Civil society makes demands on FJT acquittal
- Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 13:04
- Breaking News
- 55 comments
Seventeen civil society organizations have devised mechanisms to put pressure on the government to appeal against the acquittal of former president Fredrick Chiluba.
The NGOs say the judgment by magistrate Jones Chinyama is highly questionable and have called upon vice president George Kunda and the DPP Chalwe Mchenga to resign.
In a statement read on behalf of the NGOs by Caritas director Samuel Mulafufu at Transparency offices Wednesday morning, the NGOs said they have embark on nationwide campaigns to demand for the appeal process
against the acquittal of Dr. Chiluba to go head without any hindrance.
“Our nationwide campaigns will equally sensitise the Zambian people to guard our justice system jealously and ensure that it is not compromised for political gain, said Mulafufu.
“We call upon all Zambians who love this country and are worried about corruption to wear black and honk or whistle every Friday at 17:00 hours for 10 minutes.
“We stopped Dr. Chiluba from going for a Third Term, we are determined to use the same system to advocate for this appeal to be heard. This is not about causing anarchy as Government would want the people to believe, this is a fight for justice, said the NGOs through Mulafufu.
The NGOs also asked Chiluba to stop abusing the name of God.
Some of the NGOs are Caritas, TIZ, NGOCC, Women for Change, FODEP, JCTR, SACCORD, Young leaders Integrity Alliance, Zambia Council Social for Development, Citzens Forum, ZCEA, AVAP, CSPR, Civil Society Trade Network, and Frank Bwalya’s Change Life Zambia.
The Verbatim statement as read is reproduced below”
Press Statement on the Acquittal of Dr. Frederick Chiluba and the general justice system in Zambia
delivered by 17 Civil Society Organisations on 30th
September 2009
Theme: One Land, One Nation and One Law is our Cry
1. INTRODUCTION
Members of Press, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen.
NGOs want Chiluba back in court
The past few weeks have been defining moments for Zambia. We have seen the conclusion of
some of the corruption cases against former President Frederick Chiluba. We have all had
occasion to listen to Government’s reaction to the acquittal of Dr. Chiluba and most importantly,
we have all witnessed the reaction of the former President himself. We have also seen solidarity
marches and other public events in support of the acquittal. As Civil Society Organisations, we
have taken time to analyse the different issues at play and gauged the public dissatisfaction with
the judgement and calls for restoration of the immunity of Dr. Chiluba. This press conference has
been called by a consortium of Civil Society Organisations to state their position on matters of
governance and justice in Zambia and in particular on the recent acquittal of former President Dr.
Frederick Chiluba. What we present to you is our common and united position and we address
specifically the following issues – 1) the judgement by the Presiding Magistrate in this case, 2) the
events surrounding the appeal and 3) the registration process of the London High Court. .
Additionally, we do comment on calls for restoration of Dr. Chiluba’s immunity and we end by
stating our course of action in our continued advocacy for fair justice for all anchored on the theme
– One Land, One Nation and One Law is our cry..
2.0 THE JUDGEMENT
As a preamble, we want to categorically affirm our respect for the dignity and independence of
the judiciary as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia. As Civil Society
Organisations, we recognize and desire that our Judiciary remains insulated from criticism but
above all, it is our fervent hope that the Judiciary discharges its functions in an unbiased manner
and above any reproach. That is the Litmus test for our Judiciary – it will not help us as a people
to turn a blind eye to acts of omission and compromise by the Judiciary despite the respect that
we accord this arm of government. . Indeed, we do acknowledge that any court process could
lead to either a conviction or an acquittal and that the reactions to any judgement will either bring
about contentment or discontent as the case maybe. As Civil Society Organisation, we fall in the
category of those Zambians who are saddened by the Judgement of the learned magistrate
1 Honorable Jones Chinyama. This reaction is based on the type and quality of evidence adduced
before the court, which in our view, adequately supported the case of impropriety on the part of
Dr Frederick Chiluba who illegally benefitted from public funds in the Zamtrop account. We are not
alone in this belief because even the Government of the late President Dr. Levy Mwanawasa SC
also strongly supported this position as evidenced by the statement made by the then Chief
Government Spokesperson Hon. Mike Mulongoti when he plainly stated Government’s position
on Dr. Chiluba’s defence that he had kept his personal money in the Zamtrop account when he
was quoted by the Times of Zambia in its edition of Saturday, May 12, 2007, Mr. Mulongoti said.
“…the advice that the former president puts his personal money into a ZAMTROP account could
only have been given on account that the sources were illegal and the public did not have to know
about them”.
We wish to remind the public that Ms. Anna Chifungula, the Auditor General who was called by
the defence to give evidence in the matter stated that one can not put private money in a
government account, and in the event of this happening, the said private money is forfeited to the
State. It becomes government money. And assuming that Dr. Chiluba had money in the Zamtrop
account, the court should have noted the requirement for Dr. Chiluba to prove the source and
ownership of the same money at the defense stage. This was not done and it leave everything to
conjecture as to the source of the funds which the former President is now claiming to be his The
implication of the judgement is that public and/or elected officials can now knowingly and willingly
deposit their private funds in a government account without facing the consequence of the law
especially if there is suspicion to the sources of the funds and the intended use. . There are a
number of other points of inconsistency in the judgement which makes it difficult for us to
appreciate and indeed accept the innocence that it bestows on Dr. Chiluba. This judgement
attracts more questions than answers. .
