shares a light moment with Deputy Board of Directors Chairperson
Professor Oliva Saasa (left) and Zambia Railways Managing Director
Professor Clive Chirwa
Former Zambia Railways Chief Executive Officer Clive Chirwa says appearing in court for three years has been horrific.
The Lusaka Magistrate on Monday acquitted Professor Chirwa for abuse of authority of office while his former Director of Finance Regina Mwale was convicted and will be sentenced on Tuesday Morning.
In an interview, Professor Chirwa said he sacrificed a lot to come and serve Zambia as a Good Samaritan but that he ended up being arrested for a crime he did not commit.
Professor Chirwa said, “It has been horrific, it has been three years of coming to court for something I believe it didn’t do and I have got the Director of Finance whom i believe didn’t do anything wrong.”
He added, “Anyway we will see about that. It is hard to come as a Good Samaritan to come and help and only to end up in this position. I will call up a news conference and I will elaborate, even though Ms Mwale did that, it wasn’t her fault because it was authorised by the PS, it is really sad that she has remained in there.”
Yesterday, Prof Clive Chirwa was acquitted of two counts of abuse of authority and failure to declare interest.
Professor Chirwa’s co-accused former ZRL director of Finance Regina Mwale was however convicted for authorizing payments for his (Prof Chirwa) accommodation at Fallsway Apartments which was above his threshold.
Magistrate Obister Musukwa in his more than two hours judgment set Prof Chirwa free saying the prosecution failed to prove
their case against him.
Mr Musukwa said there was no evidence directly linking Prof Chirwa to having instructed management at ZRL to make payments for his accommodation but Mwale authorized the payments in disregard of directives from the ZRL board.
Prof Chirwa ,60, was alleged to have between November 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 as Chief Executive officer ZRL recommended at the Zambia Railways Board meeting that his company, Clavel Incorporated Limited be engaged to train key Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) employees without disclosing interest.
Prof Chirwa together with Mwale, 51, was alleged to have abused the authority of their office.
They allegedly authorized payment of K289, 128.84 to Fallsway Apartments of Lusaka for accommodation for the benefit of Prof Chirwa without following laid down procedures an act which is prejudicial to the rights and interest of ZRL, a public office.
But Mr Musukwa said according to the evidence in his 76 paged judgments, there was no evidence linking Prof Chirwa to having directed ZRL management to make payments at Fallsway Apartment for his accommodation in disregard of the board.
Mr Musukwa however said that Mwale went against the directive of the board to make the payments instead of finding alternative accommodation for Prof Chirwa despite having been instructed by the board to refurbish Prof Chirwa’s house in Kabwe or find a cheaper accommodation in an event that the house was not ready.
“I am satisfied that A2 (Regina Mwale) abuse her authority and I therefore convict her accordingly” Mr Musukwa said.
He said that the court could not make an assumption that the fact that Prof Chirwa was CEO, he therefore instructed management to pay for his accommodation adding that the court had a duty to guide against wrong assumptions by the prosecution.
Mr Musukwa said it was for this reason that he was convicting Mwale because there was evidence to show that she made payments in disregard of the board’s directive.
How however noted that the payments for Prof Chirwa’s accommodation for a month were in excessive seeing the country’s economy.
On his failure to disclose interest, Mr Musukwa held that the prosecution failed to prove a case against Prof Chirwa because he only failed to disclose interest but no further action was taken regarding the same (he was not awarded the contract).
iwe mwana wakwitu, what sacrifice? if you keep talking about how much you lost by coming back home just shows how selfish you really are. what,do you want a cookie because you came home? very disappointing as always. our educated elite are our worst enemy. the educated have betrayed and let us down. What nonsense is this, you get educated and you go and marry a white person. such a traitor!!! if you married our african lady, that is one zambian woman lifted from the hardships. Imagine if you married someone from chawama. what difference would you have made to that person and family.
Give chirwa his passport, and let him be on his way to his white people. we dont want to hear this talk anymore of how much he has sacrificed for zambia. who paid for your studies in russia iwe? wasnt it the…
same taxpayer from chibolwa, kanyama, mtendere, kabulonga, nyimba? so they didnt sacrifice to have your arse trained in russia? insulent prick this chirwa is!!! go to UK, we dont need you and please dont ever come back nsan.ya iwe!!!!!
Our courts have no credibility, even with overwhelming information.
