Friday, November 22, 2024

Some Consent Judgments amount to corruption-Prof Ndulo and Dr Kaaba

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Prominent legal scholars Prof Muna Ndulo and Dr Obrien Kaaba have described some recent Consent Judgements entered into between the state and some individuals as acts of corruption.

In a statement, Prof. Ndulo of Cornell University and Dr Kaaba from UNZA noted that although some Consent Judgements are justifiable, some are a racketeering scheme.

The duo have since appealed to President Hichilema to put a stop to this.

“We are also concerned that in some cases, the lawyers representing concerned individuals and those in State Chambers have previously had personal connections, raising questions about conflict of interest and the credibility of the negotiations and the protection of public interest in these settlements,” they said.

They also called on President Hichilema to critically analyze his legal team at State House and dismiss those who are behind the racketeering scheme.

Below is the full statement

Press Statement by Prof Muna Ndulo and Dr O’Brien Kaaba on the Consent Orders Being Entered into by the State and Various Litigants

We have observed with bewilderment and disbelief several consent orders entered into between the State Chambers and various individuals involving huge sums of money.
Although some appear well deserving, in a number these cases, there is either no sound legal justification for the settlements or the awards and the legal costs are grossly inflated. For example, in the case of Kaizar Zulu, it is clear he was not acting on behalf of the state and there is no moral or legal justification whatsoever for the state to compensate those he injured in his private capacity. It would appear that someone in the State Chambers is fishing for such cases for personal gain, and that is corruption. It must be stopped forthwith.
We are also concerned that in some cases the lawyers representing concerned individuals and those in State Chambers have previously had personal connections, raising questions about conflict of interest and the credibility of the negotiations and the protection of public interest in these settlements.
We call upon President Hichilema to critically evaluate his legal team in State Chambers and dismiss those who are behind these racketeering schemes.
We are appalled that oversight institutions such as the ACC, which should be in the forefront of protecting public resources, are doing nothing serious about the problem. This should have been stopped a long time ago had ACC been proactive, strategic and serious about protecting public resources.
The deals at the Ministry of Justice clearly indicate that to have a sustainable fight against corruption, it is not enough that the top national leadership is committed to the eradication of corruption. We need institutional transformation. We need to redesign institutions like ACC to make them capable and truly professional and independent.
Professor Muna Ndulo, Cornell University
O’Brien Kaaba, University of Zambia

57 COMMENTS

  1. The most corrupt field in Zambia? Lawyers! Lawyers will support the highest bidder… meaning your lawyer can sell you out if the other side have good and readily available cash and are ready to pay.
    Take for instance disputes on the sale of institution houses where the same lawyer is representing sitting tenants and people with letters of offer to purchase those houses.

    • Corruption is at levels. What you’ve addressed is the petty, grand corruption occurs in deals like Vedanta, MCM, pension funds management etc. People’s pensions have been stolen and invested through offshore tax havens like Cayman Islands. Have you ever seen buju being mentioned in Panama Papers?

    • Very true. I graduated with a lot of lawyer friends in the 90s who sooner or later became very rich or went behind bars.

    • But why don’t Ndulo and Kaaba cite particular cases? These guys are only brave enough to mention fugitive Kaizar’s case? Anyone in the village can turn up to flog a dead fox. Courage is to name the ones in power so we can stop them from further theft

  2. The most corrupt field in Zambia? Yes Indeed it is
    However its side by side with the police and road traffic
    unfortunately its deeply embedded and will be with us for a long time

    • A police officer maybe corrupt it’s an open secret but a lawyer pretends to help you while he fleeces to the bone.

  3. Too bad to see this honorable institution go to rot like this and this is due to bad govance being currently exbited.ACC is dead and caught up in the web.

  4. Kainde had just killed an elephant. The carcass is still huge. Friends and relatives are scrambling to get a share before 2026.

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  5. Iam not an expert at the rules governing compensation to culprits. However, when a culprit reports Kaizar Zulu to LEAs and the LEAs fail to bring Kaizar Zulu to face justice, to me it should be the LEAs to be held responsible for failure to protect the rights of culprits. The role of LEAs is to prevent, protect and safeguard the rights of all citizens from criminals like Kaizar Zulu. When LEAs fail to bring reported Kaizar Zulu to face justice, affected culprits can seek compensation from the LEAs. The state or LEAs will be compensated to the same tune whenever the LEAs finds and bring Kaizar Zulu to face justice. I think this is fair way of administering justice.

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    • @Ngoma Yamaano: When the IMF comes into your country, it means you are broke. The IMF comes into control all aspects of your economy, as was the case when it appointed Jack Busires head of BOZ. You cannot steal under the IMF. This is exactly why they supervise everything. All of you who are saying that UPND is stealing are delusional. There is nothing to steal. Michael Satan and Edgar Lungu borrowed US $31 billion and looted it, and now they have left us with the shylocks who lent them the money roaming our country and demanding their pound of flesh. I think that we find out what projects the money was borrowed for, and leave the provinces to pay it back. There is no reason why a person in Sinazeze should pay for Kapasa Makasa University in Muchinga

  6. Before I take on the two professors on the PHD (Pull Him Down)-S/He must never earn more than I can earn in my lifetime- syndrome even amongst our most learned in Zambia, may I ask whether the consent judgements are not evaluated by the courts of law. Are the learned gentlemen implying that the courts are also involved in corruption? Professor Ndulo, what value do you place on human rights? Tell us how much monetary compensation should have been granted to each of the claimants.

