STATE House says President Edgar Lungu will not fire Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya just because he has been accused of corruption.
According to a statement issued by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Isaac Chipampe, President Lungu said the minister is still innocent until proven otherwise.
“Despite being charged with criminal offenses, in this case, corruption allegations, Hon Chitalu is currently innocent until proven otherwise by the courts of law. This assumption is predicated on the principle of presumption of innocence which is enshrined in the Constitution of Zambia and is consistent with according to an accused fair trial. According to Article 18 (2) of the Zambia Constitution, every person who is charged with a criminal offense shall be presumed to be innocent until he or she is proved or pleads guilty. And since the Zambia Constitution, as stated in Article (1) overrides any other written law, or customary law, or customary practice, everyone must respect the presumption of innocence,” Chipampe stated.
Chipampe said the burden of proof was not on Dr Chilufya.
“Therefore, a mere allegation is not a conviction and it is not the duty of the accused to prove his innocence. The principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty by the courts of law is also enshrined in the African Charter on Human and people’s Rights and the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights,” stated Chipampe.
He stated that the Head of State respected the independence of the judiciary and would not interfere in its operations.
2 Responses
If what you are saying is true that the president respects the judiciary on whose behalf are you saying all that you have pointed out, is it not on the behalf of the president? It is, so he is involved and has made his point to the judicial.
Because in normal circumstances an suspect or accused holding a position such as Dr. Chilufya has, should be relieved of his position or if he is innocent to morally step down until he is cleared to then return to his position. That is transparency.
Birds of a feather always fly/flock together. There is a lot to hide and a lot to fear. The biggest fear is that if Chitalu is indicted, a lot of beans will soil. Therefore the only way to keep the beans tight is to protect Chitalu. The other thing here is that the judiciary will be heavily compromised on this case such that the outcome has already been written before the court hearing. All this is designed to protect Chitalu from further indictment by the new government in 2021.