I don’t know if it is the prosecutors but even people with heinous crimes and n high standing positions are really never jailed or if they are, they are somewhat pardoned by the President.
Worst of it all, even after having criminal records they still are still given positions to look after people by the president.
This is not surprising for me.
Thanks
Bb2014
Anybody who marries a white person is a traitor to their people, maybe in the future but not at this moment when we are at war with white supremacy. how can you go and sleep with your enemy? this is mind boggling. Every white person that goes out with a black person has some benefit they are getting from you. It could be that you are a sexual fantasy, a social symbol of some sort, an adventure, an economic benefit (ironically that is why a white person has never married a guy wapa easy from chibolwa olo ngombe, it is always someone we cal well educated[chirwa] or someone rich) etc
Are you alright?
What has marrying a white woman or black woman got to do with this?
You ain’t making good sense.
You keep talking about home, where is home? People have now become global citizens baba.
@Zagaze, for Zambians marring a white woman/man has more qualification than a phd. Walk in any ministry and introduce your white wife with you, and ask for a job at 09 am, at 2pm you even get your first salary.
@zagaze, you are a perfect example of why Zambia will always remain back wards. What has marrying a white person has to do with this? Do you even know what marriage is or the main reason why two people decide to get married? To me,you sound like an immature radical feminist and your parents are to blame. They did a horrible job at raising you. Get life buddy.
Ref: Coming to Zambia to help your lazy bams
Dear Zambians
I am writing to come to Zambia to help your lazy bams. I am a good samaritan living in Australia. Please make sure to prepare a house to be rented at a cost of k72000 per month because where i coming from i live in proper house. I am an engineer with knowledge of making cars. So when i come please provide me with a benz car S class.
Yours faithfully
Housefly
Home is africa, zambia to be precise. Globalization is nothing more than a western world propaganda machine which is used to dupe poor countires into thinking they have an actual stake in the running of the world economy when we all know that decisions are being made for you evryday by the so called developed countries as to what you believe in, the economy of your country, the cultural and social behaviour, political destination. If you really believe in a globalist state, why is it that Africa with over 62 countries does not have a permanent seat on the security council in the UN? why is the true world power just vested with white countries. is this what globalisation means? wake up man!!!
Cage him, cant you see from his arrogance? He issued verbal instructions. Add contempt charges. He is even arguing against the court findings as per evidence gathered. Same as the rest of the PF thugs. Its always someone else’s fault. Can you believe it?
Comment:
may God forgive all those who implicated prof chirwa in this case. this man sacrificed alot for this country just to end up being druged to court over this that he did not do. Thats why most zambians living abroad are scared to come and work or invest in this country because of such kind of treatment. prof chirwa is highly respected in the whole of Europe but not in zambia. From what we can see some big fish was involved in authorising the payments but when things became sour, they washed they hands and found a scape goat who is mrs mwale. lets wait for the press conference i can see some ps being implicated in this case.
tell me what exactly is the sacrifice that chirwa did by coming back home to WORK!!! Why crazy concept is this? A citizen being scared to go back to their own country? think about!!!
Comment:zambians have that ant development sipirit, pliz we need engineers like chirwa.
I don’t agree with this judgement. Why cage one of the two culprits for the same offense? You cage the paying officer & let free the beneficiary. Something is not adding up here. Wasn’t Prof Chirwa aware of the same directive by the board for which Mwale is jailed for ignoring? If Chirwa was aware why didn’t he advise Mwale to stop payment or better still advise her to pay the equivalent of his House allowance entitlement & personally top up the difference if he preferred staying at Fallsway Apartments?
If the board instructed to refurbish Prof Chirwa’s house in Kabwe or find a cheaper accommodation in an event that the house was not ready, Chirwa as CEO must have been aware. The fact that Regina paid for accommodation is enough proof that Chirwa insisted on staying at Fallsway…
The fact that Regina paid for accommodation is enough proof that Chirwa insisted on staying at Fallsway & Regina being a Junior officer had no nerves to question him but oblige to pay. Its a foregone conclusion she’ll be acquitted by high-court on appeal. Its just delaying tactics of a Magistrate who has been oiled in order to give the trial a semblance of due process.
“…even though Ms Mwale did that, it wasn’t her fault because it was authorised by the PS, it is really sad that she has remained in there.” – Chriwa
The PS at the time who was later appointed as ZRL CEO only in Zambia …where is he today?…truly laughable and we wonder why we dont develop.
