FDD spokesperson Antonio Mwanza says the Constitutional Court’s ruling on ministers’ illegal stay in office is an academic exercise because it did not specify how much, or when they were supposed to pay.

And Mwanza says Attorney General Likando Kalaluka must resign on moral grounds for attempting to represent private individuals in a clearly decided matter.

In an interview yesterday, Mwanza observed that if the former ministers wanted, they could decide to be paying K1 per month.

“We welcome the decision by the Constitutional Court to make those ministers who were illegally occupying office to pay back the money that they owe the Zambian people. But we have also noted with serious concern the gaps in that judgment because that judgment was not instructive with regards to how much each of those former ministers should pay and when they should start paying and how much to pay in what installments, or what would happen if they default. The judgment did not give these directives. So as it is, that judgment will be rendered academic because none of those former ministers will be compelled to pay back because they will have to make up their own mind when to pay and how much, if they want they can even start paying K1 per week, per month per year it is up to them,” Mwanza said.

“So that is a serious gap that has been created by the ConCourt. It should have been very instructive because that is how a judgment should be but as it is, that’s an academic exercise and I bet that those former ministers will not pay. So for us as a party, we have asked our legal team to scrutinize this judgment and see how we can join in to ensure that those former ministers actually pay.”

He charged that the former ministers destroyed the fabric of good governance.

“Almost all of them who were ministers then were running for office as members of parliament and during that time, they had access to state machinery and they were giving illegal instructions to state institutions like ACC, the police and ECZ. So those ministers damaged the whole fabric of good governance and democracy because they were illegally holding office and illegally giving instructions to institution and the damage they have caused cannot be repaired. There are serious decisions that Cabinet undertook so what will happen to those decisions which were made by that bunch of ministers who were masquerading as Cabinet when they were not?” Mwanza asked.

And Mwanza said Kalaluka must resign on moral grounds.

“The Attorney General is a learned counsel. He understand very well that he is attorney for the state and not for individuals. For him to go and represent private individuals using state time, using government machinery and resources to go and represent individuals is serious gross misconduct on his part and the Attorney General must step down, that is our demand. There is no way that he can deliberately misguide himself to start representing private individuals when he knows very well that Constitutionally, that is not his mandate to be a lawyer for individuals in a private matter. He must step down,” said Mwanza.