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  7. I agree with Chishala Kateka when she says what Attorney General should have done was to propose and negotiate counselling sessions for Tayali for the gun that was pointed to him by Police because therapy for trauma is always counselling and not money.

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    • Valdez,Go and tell Kateka that after the required tax deductions,Tayali intends to spend the award to seek high quality specialized psycho-socio counselling and thereafter, take an extended vacation to recuperate with his family in Livingstone or abroad I am sure that will leave you very bitter in the mouth

  8. I still think when a culprit reports a criminal to LEAs and the LEAs fail to cage the criminal or fail to bring the criminal to face justice, these culprits should be compensated by the LEAs. The culprits cant be subjected to delayed justice as some may die before the criminal is finally brought to face justice. What is key here is that the affected culprits should have reported the criminal and have evidence that the LEAs failed to bring the criminal to face justice. I think this is what has happened in the case of culprits whose rights were injured by Kaizar Zulu.

    • So if Kaiser is cornered in Zimbambwe and made to account, will are transport minister pay back the money?The perpetrator would have paid for his sins and Tayali can not have the cake and eat it at the same time.

  9. “……For example, in the case of Kaizar Zulu, it is clear he was not acting on behalf of the state and there is no moral or legal justification whatsoever for the state to compensate those he injured in his private capacity….”

    KZ was protected by statehouse……..no one could touch him………he could have anyone arrested at anytime.

    This was the case with all PF caders. They were the law………

    Even lungu is on record saying PF caders are part of his office and their actions can not be curtailed…….

    A person’s human right is pricesless.

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  10. DejaFOOOOl, dont you know that a consent judgement is a contract that should or not be endorsed by a judge? As an interested party you can appeal the judgement.Let the two Doctors appeal the cases they are aggrieved with

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  11. A lot of ignorant upnd tribal thugs above commenting on things they have no clue about. I totally agree with the learned lawyers. I posted about how illegal these consent judgments are. They are using them to aware money illegally to upnd thieves at the expense of poor Zambians. Let them remember that in 2026 we will recover that money and arrest them. Do not comment about me you ignorant upnd thugs

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    • @Kaizar “Kanyenga-Nyoko” Zulu: The tribalist is you, a Malawian at that, who, like your fellow Hutt “Kashimba Chimbwili” who has been sentenced to prison for hate speech, cannot get the name “Tonga” out of venereal disease-infected mouth. HH has appointed the most regionally/ tribally balanced government since Kaunda. He has given every constituency exactly the same amount of money. In your MMD/PF governments, you only hired Bembas and Nyanjas. You took all the money from Southern, Northwestern and Lusaka Provinces, and channelled it to Muchinga, Northern, Luapula and Eastern Provinces. You are angry that HH has refused to continue that unfairness.

  12. Kaizar Zulu you are a fugitive criminal running away from facing justice. Now you think the so called learned lawyers will cover your criminal cases? It is you the criminal who is ignorant!

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    • @Ngoma Yamaano: You are absolutely right. Kaizar “Kalya-Nyoko” Zulu is a fugitive from the law. He has refused to turn in the diplomatic passport given to him under the criminal Lungu government. He entered Zambia illegally, and when he was summoned to the polce for this, the bugger refused to appear, and became a wanted man. The hideously ugly bugger was locked up even under the government Edgar “Johnathan Mutawire” Lungu, his own benefactor. He is a violent and incorrigible criminal, whose only place on this earth is within the prison walls of Chimbokaila, Lusaka Central or Mwembeshi. If you know where he is, please do the correct thing and report the information directly to the police.

  13. I remember during the effort to dismantle the PF how everything the professor said was taken by Upnd chayotes as gospel truth. Things have changed. They can’t accept his advice against their poor governance. What a shame. The professor has proved to be a man of integrity… what is bad is bad whether by Edgar Lungu or Hakainde Hichilema.

    • @Deja Vu: You are talking rubbish. There has never been an effort to dismantle PF. You criminals poisoned Anderson Mazoka; our side has never killed anyone. Not in this political environment, or even during the slave trade, where you captured and sold other Africans to the Arabs. It is a historical fact, that I am very proud of, that there has never been a month or a day, when Tonga people attacked and robbed another tribe. Francis Coillard’s historical accounts belie you if you attempt the same assertion. That is point number 1. Point number 2 is that we Tonga were the first to revolt against the English. Point number 3 is that we Tonga paid for UNIP to go to London to negotiate for independence. This is why I refute your above claims.

