Fourth Republican president Rupiah Banda is being blocked by immigrations officers at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport from travelling to South Africa to attend the 2013 African Presidential Roundtable conference despite a court order.
This is the second time Zambian immigration officers under the instructions from President Michael Sata, his business associate and chief propagandist Fred M’membe and Director of Public Prosecutions Mutembo Nchito are disregarding a court order on Rupiah’s travel.
Sources at the KKIA have told Zambia Reports that junior immigration officers have told Rupiah and his delegation that he will not be allowed to travel for the conference which he was supposed to attend starting on Tuesday.
The information supplied confirms that the Chief Immigration officer ordered his juniors at the airport not to permit Rupiah to travel for the conference.
When the junior immigration officers were shown the court order issued by High Court judge in charge Jane Kabuku yesterday, they refused to admit the document referring all queries to their seniors whose instructions they are firmly implementing.
The Boston University African Presidential Centre, organisers of the South Africa meeting, re-booked the former head of State on this morning’s South African Airways flight departing Lusaka at 07:15 hours. It is unclear whether Rupiah will be allowed to fly out as the plane is expected to take off soon.
On April 9, 2013 the cartel controlling President Sata defied a magistrate court order to allow Rupiah attend the inauguration of Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta as President. Rupiah’s passport has been held by the government’s investigative wing led by Mutembo Nchito as DPP after he was charged with corruption during his tenure in office.
There have been manouvers to block him from travelling to South Africa and today’s trip was delayed from Tuesday to today after the passport was released yesterday prompting organisers to change their schedule at the meeting.
President Banda’s slot at the Roundtable was moved to today and is, among other things, expected to moderate in session-two under the subject “Making Government Work”, whose discussant will be former Mauritius President, His Excellency Karl Auguste Offmann.
Other notable personalities attending the African Presidential; Roundtable are former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga and Martin Luther King Jnr, a professor of ethical leadership at Boston University.
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