This is total madness
I like this man Mr Chirwa. He represents success. He was arrested because Zambians are envious of successful people. I wish Prof Chirwa would team up with people like HH, Nawakwi, Kalima Nkonde and all Zambians out there who are keen to develop the country. Not these so called leaders of ours who are in politics to make a quick dollar when the majority are suffering. Zambia as a country is very rich, but the poor economic management in killing the country.
Professor Chirwa, there are so many people out there who truly believe in your skills and abilities. Please take up that offer as Zambia Railways Ltd CEO. Do it for the nation.
Prof. Chirwa deserves an accquital, he left his K180,000 (K180 million) Job in UK to Zambia, only to be messed up a refraf SATA.
Well Done courts! and Chirwa continue saving mother Zambia. if you are complaining about Salary go School then you will realise why?
The law is an ass, a complete utter ass at that…
Good Samaritan my foot!
Okay, lets be honest for once. Can someone again tell us what crime this man committed. Oh, wait a second, he was appointed CEO of ZRL and then he decided to stay at an “up-class” (according to Zambian standards) house in four-ways, or whatever you call that place, which is really still below international standards. Then he decided to train those employees at Zambia Railways with his Internationally recognised company/institution.
You really must be out of your mind to deem this as a crime. Did you expect him as a CEO to go stay in Kanyama or Chawama. Please dont misunderstand me here. There is nothing wrong staying in these places, but as for a CEO, he surely can afford best places in the city.
Most Zambians are a joke! No wonder you are troubling the president because maize…
Before you judge the man, here is a little background about him from 2007:
Friday, September 07, 2007
Prof Chirwa: Zambia’s world-acclaimed engineer
By Cliff phiri
Sunday August 26, 2007 [04:00]
ABOUT ninety per cent of the vehicles that are running on Zambian roads are not road worthy, Bolton University Professor of Crashworthiness Clive Chirwa has said. Prof Chirwa says most vehicles in Zambia do not comply with any European, American or even Japanese safety standards.
He says his biggest worry is with the buses and minibuses, adding that ninety nine per cent of these are extremely dangerous thereby putting passengers at high risk.
Question: To start with, who is Professor Clive Chirwa?
Answer: Professor Clive Chirwa is actually a Zambian born in Mufulira on the 5th…
contd..
Answer: Professor Clive Chirwa is actually a Zambian born in Mufulira on the 5th of January 1954. My father is Eford Noah Chirwa, a Chewa and comes from Mugubudu village in chief Chanje’s region just after Chipata en-route to Lundazi. My mother Toddy also comes from Eastern Province.
Q: Are you able to speak Chewa?
A: Unfortunately no. You should appreciate that people who were born and bred on the Copperbelt mostly speak Bemba. I am fluent in Bemba but I am a little bit rusty on the Chewa.
Q: How many are you in your family?
A: We were eight children, three are deceased and now we are five.
Q: Where are the other four?
A: My brothers Davies and James are running their own businesses in Lusaka, Priscilla is married to a Bishop, also a Zambian but he was made a Bishop…
… also a Zambian but he was made a Bishop of Gaborone, Botswana; Esnart works for one of the NGOs Non-Governmental Organisation, so everybody is in Lusaka. It’s just Priscilla and myself who live abroad.
Q: Now can we talk about your own family. Are you married?
A: Yes, I am married to a Russian lady called Elena; we have two children. The first-born is 25-years-old Dennis and the other is 20-year-old Daniel. Dennis completed a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering and he works for British Aerospace in the design department. Daniel is at the university studying IT and directorship in filmmaking.
Q: He didn’t take up your profession?
A: No, he is studying something completely different from me and from his mother.
Q: What is his mother’s profession?
A: His mother is a…
contd..
A: His mother is a metallurgist. She is actually the European marketing director for a company called Clavel.
Q: Are your children living with you?
A: Dennis has his own place. Daniel comes only during university holidays.
Q: Which schools did you go to?
A: I went to Central Primary School first and later to Mufulira Secondary School. In fact I was with former commerce minister Dipak Patel at secondary school.
Q: How did you proceed from there?
A: I went overseas, to Volgograd University in Russia in 1975. From there, in 1981, I went to Cranfield University in the UK.
Q: What studies were you pursuing in Russia?
