Prior to the 2021 general elections that ushered-in the New Dawn Administration into power, the Patriotic Front (PF) Secretary General at the time, Davies Mwila issued the following stern warning to Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament, “You’ll go to jail if we don’t campaign hard to win in 2021.” This attracted a screaming headline in one of the daily tabloids, The Mast Newspapers.
Mwila obviously knew what he was talking about; no one just turns up in prison anyhow! A felony must have been committed somehow. The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has unveiled an interesting diary of high profile cases coming up during the month of May. Here are the snippets of how it looks like: (1) The People vs. Godfrey Bwalya Mwamba (2) The People vs. Bowman Lusambo & Another (3) The People vs. Gardner Syakanthu & others (4) The People vs. Crint Sichamba & 3 others (5) ACC vs. Francis Muchemwa……the list of course, goes on and on.
We’ve no intention of celebrating when someone suspected to have come into conflict with the law in the past is hauled before the courts of law to dance “pelete.” Mankind must endeavour to uphold the laws of our land at all times. This must equally serve as a warning to those in power today. When you are given a rare opportunity to occupy certain government positions, you must resist behaving like a monkey in a maize field; your day of reckoning shall surely come to pass once you’ve vacated office.
If we may repeat a hackneyed saying, “justice delayed, is justice denied!” The Zambian people expect those believed to have stolen from them to pay back as soon as possible; be it forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime or swapping designer outfits for the orange attire to grow Cabbages!
However, it’s increasingly becoming worrisome to see suspects trying by all means to waste our courts time by turning-up in court on stretchers or wheel chairs, limping into court rooms aided by friends and relatives or confining themselves in bed in private hospitals where they can be seen smiling and taking selfies. The same way that only a medical practitioner in a government hospital may sign on medical reports when someone has been assaulted is what should happen when someone requires a sicknote to excuse them from attending court sessions. Doctors in private hospitals may be colluding with suspects to avoid appearing in court by ‘accommodating’ in hospital wards much longer than necessary.
Don’t feign any illness; you must face the law, pronto!
Prince Bill M. Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst
This writer is always biased
It’s a reasonable suspicion. Doctors in state hospitals should examine some of the suspects who are suddenly too ill to appear in court.
You cant feign HBP or diabetes. Science has ways of testing for such illnesses. Even madness can’t be faked. So ba Kapinga just come out of your fake journalism and admit you are a propagandist for UPND
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It seems zambian politicians can’t keep their dirty fingers off state resources and funds………
Infact 98% of MPs and other politicians enter politics with the sole purpose of enrichment………
Let’s just pass a law,……….
every politician who enters GRZ must be investigated after they leave GRZ for unaccounted wealth………..
This merry-go-round of investigations is time and money waisting……….
If you are talking about GBM you are providing that you have no principles at all.
GBM didn’t steal during the presidency of Edgar Lungu. HH knew that GBM had committed crimes during his time as minister of defense… but still went ahead and appointed him Upnd vice president. GBM left that position and the Upnd….he was blocked from getting contracts with government and their was an impending arrest for “defrauding” government. Had GBM been ” resilient ” he most definitely be our republican vice president.
He did not steal in Edgar’s government but in Sata’s govt. He had left his thieving friends for thieving friends in the opposition. When he Sylvia Maseboed himself back to PF (it should be Dorah Siliyad himself to…but it’s the same) the suspicious PF central committee was unwilling to open its arms to a ‘double’ thief. No wonder he was double the size of non-thieving citizens
Ba mudala ba GBM gave himself or the companies he had share in contracts to supply the defence force different materials in millions of dollars. That may not seem like stealing but he abused his authority by awarding himself contracts contrary to the law. That information was not known by HH or the UPND at the time he left PF. When he became vocal against PF, they threatened him with some of that information, he got scared and was compromised hence UPND didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He was kicked out indirectly from UPND.
@Spaka
You’re now talking sense….that’s how a normal society is supposed to operate….but unfortunately in our society Politicians just become Politicians for the sole purpose of enriching themselves…and now it has become the norm to fool the courts with sickness with the help of corrupt doctors
He learns from the master, chishimba kambwili.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. politicians so naive. Muzalila, what is happening to your opponents currently will surely come to you too.. they seem not to learn these fat cats
Of course, if you are a thief expect to have your day in court sooner or later. It feels ‘cool’ when you are not yet caught. It is like a weed smoker.
A thief is a thief wether in Sata’s or whoever’s administration, thieves must be brought to book. Money they stole should have been used to improve lives of poor children. This democracy thing is not working for Africa. Thieves and corrupt people are hiding behind it. There is no shame in African politics.
In the underworld they say; A Lawyer with a briefcase could steal more money than a hundred men with guns.
How true they are.