as tin-pot dictators. They’ve been on rampage abusing the very power entrusted to them by poor country folk, and anybody who dared challenge them risked being cut to pieces!
From oil rich fields of North to West Africa, despots holed-up in palaces decorated with Persian carpets have been quick to descend upon critics and opponents alike and feed them to the crocodiles. And as you venture farther afield into tourist idyllic jungles of East Africa, you’re likely to encounter leaders who think only them, their families or indeed cronies deserve to be at the helm – those that provoke their ire are constant guests in filth dungeons! In mineral rich central and southern Africa, we’ve had a generation of leaders who’ve recklessly plundered their county’s resources and gotten away with it. Is the ambassador therefore suggesting we should continue on such a trajectory?
No bwana! This is the 21st Century, former leaders are now being called to account for their wanton transgressions, everywhere.
In mineral-rich Angola, former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ daughter, Isabel dos Santos who is said to have bilked her country of more than $1 billion through unscrupulous dealings has had her assets frozen. She’s now under probe. Equally, her half-brother, Jose Filomeno dos Santos, was indicted for alleged illegal transfer of $500m from the central Bank to a Swiss Bank account! Jose Eduardo Dos Santos himself only returned home in September 2020 after a stint exile for fear of prosecution. He is yet to have his day in court.
Since he previously served there as High Commissioner, we’ve no doubt the ambassador is aware that in 2018, the High Court of South Africa reinstated corruption charges against Zuma from 2009 relating to a $5bn arms deal from the 1990s. Zuma now faces 16 counts of corruption, racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, accepting a total of 783 illegal payments. As if this is not enough, the Constitutional Court has handed him a 15-month sentence for contempt of court after Zuma defied an earlier court order to return and testify before the Zondo Commission, the very creature he created!
Amb. Mwamba goes on to insinuate that while cooperating partners may cheer us on, and even deploy resources in the so-called fight against corruption, they never do this in their own countries, never arrest their former Presidents or Prime Ministers for perceived crimes done while they held office.
Wrong!
In France, the 66 year old ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in jail, two of them suspended, for corruption. This concerns a case when relating to attempting to bribe a judge in 2014, after he had left office.
And according to ABC online news, the record of Trump officials who have fallen afoul of the law is unparalleled in the history of the United States of America. In all, 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned since the days when the first-time candidate promised that he would only hire “the best people.”
What are we saying?
If indeed there’s overwhelming evidence of impropriety on the part of former president Edgar Lungu or indeed any of his ministers or senior government officials, they must be held accountable without further delay to serve as an example to the others!
Zambians kaya..there are more important issues please. We want development,free education, Millie meal at K50, fertilizer bag at K 250, infrastructure development, manufacturing industries,etc
Last year Zambia produced 880,080 tonnes of copper which is about 6 billion dollars of this sum! How much did the government received! I have not spoken of gold, zinc,magnesium,cobalt etc …How fooli.sh are we!
The problem with our columnists is that they are subjective. The purpose of columns is to inform not influence. Supporting or opposing because of your inclination automatically disqualifies one from being columnist but s group’s propagandist.
@Deja Vu, agree with you 100% and unfortunately Zambians love propaganda and gossip. We love to fix each other and distribute poverty rather wealth. Those calling for the former president’s immunity removal should also campaign for it to be removed permanently so that a sitting president can be prosecuted whilst in office. We must be the only country on this planet that perfects wrong doing and shy away from ‘right’. Please move on.
Mwamba should have kept qiete on this one……….
Lungu is as corrupt as they come, he was marred in corruption from day one in case he was president for only 18 months after satas death………
He stole so much that he suddenly had $2.3 million after 18 months……..
Only dumpster of lungu and the clique don’t want to hear anything about removing lungus immunity……….
Unfortunately for them, the voting majority of Zambians want him to be held accountable if he was involved in corruption……….
Only supporters of lungu and the clique……
Emmanuel Mwamba has got his own political and survival agenda. We have not forgotten what he was involved in run up to the just ended general elections. he is among those civil servants who came back to campaign for ECL and PF to ensure that they retained power. Our brother should take a low profile until the right time to start lecturing Zambians. The tempers are still high please EM the best is for you is to do the ” Mwikala patalala”. Your friend Anthony Mukwita is zee and no one is talkig about him Its as simple as that.
WHERE ARE ALL THESE SO CALLED PHILOSOPHERS COMING FROM ???
Ba Deja Vu did you say the same thing about E Mwamba’s article? This man has written an opinion piece. It’s not a report. It’s a rebuttal to the E.M piece. So he can be subjective as am sure E.M was too.
The cantankerous PF carder Mwamba knows very well that Lungu did not win but stole elections in 2015 and 2016 and he is one of the fools who helped him rig elections. Even this 2021 election, the foolish carder was part of the rigging team but failed miserably. Now he wants all that to be forgotten. What of the corruption, marginalization of citizens, thefts, etc. Mwamba doesn’t think well. Prison is coming for this PF carder pretending to be educated when in actual sense he is not.
#7 Newbie. I’m sure you can still find that article on LT and see my comments.
#7Newbie….2 flag Deja Vu November 13, 2021 At 2:20 pm
That’s why these chaps don’t leave office willingly. They are afraid of the future
This was what I said FYI
Hello!