Against this background we find this judgement highly questionable and we are not surprised that
it has attracted a lot of criticisms, with some questions to be answered by the Government of the
day. It is difficult to ignore the statements by different Government leaders which all go to explain
the growing political interest in these matters
There are several aspects of this judgement which give an indication of possible political
interference.. Our view point has been confirmed by utterances by Hon. Mike Mulongoti that
jailing Dr. Chiluba would have been costly and that some people should be able to go to jail
while others remain. Hon. Mike Mulongoti further said:
“We consider the general harmony in the country. Even courts are sensitive to the political
situation in the country. You cannot just say, jail everyone. No, there is forgiveness, there is
reconciliation. Everything is there. So Chiluba, whether we like it or not, he was president of
Zambia. Not everyone hates Chiluba. There are wrong things he did, there are also good
things he did” (The Post Newspapers of Monday, September 21 2009)
2 .It is such statements from high ranking government officials which convince us that this matter
was handled carelessly and politicized by the Government. Hon. Mulongoti’s statement clearly
demonstrates that the judgement was politically engineered as he implicitly admits that Chiluba
did some wrong things but the courts of law were made to dance to the tune of the political
sensitivity in the country instead of concentrating on the legal provisions.
We wish to state that we have studied the judgement itself and we have noted a number of flaws a
few which include:
1. The Learned Trial Magistrate neglected to consider finding the accused of the commission of
a minor or alternative offence
2. The learned trial Magistrate breached the rules of criminal procedure when he decided to
exclude otherwise admissible evidence after it had been admitted by himself.
3. There is also an irregularity on the no case to answer stage or case to answer stage.
4. There are also a number of procedural issues that were not complied with.
5. The weight attached to the unsworn evidence by Dr. Chiluba.
We have done a detailed analysis of these irregularities that are contained in more than 40 pages
that all interested Zambians can be emailed to.
2.1 THE IMPACT OF THE JUDGEMENT
It cannot be denied that the case of former President Dr. Chiluba was a high profile one and the
outcome of this case has several implications on the local and international levels
We wish to note the following impacts:
1. The Judgment has the potential to completely erode public confidence and trust in the justice
system and judiciary in Zambia.
2. Zambia’s governance record will undoubtedly come under intense international scrutiny and
our reputation as a country will be called into question;
3. The ruling by the learned magistrate that former President Chiluba was not a public servant
has the potential of creating comfort zones where elected leaders can plunder public resources
with impunity. It also raises unnecessary confusion on whether elected leaders are public
officials or not.
4. The judgement sets a bad precedent on the utilization of public funds. This is why we welcome
the stance of cooperating partners who have expressed concern to ensure that public funds
that include tax payers money from their respective countries is well utilized.
3.0 THE QUESTION OF THE APPEAL
Article 56 (7) of The Zambian Constitution provides that, “In the exercise of the powers conferred
on him by this Article, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.”
3 .Contrary to this Article, Vice President Hon. George Kunda who is a member of the executive was
quoted confirming that government would not appeal against former president Chiluba’s acquittal
saying, “It will amount to professional misconduct for the DPP Chalwe Mchenga to appeal against
Frederick Chiluba’s acquittal because the case has no merit.” He further said that, “on Chiluba, it
would be unprofessional, in fact, professional misconduct for the Director of Public Prosecutions to
appeal knowing well that the case is frivolous and of no merit whatsoever for him to go ahead and
lodge an appeal.” (The Post Newspapers, 23rd September 2009)
The statement of Hon. Kunda that government would not appeal amounts to directing the DPP not
to appeal contrary to Article 56 (7) of the Constitution. As such it is our considered view that the
DPP was intimidated by Hon. Kunda. Hence, the DPP’s withdrawal of the appeal confirms that he
is towing Government line in a political decision which is unconstitutional.
Against this background, we civil society organizations are of a strong and united view that the
office of the DPP was interfered with and that the right course of action by Mr. Chalwe Mchenga,
our DPP would have been to allow the appeal succeed and let the due process of the law prevail.
Therefore we are of the strong view that the withdrawal of the appeal amounts to conspiracy to
subvert the course of justice.
We wish to reiterate the reality that Mr. Mchenga misled the public by purporting that he needed to
grant fresh permission to the prosecutor to appeal. It’s an extremely unfortunate position the DPP
took because according to precedent set by High Court Judge M S Mwanamwambwa’s judgment
of June 5, 2008 in The People Vs Julius William Banda,- in that Judgement, it was said a
prosecutor has power of immediate appeal to the High Court. According to this judgment’ and we
quote, “the language of Article 56 (4) of the Constitution and sections 87 and 321 (A) of the
Criminal Procedure Code are clear. Applying the plain meaning rule, I hold that Article 56 (4) and
sections 87 and 321 (A) do not require the Director of Public Prosecutions to issue a statutory
instrument specifically authorizing a police public prosecutor to lodge an appeal under section 321
(A). Just as much as a police public prosecutor can institute and undertake criminal proceedings
in the subordinate court on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, he can lodge an appeal
from such proceedings to the High Court, right away. I hold that the delegated authority of a police
public prosecutor under Article 56 (3) (4) and (6), and section 87 of the criminal procedure code to
institute and undertake criminal proceedings on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
extend to lodging an appeal from an acquittal in the subordinate court to the High Court, when the
need arises to appeal. There is no need for a fresh mandate”.
