In a year that has been highlighted by weakening judicial independence in Zambia, today another blow to the legal system came as the Director of Public Prosecutions Mutembo Nchito intervened to take over a criminal case against his former business partner and editor of the Post newspaper, Fred M’membe, to whom he is also serving as defence counsel.
M’membe was brought to court on 19 criminal complaints of contempt by former President Rupiah Banda, who alleges that the defendant sought to influence open court proceedings through unfounded prejudicial statements on his character in the newspaper.
One of the editorials cited in the complaint ran under the headline “What is Rupiah afraid of,” contains defamatory language such as “Rupiah knows very well that he is not innocent, he is not clean where matters of corruption are concerned” – despite ongoing court proceedings and the absence of any finding to date.
Today when the former president arrived to court with his legal team, Fred M’membe arrived with his lawyers from Nchito & Nchito Practitioners, and promptly announced that the DPP would be taking over the case.
Speaking with Zambian Watchdog, Douglas Syakalima commented: “We are all suspicious that Nchito should decide to take over the case of Fred M’membe who has privately been sued by President Banda for contempt of court. Nchito is the lead prosecutor in President Banda’s alleged corruption case and he now wants to prosecute his own friend so that he can quickly enter a nolle prosequi.”
Nchito’s intervention to take over a case in which his law firm is a party is just the most recent conflict of interest to surface in Zambia, where many experts note a determined push from the Patriotic Front government to gain control of the judiciary.
Following the 2011 election, the PF submitted complaints to contest every legislative seat they lost to the MMD, and thus far have been successful in forcing some 20 by-elections through the courts to gain a strong majority. Supreme Court Justice Lombe Chibesakunda, who is a relative of President Sata, has not been retired despite exceeding the maximum age. Under her stewardship, the Supreme Court has passed a highly controversial ruling allowing the government to form judicial review commissions, essentially granting them powers to remove inconvenient judges, drastically weakening security of tenure. Other private business cases among foreign investors have been heavily skewed, such as the collection of K14 billion debt from Nchito and M’membe, as well as the alleged corporate raiding of Zambezi Portland Cement (ZPC) by businessman Rajan Mahtani, a key financier of the ruling party.
Experts say that although civil society movements have petitioned the government to grant the judiciary greater independence, the current administration appears to be tightening its grip over national institutions in a trend that bodes ill for the future of Zambia’s democracy.
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