The article entitled “DPP Failing to Run His Office – Magistrate” hits the nail right on the head. Chief Resident Magistrate Joshua Banda is very right to instruct the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, Mutembo Nchito to show direction on the numerous cases he is pursuing before the courts of law.
Part of this article says, “Angered by the many cases that Nchito has not issued committal certificates, Lusaka Magistrate Joshua Banda directed his marshal Robby Lutele to write to the DPP to address the matter that has been burdening the court owing to the heavy load of politically motivated cases that Nchito and co have been forcing through the court process.”
It is very clear from this that even the court system is seeing through the machinations of President Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front, PF, administration. This speaks volumes of how the DPP’s office is now being perceived by the courts.
The DPP certainly has his priorities somewhere else. His interest is to see people like former president Rupiah Banda sent to prison that is why he simply has no time to look at cases like that of the murdered Hatamba Hambulo in which the people accused of mercilessly killing her have been appearing in court since being apprehended in January, 2013.
Issuing a committal certificate to the High Court is certainly not on Nchito’s priority list. He is more pre-occupied with settling old scores with people like Hon. Dora Siliya the Petauke Central Member of Parliament, freelance journalist Chanda Chimba, III and of course former president Rupiah Banda.
Apart from the Hambulo murder case not being committed to the High Court, there is also the long standing Ruth Mbandu case which has dragged on since last year, 2012, without being committed to the High Court. These two are what one would call high profile cases because of the continuous media coverage.
But then there are those cases throughout Zambia that go without such media spotlight. It is very certain that such cases my go on forever with accused persons being held in custody for long periods.
Remember Nchito told the Lucky Mulusa Parliamentary Select Committee that “the job of a prosecutor was a very challenging one and going into it with an agenda to settle scores would make it more complicated. He explained that if given the job, his guiding principle on every prosecution would be to follow the rule of law regardless of who was involved.”
But it is very clear that Nchito is using his position as DPP to deal with perceived opponents, that is his main agenda.
Nchito did a “donchi kubeba” on Mulusa’a Select Committee, Parliament and the entire Zambia so that he could be ratified. In spite of being reminded by several people and being asked to step aside for not recusing himself, especially over the Rupiah Banda case of abuse of authority of office which he is personally prosecuting, Nchito is proceeding as if he never told the Select Committee that he would recuse himself if such a thing happened.
So Magistrate Banda is very right, the DPP is failing to run his office and it is all too clear that his priorities are not to see justice dispensed on the likes of the Hambulo murder accused but to sort out Rupiah Banda and all those that associated with the former president. But the sooner he steps down the better so that even courts can have confidence in the DPP’S office.
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