The judgement went on to reaffirm and we quote, “this equally applies to a legal practitioner who
represents the Director of Public Prosecutions in criminal proceedings before any court”. Mr.
Mchenga has thus betrayed public interest by withdrawing the appeal from the higher court
especially that the grounds for appeal have merit. In fact the position of the Law Association of
Zambia (LAZ) is clear that there were enough grounds for the DPP to appeal. As civil society
organizations we strongly endorse the action of the public prosecutors to appeal which was
withdrawn in questionable circumstances by Mr. Mchenga.
4 .We therefore disagree with the Minister of Justice Hon George Kunda who said the case had no
appellable merits. It seems Honorable Kunda has forgotten that he was the one as Justice
Minister and Attorney General during the Mwanawasa era who on behalf of the Zambian
government took Dr. Chiluba to court and articulated himself very well about the merits of this
case. These unfortunate events in the history of judicial system have eroded credibility of the
office of the DPP and that of the Minister of Justice. It is crystal clear that these two public officers
have failed to protect and uphold the Republican Constitution.
.
4.0 GOVERNMENTS U TURNS ON CHILUBA’S CASES
As concerned CSOs we have also noted with dismay the high level of pretence exhibited by the
Vice President, and some Ministers over Dr. Chiluba’s acquittal. It is interesting to note that the
same ministers who were castigating Dr. Chiluba when the late Dr. Levy Mwanawasa was
President have now turned against what they were saying at that time.
We want to remind Zambians on what Government’s position was when President Mwanawasa
was alive and Hon. Mike Mulongoti was Chief Government spokesman and we quote as follows.
4.1 Times of Zambia, Saturday, May 12, 2007: Main Headline; Don’t Incite Zambians,
Mulongoti tells FJT
Government has said former President, Fredrick Chiluba, should have defended himself in the
London High Court than attempt to incite Zambians to rise against the Government. Chief
Government spokesperson, and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Mike
Mulongoti said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that Dr. Chiluba as a defendant was entitled to
his opinion about the London High Court and could have argued in court if he did not refuse to
defend himself.
He said he was particularly concerned with Dr. Chiluba’s attempt to summon the people of Zambia
to his side but that Government has a duty to protect interests of the people when their
funds are alleged to have been put to personal use by leaders like former President
Chiluba whom they had entrusted to run their affairs. . “Having failed to explain how much
was donated and by who and considering that what was withdrawn from the ZAMTROP
account followed in-flows from the Government, the judge concluded that all the money
belonged to the State,” Mike Mulongoti said.
4.2 Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper of Friday November 30, 2007, Headline, Mulongoti
Challenges FTJ over allegations
5 .Mr. Mike Mulongoti castigated Dr. Chiluba and we quote,” Dr Chiluba was telling lies that
Government departments had been requested to transfer their insurance policies from the Zambia
State Insurance Corporation to Professional Insurance Corporation.” Mr. Mulongoti further said,
“Dr. Chiluba was found liable of theft of public funds by a London Court and was still appearing in
court of other cases and that was evident of how bad his regime was. Millions of Dollars were not
only misappropriated by government officials but were also stolen by some former leaders who
were now masqueradering as angels,.”Mulongoti said in a statement.
4.3 Zambia Daily Mail, Headline, Chiluba’s complaint baseless – Mulongoti
Chief Government spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti, says there is no basis for former President,
Fredrick Chiluba, to accuse his successor, Levy Mwanawasa, of working with Britain to secure his
conviction in cases of alleged corrupt practices. “I have difficulties to find any basis for Dr Chiluba
to say the President has connived with Britain to secure his conviction,” he said. Mr Mulongoti said
the British court had no interest in Dr Chiluba because it was merely helping Zambians to
determine whether or not their complaints against the former head of State over alleged theft of
public resources were justified.
In all these statements, Hon Mulongoti was very clear that former President Dr. Chiluba’s regime
was involved in theft of public funds. We now wonder why he has changed position.
5.0 THE LONDON HIGH COURT JUDGEMENT
As Civil Society Organisations, we fully recognise that the process of registering the London High
Court judgement is before the courts of law and it is not our intention to be contemptuous by
commenting on this process. However, we would like to register our concern about the inordinate
delays that this process has encountered. We would want to encourage the Judiciary to
expeditiously complete this process. We wish to serve notice as well that we are keenly following
this process and eager to see the final outcomes. . We know that the London High Court
Judgement is in extent of $400 million if you put all the defendants together and we do note that
Government through the Taskforce has already started recovering some of the money from other
defendants apart from Dr. Chiluba
We commend the Task Force for some of the recoveries made so far against Mr. Attan
Shansonga, one of the co defendants. Former Taskforce Chairperson , Mr. Max Nkole confirmed
to the nation that Boutique Basili who was making the shoes and suits for Dr Chiluba has since
paid back the funds that the Boutique received.. We are happy as CSO’s that others have started
paying back these funds and we look forward to the completion of the London judgement. In short,
the London judgement confirms that Dr. Chiluba still has outstanding cases which need to be
concluded accordingly.. It is in the best interest of all Zambians to ensure that Government must
recover all public funds.