A: Automobile and Tractor Engineering and later Masters degree in Automotive Engineering. I then returned to Zambia in 1980 and joined MSD Mechanical…
contd..
I then returned to Zambia in 1980 and joined MSD Mechanical Services Department and a year later joined University of Zambia as a lecturer. From there, in 1981, I went to UK under the Commonwealth Scholarship. On completion of my PhD Doctor of Philosophy in 1986, I returned to UNZA as a lecturer and resigned after a few years due to lack of advanced research that I was now used to. I was given a senior research fellow position at the University of Liverpool.
Q: And what were you doing in the UK?
A: I went over to do my Master’s degree in Automotive Product Engineering and my PhD in Aerospace Engineering.
Q: What is Aerospace Engineering? What does it involve?
A: Aerospace Engineering is a subject about aircraft, spacecraft and it is about finding new ideas on air…
contd..
A: Aerospace Engineering is a subject about aircraft, spacecraft and it is about finding new ideas on air transport systems and how you can improve future aircraft in design sense. My work is about research and design of air vehicles’ structural dynamics. To be specific, my work involves finding new advanced materials with better mechanical properties and use them in the design of an aircraft fuselage.
Q: You sound technical. What is fuselage?
A: Fuselage is the main aircraft body. It is the tube in which people sit in. Most of the work we do in the UK involves the wing. The British are very good at designing wings as we have seen from the Airbus series of aircraft.
Q: So what have been your major projects?
A: Since I started doing research in aircraft engineering, I’ve…
Is mama Kaseba also going to be convicted for the money she spent at a lodge. Is the person who authorised the payment for her going to be convicted or not? Leave Chira & Mwale alone. I said earlier that someone somewhere had authourised the payment. Chirwa’s time has been wasted by jealousy people. Just get Chirwa back to ZRL. Judge Judy says the case is closed.
contd..
I’ve carried out more than 300 research projects and all those are pioneering projects, which had never been done before in the world. The companies I work for mainly are British Aerospace, Airbus, Boeing, NASA and many small aircraft manufacturers.
Q: How did you develop interest in engineering and technology?
A: I developed interest in technology from my primary school days. When I was at Central School in Mufulira, there was an annual inter-school quiz for under 11 years in mathematics and reasoning.
The first time I participated in the quiz of about ten mine schools, I came second and the second time I participated I won the competition. This was among good schools on the Copperbelt. When I went to secondary school we had a tour of Mufulira Mines and this was when my…
… When I went to secondary school we had a tour of Mufulira Mines and this was when my engineering interest started developing. This was in form one. Then in form two, I joined JETS, which is the Junior Engineers Technician Scientist. This is a Zambian thing. From form two to form five, I won the Copperbelt and the national top prizes in category of physics and biology.
Q: What’s your comment on the perception some people have that engineering is difficult?
A: Most of the things in engineering are those, which every single person on earth does on everyday basis without realizing that they are solving extremely complex problems. Let us take mechanics or applied mechanics for example.
This is the most difficult subject in engineering and the mathematics involved is extremely…
…is extremely difficult. Go to any village in Zambia, you will see women who have never been to school and children carrying buckets of water on their heads without spilling it. This activity is difficult to solve in mechanics. What the women are doing is to balance the applied forces from the bucket of water with their body forces. This is not simple because the forces from the bucket are dynamic; they change in direction and sense as the water splashes about in the bucket. To maintain the bucket forces in equilibrium, the women walk is calibrated format, their necks automatically measuring the direction and sense of the bucket forces so that they are dynamically maintained in equilibrium at all time. If the equilibrium is not maintained, they will spill the water. This does not happen…
..because every person intuitively is an engineer despite not understanding the laws of applied physics.
Q: Hasn’t it been challenging for you, working in an environment, which I assume is all white going by the pictures you showed me earlier?
A: That’s correct. I’ve worked tremendously hard to reach this particular position. To complicate the issues I am African and foreigner. I am a pioneer in my engineering field of crashworthiness, indeed I am number one in the world and people come to me for advice on technology. Therefore, presidents, prime ministers, ministers, senators, EU Commissioners, company directors, technical staff, academics and my colleagues who are totally Caucasians have come to accept me because of my input to modern science, technology and engineering as a…
…as a whole.
Q: So they actually respect you now than before?
