We have followed the beef going on between Lusaka lawyer Lewis Mosho and Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Director General Mary Tshuma. What seems like a private conflict involving two professionals is in fact a national battle between good and evil.

Until last week when he laid out charges against Tshuma, we wondered what Mr Mosho had against the Financial Intelligence boss. Now, having read the charges, we can state that this is an unfair fight, which every Zambian must be concerned about. Bad and good are fighting for survival in this tale, and citizens must choose which side to stand for.

Mr Mosho, through his law firm has written a charge letter to Tshuma, notifying her that he will be privately prosecuting her for the crimes she committed in her previous employment at the Drug Enforcement Commission.

“Kindly refer to our letter dated 6th Ultimo which our client, Lewis Mosho, notified you of criminal proceedings against you for the offence of, inter alia, abuse of office and disobedience of statutory duty contrary to applicable laws. Our client states that following this notice, you deliberately commenced and have continued to interfere in the matter by holding and seeking to hold meetings using your current office and position for the purpose of shielding yourself from prosecution as well as securing sympathy thereof,” Mosho stated.

“We have instructions to inform you that the offences for which you are soon to be prosecuted relate to the period when you served at the Drug Enforcement Commission Anti-Money Laundry Investigations Unit (AMLIU), and not to the period while you are at the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).”

But Mosho claims that even in her current position at FIC, Tshuma has been abusing her office and committing various crimes, which apparently, are not of concern to him.

“It is our client’s humble advice to you that if the offences for which you shall be prosecuted relate to your conduct at FIC, he would have expressly referred you to a lot of public interest matters including; Your alleged concealing of official FIC laptop into wrong hands and your omission to report the same to the police, as well as your alleged simultaneous use of public funds instead of use of insurance policy to replace the same; Your alleged purchase of official vehicle of which value exceeds your contractual entitlement and specifications, including your alleged misleading of FIC Board for purpose thereof; Your alleged unbalanced business-class travel and unauthorized extension of use of such facility; Your alleged construction and acquisition of 7 bedroomed house within a year and two months without justified means,” stated Mosho.

Uuuuum Mr Mosho! Are you serious? Because this sounds laughable to us. If these are similar crimes Tshuma committed at DEC, then we have a fairly good person in charge of a very sensitive government institution. We can see that Mr Mosho is using a pair of binoculars to find dirt in Tshuma’s closet.

But this is an unfair fight. Mr Mosho is flexing his muscles on a woman whose hands are tied. He wants us to believe that he is really a brave man, but his opponent has no means of punching back. The Financial Intelligence Centre board has already informed us that the criminals who want to remove Tshuma from her position are panicking because their criminal activities are well documented in the Centre database.

It is for this reason that we demand the mandate for the Financial Intelligence Centre to name the people it investigates. Let Tshuma be authorised to, not only name the criminals, but also publish their illicit financial transactions. If Mr Mosho is among the criminals that the FIC is referring to, let the public know so that we can understand the background of this fight.

Why has Mr Mosho taken it upon himself to prosecute Tshuma in a case that the Director of Public Prosecutions has not taken interest in? In fact, Zambians need to know the position of the DPP on this matter. Why is madam Lillian Shawa Siyunyi not taking up the prosecution of Tshuma if indeed this is in the interest of the State? Why are you allowing Mosho to harass the head of such a sensitive government institution, while you watch? Why is Siyunyi not defending Tshuma and how come President Edgar Lungu is not concerned about this? We smell some collusion here.

We have seen this scheme before and we know very well how the drill works. First they find mercenaries and line them up with complaints against a government official they want to remove. Then they lay blanket charges which have not been investigated by any law enforcement wing, and finally they throw the accused in court – leaving the position vacant for them to find a puppet replacement.

This is what they did to Irene Lamba when she was acting head of the Anti Corruption Commission. You may ask; why hasn’t Mosho appealed against the subordinate court’s ruling that cleared Irene Lamba of the charges he laid against her? Why is it that Mosho is not interested in pursuing that matter further, now that Lamba is no longer in charge of ACC?

How come those who had cases against Mutembo Nchito have automatically ‘pardoned’ him now that he is out of the DPP’s office? Where is Mr Newton Ng’uni and his fellow aggrieved who demanded for the removal of Mutombo from office today? What have they benefitted from this? Nothing, because it’s never about the charges they raise against the individual, it’s always about the power and influence that the person has in a given position.

Mr Mosho has followed Tshuma at FIC because she holds a very sensitive position, if Tshuma was at home helping her husband with his pastoral work at Church, Mosho would have had no issue with her. Even now, when he succeeds in removing Tshuma from the FIC, which we are certain he will because there are more powerful people behind him, he will not pursue her any further.

We know how this “Beauty and the beast” story will end, and our only advise to Princess Tshuma is that before she leaves office, she must kiss the frog and reveal Mr Mosho’s true identity!