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6.0 CHILUBA’S IMMUNITY
The Task Force still has several cases, which are still outstanding – this is a point that cannot be
disputed or ignored We therefore wonder why Dr. Chiluba expressly wrote to the Speaker of the
National Assembly requesting the restoration of his immunity. The Task Force has publicly
confirmed that they are investigating him on a case involving 20 million United States Dollars for
the arms that were not delivered. Other matters still outstanding involve the Carlington maize saga
involving $US8.5 million, (apparently Mr. Chiluba claims the similar amount of US$8m as personal
money in the Zamtrop account whose sources are unknown).
The criteria of restoring Chiluba’s immunity has already been said not to be in existence in the
Constitution. We would like to strongly appeal to the Speaker of the National Assembly not to
entertain Chiluba’s request to restore his immunity. If Dr. Chiluba strongly thinks that he is
innocent of any wrongdoing, we wonder why he is in a hurry to have his immunity restored.
7.0 DEMANDS
In the light of the above, we demand the following:
1. That the Minister of Justice, Hon George Kunda and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr.
Chalwe Mchenga must step down from their offices for failing the Zambian People
2. That the Judge in Charge of the Lusaka High Court and if necessary the Chief Justice must
execise supervisory jurisdiction and call the case record in the Chiluba case and review it.
3. That Government Ministers including the Republican President must stop intimidating
Zambians who have totally refused to accept the acquittal of former President Dr. Chiluba.
Our rights should not be violated simply because Government are more interested in
maintaining general harmony than promoting the rule of law; We find it annoying that
Government finds the actions of those of us who are opposed to this acquittal as causing
anarchy and yet Government is quiet when cadres march in solidarity with Dr. Chiluba. We
will not accept these double standards any more.
4. That the Judiciary should rise to the occasion and ensure that judicial system is not biased
and compromised to serve narrow political interests of the Governors. We demand for one
justice system for all Zambians- rich or poor.
5. Dr. Chiluba should stop abusing Gods name in this case as Hon. Mulongoti clearly stated
that his regime stole money.
8. WAY FORWARD
1. We shall petition the Speaker of the National Assembly not to entertain Dr. Chiluba’s
request for restoration of his immunity and we will picket Parliament if need be for a number of
days to make our views known on this matter. In much the same way that we picketed at
Parliament demanding for the lifting of Dr. Chiluba’s immunity, we will mobilize the general public
to demonstrate against the restoration of the immunity – not until all cases are concluded
7
2. We shall immediately embarkon nationwide campaigns to demand for the appeal process
against the acquittal of Dr. Chiluba to go head without any hindrance. Our nationwide campaigns
will equally sensitise the Zambian people to guard our justice system jealously and ensure that it
is not compromised for political gain.
3. We are devising several strategies to involve the Zambians who want to make a contribution
to cleaning up this country of corruption and other malpractices. For a start, we shall adopt some
of the strategies which worked very well during the anti-third term campaign including honking and
whistling to show support for the calls for the appeal and fight the ugly spectacle of corruption that
this country is witnessing. We call upon all Zambians who love this country and are worried about
corruption to wear black and honk or whistle every Friday at 17:00 hours for 10 minutes. We call
upon all Ministers and Senior Government officials who hate corruption to join in this campaign.
We stopped Dr. Chiluba from going for a Third Term, we are determined to use the same system
to advocate for this appeal to be heard. This is not about causing anarchy as Government would
want the people to believe, this is a fight for justice.
9. CONCLUSION
This entire case is a clear testimony of the current Governments lack of political will to fight
corruption. The lack of political will has unfortunately exerted a lot of pressure on our judiciary to
start making political instead of legal judgements. We want Zambia to have one land, one nation,
and one law which is our cry and not two laws one for the poor and another for the rich and
powerful.
God Bless Zambia and we thank you all.
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Those in support of the aquital should also demonstrate every friday at the same time the civil societies will be demonstrating so that both sides of the story can be heard. There is no Judgement in this world that impresses both parties, there will always be a winner and a looser. NGOs founded to fight AIDS without medicine but lobbying should not claim to represent the people of zambia because (i) they are not elected by a wide spectrum of citizens and do not have a constituency (ii)not everyone is interested in chiluba (iii) not everyone is agrieved by the judgement because infact a lot of people are happy that the investigation that gobbled $40m in persuit of $500,000 is over.
Excellent effort, you have my support.
Yaba yaba yaba yaba!! This is the definition of elo lwanya!!! Tie nayo bola. Is the heart problem goig to resurface? Let us wait and see. I cant wait to hoot on Friday. Hooting njikata!!!
This is good…Go Zed Go Zed. No one will pull out our your mess but Zedians themselves!
