PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema on Monday defended his call for plunderers of public resources to surrender the loot and avoid going to prison, saying this is a law that he found and there is nothing wrong with it. When asked if it was fair that petty thieves are locked up for many years while perpetrators of grand corruption are not punished fully, the President said this was okay as long as it is supported by law.

All we can say is that Monday April 25, 2022 was a sad day for the Anti-Corruption fight in Zambia. To say plunderers who took away public resources should just surrender their wealth and be set free is not only wrong but encouraging graft. We cannot believe that President Hakainde Hichilema is taking this path in the fight against corruption.

How do you explain the fact that because someone stole money, people died as there was no medicine in hospitals? How do you explain the fact that because you stole money some children missed school? You may celebrate that you have recovered money and you have sent children to school, but what about those children who have remained behind because an opportunity passed them? What about those who have remained poor because some idiot took the money, what is the justice for them?

It’s like His Excellency the President went to State House with a Messiah syndrome. We need to remind him that he is not the messiah and the sooner he realizes that the better for everyone. Something tells us that our president wants to go down in history as he who forgave sins and showed love to oppressors. But what he doesn’t realise is that the crimes and oppression were not done on him alone. It’s not like the PF thieves were stealing cattle from his farm, this is public resources we are talking about and it’s not up to him to grant amnesty. In fact, we don’t see the difference between him and the DPP who has offered immunity to a suspect. There is no difference, both are trying to be messiahs. They are trying to please someone.

The people are asking you; how fair is it that those who stole millions of taxpayer’s money are given an option to stay out of prison while chicken stealers and those who defamed the President are left to pay the full price? You cannot say we found the law and it must be followed even if we don’t agree with it. That is wrong. In the first place, it creates an impression that this is the only option you have. The law does not say that when you catch a thief then you must set them free as long as they surrender the proceeds of crime. The normal procedure is for the suspects to be prosecuted, this amnesty thing that the UPND government is trying to push for is not the traditional way of dealing with crimes.

We heard the President say that if it was up to him, he would have preferred that people are made to surrender the proceeds of crime but still be sent to prison. Ah! What is happening to our President? That’s what the law demands. The law is there. Where was he when Austin Liato was arrested and prosecuted? Doesn’t our President remember that in that case, Liato’s farm together with the maize he had planted and the ‘K2 billion’ that was found buried had to be forfeited to the State before the man was sent to prison? Up to now, no one knows where Liato got that money from, but the fact that he failed to explain the source, it had to be taken away and he was made to serve a jail sentence until the people he is forgiving today took him out. This is how bad the picture he is painting, the President is showing us that he hasn’t been following these issues very closely.

When we replay the President’s address and listen again attentively, we get the feeling that we have a leadership that does not consider corruption to be a crime really. They don’t think corruption is so much of a big deal. The fact that corruption is a ‘victimless’ crime seems to give them impetus to treat it casually. The fact that there is no complainant when someone takes a bribe to award an illegal tender doesn’t seem to unsettle the UPND government. This is very worrisome and it tells a story that we have a leadership that doesn’t fully understand the complexity of corruption.

The President’s attitude which he showed at the press conference on Monday is a worry for every Zambian who is concerned about corruption. It showed that he does not understand how big the problem before him is and how it affects Zambians, he thinks this is something that can be resolved through a boardroom agreement. We were able to notice the sarcasm when the President was asking citizens if they want him to lock up people without trial.

We were holding our mouths when we heard the President ask citizens what they expected him to do with his Foreign Affairs minister whom he said had explained the contents of an envelope he received from Sinoma company. We don’t even know if the President understands that when you defend your ministers publicly in that manner it gives them confidence that the Head of State has their back even when they have done something wrong.

One would have expected the President to say that he had ordered an investigation in the matter and was expecting a report on the issue. How do you expect the accused minister to admit that he took a bribe? Has that ever happened anywhere? You are not the investigator and therefore it is wrong to even ask the minister for an explanation without asking the law enforcement wings to conduct an independent investigation. Even if Minister Stanley Kakubo did collect a bribe from Sinoma, the President has now laundered him and declared him clean. So this means the investigative wings are not expected to find evidence to the contrary as that may embarrass the president. Is that how we are going to fight corruption in the New Dawn?

The President cannot be a judge and jury, he is not qualified to investigate what his ministers do during and outside office hours. Unless he was also part of a clandestine move and he is the one who sent the Foreign Affairs Minister to undertake a shady deal, it should concern him that there was a diplomatic car for the Chinese Ambassador at the location. Has he asked the minister to explain what was discussed with the Chinese Diplomat? Is that a non-issue to President Hichilema?

It is sad that we are back to a President who tells citizens, when confronted by a situation affecting one of his beloved ministers, that “whoever has evidence must bring it”. One would have thought we last heard that from Mr Edgar Lungu whose agenda to protect criminals was well known. To hear this language from a New Dawn president is simply discouraging. In fact, the president should not be surprised when he sees that no one reports any more scandals involving his ministers because his conduct has scared away whistleblowers. No one wants to be victimised by perpetrators of corruption who appear to have an extension of the president’s immunity.