Remove immunity from the Constitution and HH will answer the questions we have concerning privatization too. Period. Period..
Take an example the case of infantile paralytic paralyasis. It was an epidemic during the leadership of KK and he had personal interest heinitiated primary schools and units at selected secondary schools and later a skills college. Was in the process of setting up an enterprise to be managed by this graduates that was in line with the international community on rehabilitation of the polio or accident disabled. Unfortunately those who tookover neglected all this effort and confused the disabled persond trust in government of the day. We are now in a situation of who runs fastest who talks loudest carries the day. We want the new dawn leadership to be sober and make fair unbiased consultations on disability to establish an inclusive national agenda on disability starting with lessons from…
Aaaah fuseke iwe Prince katwishi!
Thank You LT EXCELLENT ARTICLE.
Edgar Chagwa Lungu and his PF Corrupt Criminal Enterprise of a Government are Sacred Cows . They should never be beyond the reach of the Law .We all saw Outrageous Abuse of National financial resources and when you are in public office you need to respect Tax Payers Money.
It became Normal in Zambia that the New Emerging Millionaires were Not Entrepreneurs,Businessmen,Commercial Farmers,but Government Officials and Cadres.
This is just one sign of a ROTTEN COUNTRY
WE MUST PROSECUTE
One should automatically loose immunity upon handing over the instruments of power.
H
“He” thought he was going to hand over the instruments of power to himself, no wonder he didn’t care when his cronies stole. Some cronies are here now defending corruption.
The practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another does exist, and It is troubling especially those who have been giving preferential treatments want to come back and pounce on those who have never had preferential treatment and push them into Generational poverty.
Emmanuel Mwamba is not objective. He is defending the people who were nice to him. Chiluba made him his spokesman. Lungu retrieved him fro unemployment after Sata sacked him. He is just trying to be nice to people who were nice to him. That is not objectivity. I do find that Zambia suffers greatly from this attitude.
Mwamba is moron…I saw him on radio where he openly justified being a Party media campaign manager and a civil servant under various govts. This man is untrustworthy this is why they sent him abroad.
#1 These companies prefer to export concentrates instead of finished copper and only declare the copper grade there in contained. Other contents are not declared. We allow this just because we want to attract INVESTMENT.
Please investigate Mwamba, His utterances on immunity of the former President may be a deflect mechanism for his wrong doings. This is the same chap Sata fired.
For a chap who is alleged to have struggled Chiluba to death, Mwamba’s toilet acrobatics stink. The contradictions too were just glaring, I hope this is not cognitive decline we were witnessing here. I mean, how could he frown upon Lungu’s Lusaka Copperbelt scum worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the fire engine wheelbarrows etc and yet claim he does not wish to see Lungu made to account for his actions or lack of actions that resulted in Zambia losing billions of dollars? There is something glaringly amiss or dangerous with Mwamba’s thinking. He is either on drugs or he has a gift of being a full cycle ***** acquired on the table of creation!
For a chap who is allegedly to have struggled Chiluba to death, Mwamba’s toilet acrobatics stink. The contradictions too were just glaring, I hope this is not cognitive decline we were witnessing here. I mean, how could he frown upon Lungu’s Lusaka Copperbelt road scum worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the fire engine wheelbarrows etc and yet claim he does not wish to see Lungu made to account for his actions or lack of actions that resulted in Zambia losing billions of dollars? There is something glaringly amiss or dangerous with Mwamba’s thinking. He is either on drugs or he has a gift of being a full cycle ***** acquired on the table of creation! Mwamba masipa ahao.
It wasn’t necessary to attack Emmanuel Mwamba in that manner, are you different? NO! Just educate us on why UPND cadres should lead the call to lift immunity of the former President. Or tell us why you think Edgar should have his immunity lifted, mind you it’s not as easy as the cadres are trying to make it look. Help us by establishing a prima facie case against ECL, that’s what we’re looking for.
IMHO ……
Mwamba is a better option PF have to lead them.
If their supporters had any brains , mwamba should lead…..
How naive are Zambians on this platform?? I am only happy that the majority Zambians voted the thieves out because they empathize with that child learning under a tree because thieves enriched themselves leaving the vulnerable to fend for themselves. It disgusts me when those who are meant to condemn corruption & ask for accountability start making the thieves appear like victims. We need to root out this corruption & pursue all thieves including ECL to the last coin!!!!
You need to understand the coast of corruption, that is the only way to appreciate measures against it.
cost of corruption
Mwikala Patalala, Mwine Apatalalika. These PF so called Diplomats and other Cadres who are taking advantage of HH’s Unity to the Country should count their Days. They are asking for Trouble themselves. BA Mwamba, what the hell are you talking About, Just because you stole and even have jets stuck in SA with your Lungu?? You think we Zambians are Happy? Lungu’s Immunity should be lifted. Infact Even Tasila should be Arrested. Where did she get money to Build those Flats?? Where did she work before? It’s all Tax Payers money and sells from MUKULA. Stop your stupidity Ba Mwamba and enjoy your life. You will loose everything you have just to support your Crookade Lungu.
A clique of propagandists
People are still sleeping under trees ati mothers shelter is closed pa Kabwe hospital.Ifwe tulelandafye amafi apa
Emma is a cadre and not a diplomat, hence, his involvement in campaigning for ECL.