This is good. These NGOs should have done this when they first saw that DPP was delaying in making an appeal. The appeal period has since elapsed. So what is next? LAZ also are just another piece of SH!T. I’m worried with our friends who hold office of advantage in these NGOs. What does the law say on cases like for FTJ? ”Any public officer” meaning that even some Headmaster from some school could have appealed. Even NGos leaders could have appealed. Why wait until the time of appealing is over and you ask us to make noise even here in Kaputa. This is nosense. Bamakaka mwalitumpa
This is all hogwash by highly fixated people struggling to capture tabloids front pages with nothing substatial. Very irrational and as always wastefully with wrong approach.
Absolute nonsence!That is why these so called NGOs should be clamped on!
They have nothing substantial. The same people saying the justice system is rotten are the ones rumbling for an appeal in before the same justice. If they lose it, they not stop either to vent senselessly.
Suppose FTJ was convicted! What was Simeza nad Sangwa going to do? Appeal,eh? That appeal should have been allowed. No Maxwell Nkole is on the street becoz of wanting to do the correct thing. LAZ, what about SIMEZA nad SANGWA, are they good LAWYERS to have secured an aquittal? lol. Who should be investigated here, Nchito for wanting to appeal or Sangwa and Simeza for coniving with the GRZ and judiciary? Sh!t again
Garbage in garbage out.
Senior Citizen just keep your SHUSHU opinions to yourself!
Forcing a different judgement other than the adjudication of the learned justice that has presided over a a case that has failed to materilize for over 8 years is not only abuse of justice, human rights but wastage human resources and tax payers money.How many cases have these chaps forced their own judgement? If you are not ready to take the court verdict, then why go before the courts?
Viva CSOs!!!
Senior citizen go to hell!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is undisputed that Chiluba was never acquitted. There is no court in the worl give the same facts that would acquitt Chiluba. Chiluba was given a pardon by RB. That why there will be no appeal… An acquittal calls for an appeal as the next course of action. However, a pardon has no recourse one its entered. The govt of RB is failing to inform the nation that this is what they have done as they know very well their political fortunes will evaporate immediately
We have a govt that is protecting criminals and not serving the interests of its citizens. The Judiciary has been hijacked by some thugs. At least this effort may help to restore the constitution.
Chiluba nikabwalala, cage the thief! We are in support of justice and Lazo’s like FTJ should be seen behind bars! Even me here where i am, i will be hooting every friday and other Zambians all over the world should be doing the same every friday… We are tired of Lazo’s leading our country! Rupiah is another Lazo, today is Chiluba, tomorrow is him… He said it himself, Mwaanya!!!
It’s a pity and a shame that Zambian justice can start protecting thieves, who will protect victims?
the games have begun. using money from donors these people are blind to the fact that when war erupts no donor will come and save them. total rubbish with no substance.
what about the money taskforce gave back to moses katumbi and which Levy supported?
you guys who think FTj is innocent should read the entire London judgement and you will be amazed at what you will discover! I have read the whole 191 pages of the report and it sounds like fiction on its facts.
fellow zambians those that are trully honest to themselves dont you think its time we consined the whole chiluba issue to the dusterbin of history we have been at it for so many years some of us are really tired of the circus and its realy becoming the least intresting issue of the day i believe they are more important issue we can address as a nation such as ways of improving the economy for the betterment of all zambians
Only a foolish Government will listen to paid agents of foreign counter intelligence sponsored good for nothing NGOs. How many Zambians have benefitted from these organizations that assembled at this meeting today? Nobody!!! But they speak as if indeed they represent the majority of us Zambians. Some of these are one man bandwagons. This country is better off without NGOs such as these. If it was during Kaunda some of these would have gone “By Air” as we speak! Silly chaps. How do you totally misrepresent the ruling like this?
Some of these chaps don’t know that what happened to President Jacob Zuma was exactly the same as here? The whole thing was planned by the Donors and that’s why they signed the MOU with Mwanawasa to jail Chiluba for a few pieces of silver. I challenge them to demonstrate the same way and force George Kunda to reveal the whole MOU to the Zambians otherwise it’s a none starter. Let’s forget the reasons given by Judge Phiri that it will spoil the relations with the donors. What she meant to say was it was going to embarrass the Donors’. Zambians would have known this corruption fight was nothing but a plot by foreign agents. I really challenge the NGOs to force Rupiah to disclose the full contents of the MOU that was signed by Mwanawasa, Magande, the Task Force and Donors before they go on to make fools of themselves. Let them go ahead with the Friday honking and if the Kaponyas break their windows they should not blame the police. It was different under then third term…
Lets protect our beautiful country guys. Support this cause, because our judiciary and our government are rotten, our leaders have absolutely taken us for granted, it hurts. But WE have the power!!
I PROPOSE HONKING NOT ONLY ON FRIDAYS BUT EVERY DAY AT 1300HRS CONSIDERING THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS MATTER. CSOs CONSIDER PUTTING ADVERTS IN ALL MEDIA SO THAT HONKS COULD BE HEARD!
Crucify Him! Crucify Him!
“His blood be upon us – and upon our children”
- Matthew 27:25 -
The Post Newspapers Limited likes the Holy Bible verses. We bring a repeat of Mathew 27:25 to them. We notice also at this NGO meeting were some Church groups. These modern day Zambian Pharisees first exerted great efforts to sabotage the fair trial of Chiluba and all his officers in the alleged corruption committed in his ten year rule. Later, they interfered with the trial magistrates, even the one who has now acquitted Chiluba, using the donor community who tied their aid to a selective anti-corruption fight and how it had to be won by signing an MOU. All their efforts, however, have now been in vain, thank God. “Chiluba” was acquitted.