A: Very much so. The whole world knows me in this particular area of engineering. When I am dealing with low velocity impact, I help the car, train and aircraft manufacturers. When I am dealing with high velocity impact, I help the spacecraft and the military institutions.
The work I have done for them that has put cars on streets, trains on rails, aircraft in the air, rockets in space and combat machines in theatres has gained me this respect. Indeed, this is why I have been awarded numerous prizes for contributing to science and engineering. Three years ago, the joint American National Academy of Sciences and the British Royal Society gave me the title of Distinguished Professor of Crashworthiness.
Q: So you have…
..Q: So you have never worked with a fellow Zambian abroad?
A: Not in Europe, no. I’ve worked with fellow Zambians here at the University of Zambia in my early years.
Q: Where are you based now?
A: I am based at the University of Bolton, which is in Lancashire, five miles from Manchester.
Q: Going back to engineering, what is crashworthiness all about?
A: Crashworthiness is a very complex stream of science – what you do here is you look at how a body which is moving can absorb kinetic energy when an instantaneous stop or crash happens to that particular body. This can be a car, an aircraft or even a bicycle.
Since these machines are driven by human beings, I have to make sure that these people survive the impact loads when a crash happens. Therefore in every car, aircraft…
read the rest here…
Wapulumuka but banakucita mushe for betraying UPND
LT is blocking the URL.. simply search for this “Prof Chirwa: Zambia world-acclaimed engineer” from maravi blogspot.
…and then Mr. Intelligent, your Distinguished Professor of Crashworthiness fails to run a train company in the Republic of Zambia…
Because you guys chased him away with fake threats and arrests.
Professor Chirwa’s crashworthiness ended him up crashing into Michael Chilufya SATA due to his lack of foresight into what he was walking himself into. His crashworthiness is unquestionable in that sense as well as professionally. He should do more research not to get into politics because up to now he remains as crashworthy as he was before ZRL.
Ediga, now give the professor a job. He now has learned how we work, not when he first came with unrealistic dreams. Sorry Clive for the tough lessons, I belive now you are ready to serve.
How possible is it that The Director of Finance, who is under the CEO, could go on to process such a large amount payment without the CEO’s (in)direct authorisation/knowledge?
Wisdom would dictate that a CEO would tell that a company paying K72,000 rent for him a month was poor economics. The court must also know that catching a small fish and letting a big one slip through in a same case is poor judgment.
I can’t see this mambala going back he owes ‘ZRA’Uk thousands of pounds. Bazamulonga!!
What sacrifice and what good Samaritan?? Were you going to work for free, were you forced to come here? You just came to serve your own interest my friend and you are selfish!!! Go back to where you came from we don’t need people like you! I’ve just had it with these selfish characters!
Jealousy, greed and foolishness is killing Zambia.
CHIRWA WAS JUST SET UP BY THE ZAMBIAN SO CALLED ENGINEERS WHO FELT VERY CHALLENGED WHEN THEY HEARD THAT CHIRWA LIKE SATA WAS GOING TO MODERNIZE THE RAIL SYSTEM IN ZAMBIA. OUR MAINTENANCE ENGINEERS WERE EVEN ARGUING ABOUT INADEQUATE ZESCO POWER SUPPLIES WITHOUT THINKING OF OTHER MEANS OF POWER. THEY COULD NOT THINK BEYOND ZESCO. WE COULD HAVE EVEN HAD SOLAR FARMS SPECIFICALLY TO SERVICE ZESCO. THE ONLY MISTAKE CHIRWA MADE WAS TO BE BIG-HEADED AND NOT LISTEN TO ADVISES FROM FELLOW DIASPORA PEOPLE WHO NEW BEFORE HAND WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HIM. OTHERWISE HIS PLANS WERE FEASIBLE. ZAMBIANS BELIEVE IN PROJECTS WHICH TAKE FOREVER IN ORDER TO STEAL FROM THEM.
THERE IS NO WAY ONE COULD ACCUSE THE LATE SATA OF HAVING BEEN BEHIND CHIRWA’S CASE. SATA WANTED AND NEEDED PEOPLE WHO COULD SOLVE PROBLEMS IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME AND THAT’S WHY CHIRWA WAS APPOINTED BY SATA.
Zambians can talk. What are the benefits you get in that? Stand up and go to work ukuchila mulelanga ubututu. Money is nothing friends, knowledge is power.