Africa-Press – Zambia. Patriotic Front Presidential Candidate, Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba, called on the Supreme Court to vacate its recent judgement to jail former Finance Minister, Dr. Katele Kalumba, and three others, due to the fact that the judges involved should have recused themselves from the case.
In a statement, Amb. Mwamba stated that the judgement was a great injustice to the quartet, as the matter was heard by Supreme Court Judges that had previously handled these matters in junior positions. He pointed out that Chief Justice Dr. Mumba Malila, as Attorney General, had sued Dr. Frederick Chiluba, Faustin Kabwe, Aaron Chungu, and others in the London High Court over the same facts involving a security account, the ZAMTROP, held at the Zambia National Commercial Bank in London. Amb.Mwamba stated that Dr. Malila is on record as having provided regular guidance and counsel to the DPP on matters involving the prosecution and recovery of assets related to the ZAMTROP account.
In addition, Amb.Mwamba highlighted that Hon. Justice Jones Chinyama was the Magistrate who jailed Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu over similar facts as co-accused persons, while acquitting former President Dr. Frederick Chiluba. Amb.Mwamba argued that the proximity of the two judicial officers to the case was too close and they were too prejudiced to hear the appeal when it came to the Supreme Court.
Amb.Mwamba also revealed that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Lillian Fulata Shawa-Siyuni, had refused to support the prosecution of the case because of how it was founded and prosecuted by her predecessor, Mr. Mutembo Nchito, as public prosecutor and later as DPP. The DPP had submitted extensively that the case relied on allegations of corrupt practices and overpayment, but she submitted that there was no overpayment, as all witnesses disputed this fact as alleged in the earlier prosecution and conviction. In addition, the DPP submitted that the renumeration received by Katele Kalumba and Stella Chibanda from the Zambia Security Intelligence Services was due to their role as secret agents of the service, a matter that was never rebutted.
Amb.Mwamba argued that the attempt to provide judgement in corruption cases for political expediency or as a false boost to the anti-corruption drive was an act of grave injustice, as corruption cases should be won on merit, rather than being used as a weapon for political purposes. He called on the Chief Justice to vacate the judgement and constitute a fresh, independent hearing by other judges to grant the appeal case a fair and just hearing.
The four individuals at the center of this case were charged with offences related to corrupt practices under the Anti-Corruption Act no. 46 of 1996. Dr. Katele Kalumba was accused of receiving a bribe of £4,000 in order to expedite payments to two US-based companies that had security contracts with the Zambia Intelligence Security Services (ZISS). Stella Chibanda, as Director of External Resource Mobilization and later Permanent Secretary, received $28,000 and a farm as gratification for processing these payments through the Bank of Zambia and ZNCB London Branch to the two US companies. Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu, as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the non-banking financial institution Access Financial Services, held local accounts for the Zambia Security Intelligence Services that received some money from the ZAMTROP Account in London.
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