Why have these Pharisees, whom our Lord Jesus Christ called “sons of vipers”, gone through such extraordinary efforts to destroy what was most certainly to become one of the “classical 10 year Presidential term” of all time? Why would modern day Zambian Pharisees risk being further exposed to the world at a time when they are already under public scrutiny for their criminal actions in the country?
The answers are all in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, especially in the 4 Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and in an extraordinary but little known sacred document written by a German holy woman named St. Anne Catherine Emmerich. The meditations and sacred visions of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich are outlined in a document titled “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”. Even Mel Gibson based his box office bursting film “The Passion of Christ” on the 4 Gospels and on what many Christians consider the 5th Gospel by Anne.
There is no question that we are living in extremely dangerous times when every day is lived under great apprehension and fear of the next devastating Post Newspaper editorial terrorist act. There is no question that Zambia is also rapidly falling into a moral sewer as demonstrated by what is increasingly being shown on prime time television, the Post Newspaper obscene pictures, on Hollywood movies and on Digital pay Television signals. There is no question that even some of the principal Christian denominations have been infiltrated by agents of evil as demonstrated by the consecration of a sodomite bishop by the Episcopalians, the protection of pedophile priests by the Catholic Church and now the efforts underway by some churches to consecrate holy marriages between sodomites. See also the Zambia Watchdog: http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/sexualminorities/Zambia040509.pdf
What many people don’t see, however, is that the present sad circumstances we live under are all the consequences of the evil actions of the modern day Pharisees as it was during Jesus Christ’s time. Today, there are only a few human beings who are struggling against what Jesus struggled against 2000 years ago in the Holy Land. Today, the Pharisees are still crucifying people as they are doing to the Palestinians and as they attempted to do to Chiluba and his ten year rule administration.
Just like the Pharisees led by Caiphas, their High Priest of the Temple, conspired against Jesus to have him put to death as they conspire against many good people today. The Pharisees in the time of Jesus, as it is today, did not like the Son of God to point out their sins. The Jewish priests Annas and Caiphas through their kangaroo court, the Sanhedrin, brought forth trumped up charges against Jesus in order to convince the Roman Magistrate Pontius Pilate to issue an order to crucify Jesus. They accused and brought forth false witnesses that Jesus was a rebel planning an insurrection against Rome. They also accused Jesus of espousing the non-payment of taxes to the Roman Empire.
All these accusations were false and the real reason that the Jews wanted Jesus crucified was because they hated him. The Pharisees wanted to continue living their sinful and perverted lives, as today’s Pharisees are doing, and Jesus was a very heavy weight on their conscious. Most serious of all to the Pharisees, Jesus claimed to be the much awaited Messiah that was prophesied in the Torah by their prophets. Their sins blinded them to the truth. Not even the many miracles that Jesus performed throughout the Holy Land convinced the Pharisees that Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the true Son of God.
The Zambian Pharisees today fear that Chiluba’s acquittal will unveil the truth about who really was responsible for the gruesome torture and jailing of innocent citizens during the 7 years of Mwanawasa’s rule even when Mwanawasa himself was not in favor of these executions. Just like President Rupiah Banda has refused to inherit the hatred these Zambian Pharisees have for Chiluba. Just like Pontius Pilate wanted to spare the life of Jesus but the Jews would not allow it.
Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” But they insisted, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee even to this place.” But when Pilate heard Galilee mentioned, he asked if the man was a Galilean. When he found out that he was in Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.
Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him. He questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers. The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate.
When Pilate gave the Jewish High Priest and the mob of Pharisees a choice whether to release the criminal Barabbas or Jesus, they all yelled “Release Barabbas!” Pilate then asked the Jews what he should do with Jesus and they all yelled in unison, “Crucify him! Crucify Him!” The Roman Pontius Pilate said “I wash my hands” of the murder of Jesus and the Jews then yelled “His blood be upon us, and upon our children “.
Now, if neither Herod nor Pilate found anything worthy of death to convict Jesus, why then was he sentenced to death? The last utterance by the Jews, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children” has been a curse upon them for 2000 years. They have wondered the earth never finding a true home. They have been expelled by scores of host countries after the nations grew tired of putting up with their evil and sinful ways and their corruption of local cultures.
Today, in Zambia, there are very few newspapers that “uplift the spirit”, primarily because these very same Pharisees hold a monopoly on all aspects of newspaper production, marketing and distribution. We Christians can change this. We can do this by primarily “boycotting” the decadent newspapers and magazines that are coming out with hate and by supporting independent electronic and print newspapers.
God bless the present and all our past Presidents!
