Zambia’s Attorney General Mumba Malila is convinced there is a strong case against fourth Republican president Rupiah Banda over the purchase of campaign materials such as lollipops and balloons which many widely view as political persecution by President Michael Sata and his team.
Malila, who was fired by Rupiah for unprofessionalism and leaking classified government informations to the Patriotic Front mouthpiece The Post Newspaper, has claimed the former head of state will get a fair trial when his corruption trial commences this week.
The case is being hurried by Fred M’membe, owner of compromised Post Newspaper, in compliance with his business partner and friend Mutembo Nchito – the director of public prosecutions.
M’membe and Nchito’s Zambian Airways collapsed during Banda’s reign due to poor financial management but the duo are bitter that they want to punish their sworn enemy who also exposed their financial impropriety with several financial institutions in the country.
M’membe and Nchito are leading a cartel that is holding current President Michael Sata to ransom. Nchito was even determined to start trial on the same day Rupiah appeared in court for mention last when but were only stopped by magistrate Joshua Banda.
In an interview with Voice of America, Mumba Malila defended the investigations and charges against Banda saying Zambian courts have demonstrated their independence.
The former president is accused of abusing his powers by procuring an oil contract with the Nigerian government meant for Zambia.
Malila said a head of state is given the trust by the people to do whatever is in the best interest of the citizens and not to make best deals for him.
“Our investigation has revealed that this was an oil deal with a Nigerian company in which he was involved and in which he didn’t perform quite to expectations as head of state. And so, we want to see if the court can make some guidance on it. We think, as [head of] government, that he may very well have abused his office contrary to the provisions of the Anti-Corruption act,” he said.
Malila said the government has also asked its investigators to look into lavish campaign spending of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) during the run up to 2011 election.
“The MMD ran a very lucrative campaign. They had all these branded balls, balloons and lollipops, motor vehicles and bicycles, those kinds of things coming in. Quite obviously, those things cost quite a lot of money, and we asked our investigators to look at the source of that funding, and it may appear as if, again, the monies were acquired in a manner that is less than honest,” Malila said.
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