“HH Parley directive to judiciary attracts condemnation”

… Mundubile says the directive president Hichilema issues to the judiciary to not complete cases within 90 days and convict some accused is tantamount to interfering with the work of the judiciary

By Francis Maingaila

Lusaka (3-03-23 – Zambia24) – The opposition Patriotic Front (PF) has vehemently criticized and condemned the directive president Hakainde Hichilema to the judiciary not only to complete the criminal cases before courts within 90 days but also ensure that some individuals are convicted.
Leader of the opposition in the house Brain Mundubile told journalists at a media briefing that the directives to the judiciary are tantamount to interfering with the operation of the judiciary.
Mundubile said the judiciary is a completely independent body that forms the three arms of government which exist to provide checks and balances to the executive besides the legislature.
Mundubile not only advised the judiciary to ignore and reject the directive but also vowed the PF parliamentarian will not sit and watch the president continue harassing the judiciary as though it exists to serve its interests.
Additionally, Lukashya PF MP George Chisanga criticized the directives president Hichilema made while seated in the presidential seat.
Chisanga who is also a former Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) told journalists at the same media briefing that this statement issued while occupying the presidential office can easily be construed to be a policy statement designed at interfering with the other arms of the government.
He said there is no way the president can issue a careless statement that appears to be directive to the judiciary to conclude and convict a suspect over three months.
He regretted that the UPND has developed a system of governance that only seek to benefit members and not the general populace.
Chisanga also expresses concern about how the UPND is dealing with issues of governance from the time it formed the government about 18 months ago.
He advised the judiciary to conduct their duties with the independence they have as provided for in the Constitution.
He said order article 18, the judicial powers are drawn from the people and are answerable to the law.
He does not expect the judiciary to receive instructions either from the parliament or the president.
He expressed fear that the financial crime court was specifically formed to chase the former government leaders.
And parliamentary chief whip Steven Kampyongo regretted a series of scandals that have rocked the ruling UPND alliance government involving illegal sugilite mining in Luapula
Kampyongo told journalists at the same media briefing that the people championing the illegal mining are not only senior members of the ruling party but also presidential appointees are involved.
Kampyongo said the place where the illegal mining of sugilite is taking place is being safeguarded by the police and wondered how the mining could take place under the watch of the security agents.
He suspects people arrested for the same illegal mines are just a cover-up of bigger people holding high positions in government and the ruling party.
For example, Kampyongo wondered how junior police officers who were arrested from different jurisdictions were found escorting the precious mineral that was illegally mined.
He strongly believes that the junior officers are merely victims of false orders and suspect there are more people involved in the scandal.
While the youths are crying foul that they are denied the right to mine, Kampyongo regretted that there are senior people in the ruling party involved in illegal mining activities.
He observed that some of the people named in the scandal were not long time ago the victims of poverty and wondered where they got the money to invest in the mining sector.
He urged the police and other sister security agents including the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) to move in and establish the extent of the corruption scandals in the mining sector and ensure that all the culprits are brought to book.
Similarly, Honorable Kalobo Pavyumya wondered why the government has allowed the situation where exploration of sugilite is allowed without a proper authorization permit.
He observed that no one person has the license to explore sugilite in Luapula other than the explanation right for Manganese.
He said it not only accused the government of being unethical for the New Dawn Administration to allow junior persons in the government to be sacrificed for people holding senior positions but also allow illegality to take place in the country that is being headed by the government that promised to be ethical.
On the other, Cheembe constituency PF Member of Parliament Cliff Mpundu advised the government to stop issuing statements and begin to address the problems that had given birth to the scandal complaint.
Mpundu said talks with the Muombe mine owners where illegal sugilite exploration is taking place will not going help the situation.
He said the best thing the government can do is to legalize the operationalize the mines so that even the local people who are involved in illegal mine exploration can begin to benefit from the precious mineral in their area as opposed to the people not from stea being arrested for illegal exploration.
And Mpika PF MP Francis Kampyanga regretted the high cost of living the people of Zambia are subjected to live in under the UPND alliance government.
Kampyanga who reminded the UPND of any promises made during the election campaign said the UPND has lamentably failed to honor any of the promises made.
He advised the government to begin fulfilling the campaign promises to make life easier for the people.
He said the people of Zambia expected the government to reduce the cost of essential commodities and ensure that the cost of living becomes easier.
He advised the president to be in charge of the country and stop the blame game which has washed the country.
He strongly believes that even God is not happy with the UPND alliance government and the spontaneous scandals are a sign of God’s anger.
If the government has failed to actualize the much-acclaimed bailout package to benefit the people, Kapyanga advised, the government has to withdraw from the IMF bailout project which has brought so much suffering to the people of Zambia.
He disclosed that the protest coordinators across the country are on a stand to protect against the high living standards.
He said the UPND has lamentably failed to provide the people with the means to survive.
He said the PF will not allow the people to suffer in the manner they are suffering today under the UPND
He said it is against this backdrop that the PF youths remind the UPND alliance that it has failed through spontaneous protests.
He expressed concern that the people are suffering as can be evidenced by the people buying maize in little packs
He observed that national food security is threatened as arresting of the government’s failure to provide inputs on time.
Nakonde PF MP Lukas Mumba also regretted the high cost of living the people of Zambia are being subjected to
He said the ZESCO connection fees which were recently hiked have not soared the poor farmers in rural areas.
He also regretted the move by the government to restrict the number of bags of mealie meals one needs to buy.

He advised the government to stick to the promise it made to the people and ensure that the people begin to enjoy the fruits of voting for the UPND in the last elections
Chinsali MP Kalalwe Mukosa accused the new dawn administration of concealing the total value of the toll fee that the contractor will collect from Zambia.
He said the cost the government attributed to the cost of the Ndola duo courage way is not the actual cost.
He indicated that the government has illegally transferred the ownership of the Ndola Lusaka duo carriage to the contractor who will now begin to collect the proceeds from the toll gates for 25 years.
He observed that there are a lot of questionable effects the decision the government has attached to the construction of the Ndola Lusaka carriageways.
Meanwhile, Mundubile questioned president Hichilema’s to cancel the tender for the supply of fertilizer to the farming communities.
Mundubile suspect, the action which the president took to cancel the tender is with the view of coming up with the positive discrimination he said is highly questionable.
He advised the president to distance himself from such acts in the future because it provides a difficult position to the people tasked with the duty to supervise the ministry.
He observed in the past, there has been a questionable transaction of a similar nature where the president decided to keep quiet.
He wondered why the president has decided to take up the responsibility of canceling the transaction which he feels borders on the lives of the people that depend on agriculture.
He said the president should forgive the people that have a view that the cancellation of the tender is to facilitate the award of the tender to the UPND-friendly forces.
He advised the government to allow the awarding of tenders to deserving companies fairly.
He observed that in the recent past, the country has witnessed the firing of high-ranking government involved in serious scandals
He suspects these people may not necessarily be arrested but merely dismissed and will not go.
He expressed surprise that there has been no ful disclosure of the matter surrounding the sugilite saga.
He wanted to know who instructed the police officers to escort the tracks carrying sugilite to the point where they were intercepted.
He wondered why the police officer seconded to escort the illegally mined morals.
He feels these people that were fired were just sacrificed as a cover-up of the senior government and part officials.