Am with other patritic Zambians on this one. I have no car but i will buy a whistle and blow on Friday
Only us Zambians can save the country. Its true some people are in this just for money. But the cause is good and there are quite some who are genuine. Viva civil scoiety
Dull chaps like chabwelakumanda always want to paint a picture that bloggers have no critical minds.In his postings, hes trying to mislead us that there was a memorandum of understanding between donors and the mwanawasa government to prosecute chiluba.I n addition, in his ignornce he compares the aquital of President Jacob Zuma to that of FTJ. To start with, I want to address the issue of the MOU.Why should Rupiah or George wait for people to demonstrate for them to release the MOU if at all it exists_They are very much free to release it and use it to their advantage if they can. The other point is that whether there was an MOU or not, does it take away from the fact that Chiluba stole with impunity as seen from all the evidence submitted during his trial_ the answer is a categorical no. Chiluba stole and deserves to face the due process of the law and no amount of propaganda from from corrupt chaps like chibwerakumanda will derail the course of justice. Through their corrupt actions, Government may delay the wheels of a revolution but the ll definatly not stop it. Attempts to compare chiluba\s theft to the charges Zuma was facing are absurd to say the least. For Zuma, he was cleared by the courts at the time he was not in government and state machinery was against him.This shows that the judiciary in South Africa is free from government interferance as they are capable of making decisions against the governt in power. For Chiluba it is clear for even a grade one pupil that his aquital was orchestrated by Rupiah as evidenced from the remarks by not so honorable Mulongoti and rantings made by Rupiah himself and other government officials during and after the aquital process. For Chibwerakumanda u can continue defending wrong things since thats your livelihood but you wont manage to mislead us…shame on you!!!
Mr. Chief Justice Sakala please note:
1.0 Judge Phiri refused to release the MOU in the matter brought before her challenging the legality of the Task Force. Hon. Attorney General Malila gave the reason that it would spoil the relatioship with Donors.
2.0. Zuma was Vice President when he was fired by Mbeki. It was latter found out by courts that Mbeki did actually interfear with the prosecution and was one of the reasons for his acquital.
3.0 If you dont know this, then am afraid iI cant help you out any further but argue you to update yourself with world events rather than mere criticizing my “dull” opinion which I dont say you should take by the way. Very few bother about whats going on anyway so whay bother….
Instead of thinking ways of creating wealth and an ownership society they are busy digging themselves into more poverty, hopelessness and bitterness only rewarding them heart attacks for no foreseeable gain.Chiluba has been in the dock for 8 years straight yet nothing of substance has been proven but wastage of over ZK20 billion tax money gone into lawyers’ pockets and their accomplices.
Is this nonsense going to given them votes, food, send their children to better schools, create jobs or lift their standards? Certainly No! They will go out barking aimlessly the whole day or week then get back in homes where there is no food because they will have spent their productive time barking in the streets for Sata, Zuka, Mmembe fighting for his ZA and their other foreign sponsors while the same sponsors are in AC powered SUVs, Homes and offices poor Joe will return home where the same crisis await a solution.
The same losers have said the Zambian justice system can not deliver their wish because they refuse to share the hatred in these fanatics. Then what do they want from the same justice system you say is corrupt? No wisdom but contradicting selves daily.
Iwe ci Senior Citizen shut it, your reasoning is always twisted and biased towards Lazos
Senior citizen is panicking. go civil society go. We shall win and very soon
Chibwerakumanda what you are saying has no iota of truth in it and you know that.Stop misleading the people. You know very well that if Kunda and RB had anything tangible to make them gain political capital, they would have done that with or without judge phiris order. But the fact that they are just rambling means that all of you in the pro aquital camp are just bluffing.Mind you, I also stated that whether the MOU exists or not the fact is that chiluba stole and even monkeys know that. Surely, why should u sell your reasoning over few pieces of silver_ repent and start doing what is right. Deep down your heart of hearts you know that you are just spreading propaganda on behalf of your masters. For Zumas case, Mbeki was president and had all state machinery and yet Zuma won the cases. The point here is independence of the judiciary which is not there in Zambia.Lastly, you can not tell me to aquaint myself with world affairs when I have been doing this from the time I stopped sucking from my mothers breasts.By the way, information technology, the world is just a keybody away from me. Stop bootliking and reclaim your soul. You can still be useful to society.
“The point here is independence of the judiciary which is not there in Zambia”.
These are the contradictions we talk about.If the Courts are not independent then why waste your time before the same courts in appeals? Why did you have to drag someone for 8 straight years and still want to waste more of his time as if you are just a legion of sadists with nothing to do? Are you going to tell the judge to rule in your favor otherwise the the justice is not independent? If you don’t believe in our court system why do rush to the same courts every time you have misgivings? Answer these simple questions.
All of us should ignore senior citizen’ s rantings. Remember you are putting your opinions here but for him, he is on duty. So whenever there is a comment from him,just skip it.
Come friday ia m honking. Life is back in the country. Lets get the thieves to prison. Viva NGOs. You spoke for us
Senior bootlicker, do not forget that your god chiluba always found ways of dodging court hearings hence the eight long years.
The whole panic is with hope of influencing the Kasaka and Solwzi bye-elections .All such poor strategies are out of protruding ignorance that the ruling party is in a long prepared overdrive. Come what may, the ruling party is very much ahead of these sole losers and is prepared to the core for a shuttering end of all these circus tribal parties heavily indebted to foreign voices. They are a legion without national interest at heart but power and taking foreign orders in pledge of making Zambia ungovernable.Little do they know that instead they will make themselves ungovernable from the word go and not Zambians.
