IF only President Edgar Lungu acted with such lightning speed when firing corrupt ministers in his government, as he has acted on the obscene viral video involving the General Education Minister, Zambia would be a far better place to live in. The decision to fire Honourable David Mabumba over an obscene video looks reasonable from a distance, but when you look at the list of scandals involving other ministers that have been ignored by the appointing authority in the past, it raises a lot of pertinent questions.
Firstly, we must say that what has happened to the Honourable minister makes very sad reading. What is worse is that Honourable Mabumba stood out as one of the few reasonable and steadfast ministers in the PF government since the time of Michael Sata. If he made enemies during his time in office, it must be those whom he stopped from engaging in illegalities. So when great men fall, only the insensitive few take pleasure. We sympathise with the minister and we hope and pray that he will find the relevant strength to weather the storm and soldier on. In our view, he served government and the people dedicatedly and his scandalous departure from public service is unfortunate.
Now, this is not to say those who have remained are clean. There is nothing that Honourable Mabumba did that those who have remained in Cabinet don’t do. In fact, the reason he has been forced out is not because he was the only one doing this, but because they feel embarrassed that what they do in these public offices has been exposed. Issues of morality are a very sensitive topic, and there is not one person who can claim to be as clean or pure as an angel. Even the most holy go out of their way and find themselves falling short of the glory of God. It is human nature to make mistakes.
What has shocked us is that Honourable Mabumba has not been given a chance to face justice first. It has taken the President very few hours to make a decision of firing the minister and replacing him. It is almost as if the President didn’t like this minister for some reason and he was looking for an opportunity to get rid of him. We say this because other ministers who have been accused of committing more serious crimes against the people have received utmost protection from State House. Everyone else is innocent until proven guilty by the courts of law, but Honourable Mabumba has been sentenced without trial. Why?
The people are asking. Does it mean that only nudity is a crime in the PF government while corruption is not? Does it mean that only nudity is embarrassing to the President while theft of public funds is not? The government needs to come out clean on its justice agenda. It seems to us that the law is what the President says it is, not what is in the statutes, and this is very concerning. What is more damaging to the economy between corruption and obscenity?
From our point of view, that obscene video does very little or no damage at all to the economic prosperity of this country. Apart from injuring his own person and family, very few Zambians have remained affected by what can be described as the immoral conduct of the minister. But when you go to a hospital near you, there is no basic medicine. Even Panadol is out of stock because money meant for medical supplies has been diverted to private pockets. Companies that used to provide medicines to the government have stopped, because they are owned hundreds of millions.
The looting of public resources in these critical sectors is what is killing the economy, it is what has caused our country to be heavily indebted, not pornography. Sharing obscene materials is immoral, but stealing from the poor is tantamount to murder. Those who steal from the poor must be the focus for punitive measures, not those who engage in obscenity. There is nothing wrong in firing a minister who does what Honourable Mabumba did, but our issue is that the action smells of hypocrisy and lacks logic.
If you want to apply the law, it must be applied fairly. Even if producing obscene material is a criminal offence, Mabumba remains innocent until the courts of law prove him otherwise. He has the right to appear in court so that he can exculpate himself. It is wrong for the President to sentence him without trial. It is even worse that the President is protecting hard core criminals, while punishing those who engage in erotic entertainment.
6 responses
My bet is that Hon. Mabumba wanted a way out. Though embarrassing, that was the only quickest & sure way. Pray for him.
president Lungu “knows” the law very well. Remember how he interpreted it when ordering ministers to continue in office during the 2016 general elections? And the court ruled that he was wrong and the ministers must pay back what they stole. it’s only during PF reign that a sitting president (Sata) appeared before a subordinate court magistrate to answer questions! Thus the Mabumba dismissal should not surprise anyone.
Sad indeed. May the Lord save us from embarrassment here and also after our souls are judged.
It really surprises me that as Diggers the only corruption you see or write about is Health. I also mentioned this the other day. Even todays op Ed you had to mention health even if ot is a few lines almost like you have an agenda or you are paid to fight for someone.
Please expose corruption all over Government coz here ot seems corruption is only in Health. You are going a great service to us the common man but just do it with Honesty. You are our new Post newspaper but just don’t get sold out to serve the interest of individuals or companies.
Much as I don’t agree with ECL on a lot of things, why are you saying that the president is wrong to fire him? But on the other hand you say chitalu chilufya should have been fired? Yes I agree the double standard rule is bad
Stop trivializing pornography. Existing legislation in the country do not permit production and distribution of pornographic materials. Even in the free world (Euroland, N/America, Japan etc), the law is clearly in favor of protection of minors. Adult entertainment includes erotic, nudes and live show. The rejection is based on moral arguments, particularly the negative effects on the development of minors. Minors would imitate anything for the simple reason that they are still immature to avoid danger zone. The problem with adults started when they adult entertainment went public. Social media providers could not stop adults from going public. But consequences of publicity include stigma, ostracism and legal penalties.
Well, everyone has got his or her own opinions, definitely , mine will be differ from yours. For instance, the issue of corruption need investigations but absence material of Honorable Mambuba is a clear evidence which does not require investigations.