President Rupiah Banda has with immediate effect reappointed former Communications and Transport Minister Dora Siliya to cabinet following the High Court Judgment which has cleared her of any wrongdoing.

In a media statement made available to ZANIS by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Dickson Jere, Ms Siliya will now serve as Education Minister.

President Banda has since moved the Education Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa to the Ministry of Communications and Transport.

Yesterday , the Lusaka High Court cleared Ms Siliya of the Dennis Chirwa lead tribunal’s findings which stated that the former minister of Communication had breached the constitution in the manner she handled the RP Capital Partners issue.

High Court Judge Philip Musonda quashed the tribunal’s findings that Ms Siliya breached the constitution when she ignored the Attorney General’s advice over RP capital partners.

Ms. Siliya resigned from her ministerial position after the judgment of the tribunal findings.

Meanwhile, President Banda has constituted a five-Member Cabinet Committee to find a lasting solution to the ongoing financial and technical problems at the state-owned Zambia Telecommunications Corporation (ZAMTEL).

The committee comprises Finance and National Planning Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, Communications and Transport Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa as well as the Mines and Mineral Resources Minister Maxwell Mwale.

Others are Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati and his Energy and Water Development counterpart Kenneth Konga.

Mr. Banda has further directed all Permanent Secretaries serving under the ministries in the Cabinet Committee to form a technical committee which will serve the Cabinet Committee.

Meanwhile, Lusaka Province Minister Lameck Mangani has called on Zambians to respect the verdict of the court that has cleared former Minister of Communications and Transport Dora Siliya of the tribunal findings that she breached the constitution in the manner she handled the RP Capital Partners issue.

Mr. Mangani says the rule of law should be allowed to prevail as Zambia is a country guided by law as embodied in the republican constitution.[quote]

He said President Rupiah Banda’s administration will continue to subject its management of the country to the constitution.

Mr. Mangani said this is why President Banda did not interfere in the Dora Siliya tribunal investigations adding that President Banda is committed to the fight against corruption in the country

He was speaking when he addressed Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) women cadres at his office in Lusaka today.

Mr. Mangani has further called on Zambians to desist from blaming President Banda for high levels of corruption in government.

He said it is the responsibility of all Zambians to desist from engaging in corruption and to report corrupt elements to law enforcement agents.

And acting MMD Women’s Chairperson Tafura Lubinda said the MMD women were cheered by the verdict of the court that cleared Ms. Siliya.

ZANIS

ZANIS

Renowned local musician Maiko Zulu has called on the corporate world to supplement government efforts in helping raise and improve the standards of prisons in the country.

Mr. Zulu says the private sector can contribute to bettering the welfare of inmates and the less privileged in society by exercising their social responsibility.
He lamented that the plight of prisoners in Zambia was bad hence the need to complement the efforts of government.

Mr. Zulu was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today after making a donation of assorted goods that included books, clothes and bath soap to Kamwala Remand prison.

The reggae artist said he was compelled to make the donation after his stint at the remand prison following drug charges against him.

ZANIS

Embattled MMD Mazabuka Central Chairman, Davis Bbilika has been suspended with immediate effect for allegedly de-campaigning President Rupiah Banda during the previous Presidential by-elections.

Constituency Secretariat, Roster Sholoka who confirmed the development in a statement to ZANIS in Mazabuka today said the decision to suspend Mr Bbilika was reached at during a heated constituency meeting yesterday.

Mr. Sholoka said apart from decampaigning the President, Mr Bbilika is also accused of having failed to account for the Eighteen million kwacha (K18,000,000) released for campaigns during the by-election.

Mr Sholoka said the suspended party official is alleged to have given an interview to Mazabuka Community radio station in which he publicly said he was not in support of President Banda’s candidature.

Mr. Sholoka also accused Mr Bbilika of having solicited undisclosed amount of money from a Minister without the knowledge of the committee to repair the broken down MMD party vehicle which he later diverted to repair his vehicle.

Mr. Sholoka also took a swipe at MMD district chairman, Trywell Himoonga for failing to take appropriate action against Mr. Bbilika for allegedly abusing party funds and de-campaigning the President.

But Bbilika when contacted for comment dismissed the allegations describing them as baseless.

Mr. Bbilika also said he will not accept the suspension because the party constitution does not give powers to his subordinates to suspend him.

He also explained that the K18 million was properly used adding that his constituency secretary and vice chairman, William Walimuntu are bitter because they did not receive allowances during campaigns.

Mr. Bbilika said he received instruction on how to use the funds from the Provincial Executive Committee.

He added that Provincial Vice Secretary, Emmerson Machila was in a better position to clear the suspicion by his junior officers.

He has since challenged the duo to publicly state how they abused campaign funds before he could expose them.
ZANIS

Lusaka Lawyer Eric Silwamba has described Tuesday’s High Court ruling that former transport Minister, Dora Siliya did not breach the constitution as a landmark judgment based on the 1996 law.

Mr. Silwamba said that the law requires a cabinet minister to seek the Attorney General’s legal opinion or advice before signing government contracts.

He said even though this requirement is mandatory under this law, compliance is not.

This means that the minister can choose to take the advice or ignore it.

Mr. Silwamba said the judgement also clears Ms. Siliya of all three allegations determined by the Judge Dennis Chirwa tribunal early this year.

Ms Siliya was alleged to have breached the Constitution when she ignored the advice from the attorney general and awarded a contract to RP Capital and partners to value Zamtel assets.

Delivering his ruling yesterday, High Court Judge Philip Musonda said the philosophy underlying the non-conferring on the attorney general, as chief legal advisor to the Government, veto or overriding power was that he gave professional advice, which was legalistic to the president and Cabinet.

He said the attorney general was not an elected official and he, therefore, did not factor the social, political and economic conditions prevailing at the time, which elected officials representing the people must take into account.[quote]

Mr Justice Musonda said the law moved slowly while the social, economic and political events happened instantly and needed an instantaneous response.

The judge said while in Article 56 (7) the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would violate the Constitution if he did not follow the attorney generals direction, Article 54 (3) of the Constitution was without sanctions.

“What is unconstitutional is failure to get the advice of the attorney general and not failure to follow it, interpreting the law strictly,” he said.

“In that regard if legal opinion runs counter to achieving a certain objective, ministers have the option to ignore it, but to ignore it because they are profiting from it is the very evil the parliamentary and ministerial code of conduct reprehends,” he said.

“The tribunal’s findings that there was no breach of Part II of the ministerial code of conduct remain undisturbed, which means she is cleared by the tribunal under Part II and by this court under Article 54 (3) of the Constitution and it is so ordered,” he said.

The judge, however, said it was an uncomfortable fact to preside and respectfully disagree with members of the Dennis Chirwa-led tribunal, who were among the most gentle, friendliest, warm-hearted individuals in the institution.

“I say this because there may be especially among the laymen a mistaken notion that dissent or being reversed is synonymous with discord in the judiciary,” the judge said.

Some opposition political party leaders will be charged for treason if they continue to incite workers to go on with the strike.

Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha issued the warning at a press briefing in Lusaka, Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha said the law will take its course on UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema if he continues to call on workers to sustain their strike in which some people may be losing lives.

Gen. Shikapwasha said it is disheartening that some leaders are taking actions that are intended to bring down the Government of the day to gain access to power.

He said it is unreasonable for any political leader to gain political mileage by demanding that more people die through the strike action of some health workers.

He also dismissed Mr. Hichilema’s allegations that each ministry was losing K60 billion annually through corruption.

[ZNBC]