I agree entirely with Senior Citizen and Chabwerakumanda or whatever. By the way I am told Chabwerakumanda means “coming back from the grave”. May I ask you sir, did you by any chance have a chance to meet with our late President by or he had not yet arrived since he was buried in a luxurious grave at Cabinet Office and by the time you were coming back he had not yet arrived since he had also to wait for the memorial to take place then only did he start off?
True the NGOs have been hit hard by the credit crunch! The foreign intelligence agents they represent are indeed telling them to earn their living and the only way they can do it is by honking then they will write 1000 page reports with photos on how the demonstrations against Chiluba’s acquittal have worked. But this time they will fail because on the same days we shall also organize demonstrations against the Donors by holding meetings on their door steps one a week after another going from one Embassy to another.Even beating up stupid High Commissioners like this british Home something and even beat up this ka father Bwalya.
We shall also call in the Kenyan Government, Mugabe, Kaddafi and Kagame, North Korean President, Chinese, Russian, Nigerian and all the brave world leaders to speak to us at Mulungushi Hall denouncing the donor interference in African countries. After this we shall go after each one of the NGOs who has been given money by donors and demand TO SEE THE ACCOUNTS and if they don’t produce them we beat them up for receiving money believed to be stolen. Silly Chaps!!!.. we shall say to them. Bakabwalala… Mwembushi ba kolwe mwe. We also have the means to destabilize these NGOs we shall see who wins in the end… Bakolwe mwe…Enough is enough…. We don’t need to hold meetings but we challenge you to go ahead and Honk on Friday but make sure your car insurance has full riot cover!!!Stupid Idiots!!!
stop callin yourself chief justice sakala and use your real name.why are you abusing some else is name,if u want to be a chief justice you are free but you are not free to abuse his name.
Manchester Zambians you have no right to tell me which name to use.Mind your business or c ontribute on the issue at hand instead of concerning yourself with trivial issues.Everyone knows that cief justice sakala is my real name so why care
Who’s this Chief Justice something who doesent know that Jacob Zuma was only acquitted after Thabo Mbeki lost the ANC Presidency at Palebekwane and Jacob Zuma took over? He is the only one who doesent know there is an MOU signed in zmabia as well Must be relative to Godfrey Mwamba or Given Lubinda because even Hakainde Hachilema knows this very well of course we dont expect Mr. Sata to have a clue of whats going on…what a shame!!!
Ci Senior Citizen
You don’t need to change your ID( to Mike Tyson Mulenga) in order for you to post insults here. If you look at your support base compared to other political parties you be will be outnumbered so don’t tempt PF/UPND commander in chief to declare war with you because it would be vicious making Rwandan case kids picnic. So my advice is, instead of preaching violence iwe ci Senior Citizen allow people to demostrate peacefully.
mala msana wanzili,
This Zambian Watchdog and not LT times where you mutate and insult people.You will be banned here.Every entry is monitored.You post as Tyson then you try to dress it on SC whom we all know doesn’t insult.You don’t bring LT thuggery here you risk being banned.
mala msana wanzili Please I dont know who this Mr. Senior Citizen is but I think he shares my views on most points he comments on. If you are of a different opinion please hold on to that opinion…its yours and yours only. If I insult its because this thing called NGO is really dangerous to me for I know how easy it is to manipulate broke NGOs who rely on Donor handouts. There has never been something called a “Free Lunch” as you know. If you dont now you do. If these NGOs were self sponsored I would perhaps say okay…LOOK at the Education Post for exanmple how much do the Norwagians spend on it? And how many Zambian kids benefit from it? We are not fools.
Editor,
For the integrity of ZWD kindly block this IP abusing Chief Justice Sakala’s name.You know i say so.And any one insulting others please ban them to preserve the standards here.This is the only Zambia blog that has survived the kaponya littering of insults.Please it for intellectuals keen to debate issues and not personality.
KUKU is that you dressing me down like that, we have exchanged comments for a very long time and if you’re honest you will have to apologize because i have never insulted you neither here nor LT unless you’ve since learnt ubufi bwakunya from RB. Just wondering where this culture of telling lies without flinching even a bit has come from, using lies like chocolate spread without shame.
Manchester Zambians are you Chief Justice Sakala’s son who lives in Manchester?
Senior Citizen why do you always post crap?
Kuku that belongs to the 50s but I won`t be surprised if it`s there up to now in Africa though!
All said and done, justice must prevail. Let the appeal go ahead even upto the supreme court and if Chiluba is aquited even there,then we shall accept the outcome though we know that he is a robber.
Chiluba should give back what he stole
Chiluba is a thief who has no morals, please jail this Lazo! No special prison room should be made for him as Mulongoti would like… As for Senior Citizen, the chap is another useless soul, don’t mind him… He will defend every shit as long as Rupiah is in support of that shit! The guy is a puppet of this corrupt government of Rupiah, he will defend anything wrong even though he knows it’s wrong… WE CAN’T WAIT FOR FRIDAY!!! HONKING GUYS…
we are ready to honk. thieves have taken over the affairs of our country
the person calling himself chief justice sakala is a wastage of space and am sure you have nothing better to do and you are tryin to be popular by usin the chief justice is name,i will make sure i take you own.