  14. Professor Ndulo is a die hard UPND praise singer….now this coming from him tells you that UPND has seriously messed up….UPND is now officially WORSE than PF in terms of looting….UNIP 27 years in power no looting and Kaunda only made 27 international trips…that translates to 1 trip per year….HH 70 international trips in 2 years….all tax payers money…consent judgements over 4 billion kwacha

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    • All the opposition leaders gave up along the way buy this kept on losing and losing….his ambition? We are seeing it now.

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    • @Professor Ndulo: Professor Ndulo, is not a die hard anything. The fact that he is a Tonga does not mean that he is member of UPND, even he might admire their honesty and decency. The problem is that you are not reading what he had written. The professor is saying that HH made a mistake by keeping the corrupt PF prosecutors, instead of firing them. These people are now slow walking or simply refusing to implement justice of corruption. The notion that Kaunda took 27 foreign trip is patently false. The number of trips Kaunda took abroad were uncountable. HH uses his own cars; HH uses his own security guard; HH lives in his own house; HH does not draw a salary from the government; ..to be continued

    • @Anonymous: HH has not put his wife on the government budget; HH has not saddled the government with the expenses of his relatives. Nothing I have said above is true about the corrupt criminals Michael Satan and Lungu. You say the government has entered into consent agreements of k4 billion kwacha? You do know that K400 billion kwacha is about $175 million, don’t you? This amount is a drop in the bucket for Zambia. PF found Zambia with $3.8 billion in the back and stole it. PF then borrowed another $31 billion and stole it. PF looted $34.8 billion or k835 billion. Yes, PF looted more than 210 times what the PF appointed prosecutors of government of Zambia have settled with the criminals of the PF regime for in those consent agreements..to be continued

    • There are many things I do not agree with Hakainde on, and the first is his belief that if a looter surrenders 80% of his loot, it is ok for him to keep the other 20%. Hakainde naively believes that this will encourage looters to surrender loot. Hakainde has bizarre ideas, however, this particular belief is also the law of Zambia. Yes, MMD and PF enacted a law that would allow them to escape with some of the money they stole if they were caught. The law of Zambia does provide them the right to keep 20% of what they have stolen. What angers me, and professor Ndulo, is that HH has not revoked this invidious law. Prof Ndulo makes it clear that he knows that HH does not condone corruption, and properly lays the blame at the feet of the prosecutors.

    • For HH it was just an ego trip. I dont think he had any plans for the salvation of the Zambian nation. He just wanted to see himself in State House. Now he is being exposed and the economy is talking to HH and all of us and asking: “You think there’s a magic wand for progress?”

  15. ………

    The eminent legal schoolars , it seems , are not in sync with the reality on the ground in Zambia, or………..

    Shall we say, are ignorant of the streets……..

    How can they honestly suggest that criminal cader thug KZ was acting in his personal capacity when he was harassing and assaulting citizens ???

    Do they not know the thug could have anyone arrested and locked up at any time, including the very victims of his assaults ???

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  16. Too little, too late is this presser coming from Prof. Muna NDULO and Dr. Obrien Kaaba. They have for a long time now been quite over the bad governance of their tribesman Kainde. They are coming out this late merely out of embarrassment at the misrule of their tribesman. At least, young Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa looks a lot more principled than these two.

  17. For those of you who don’t know…Professor Ndulo is a UPND die hard and i didn’t know that he is a learned Zambian patriot…now lets hear from John Sangwa….i think in Zambia we need serious revolution and massive protests like they did in Egypt…..WE NEED EGYPTIAN TAHRIR SQUARE PROTEST IN ZAMBIA RIGHT NOW….WE NEED TO STOP HH’s MADNESS NOW….this guy is destroying Zambia not building Zambia
    He fought for 20 years to become the master plunderer …the Bandit in chief…..am told he spent $ 1 million dollars for a new transformer at his residence and US$31 million dollars tax payers money for a tarmac to his residence

    • Problem is with his people they will support him even in the grave. It’s not uncommon for them to support the decline of the kwacha as long as there is “peace”

    • @Anonymous: As much as I have now come to dislike the UPND, Arab Spring is not needed in Zambia. We have shown we are a peaceful progressive nation. By PEACEFULLY changing governments more times than any country in Africa. We are a patient people and we dont like violence for the sake of violence. UPND like others before them will be PEACEFULLY removed when election time comes. Violent changes of government in other African countries only serve to show us where our neighbours go wrong

  18. Anonymous, you need to bring evidence and not speculation aimed at demonising HH. The madness we need to stop is that from people like you who just accuse others without a shred of evidence.

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  19. Boy this thing is ugly. Bulging eyes located on the almost on the temples on the far side of the face. Bottom teeth that look like an invented rake… and lesions of the mouth that clearly look like a VD, probably acquired by going in orally right after Johanathan Mutawire has finished on his 14-year old concubine from eSwatini, or Esther …Resembles Jabba the Hutt all the way, as Kashimba Chimbwili

  20. @ Ngoma Yamaano
    The evidence is the people of Zambia who are wallowing in poverty…don’t you think that’s evidence enough…please be part of the solution not part of the problem…..HH’s wealth is ill-gotten and questionable no wonder the US Embassy wants him to declare his assets

  21. LT this I hate Kaizar “Kalya-Nyoko” Zulu also known as Chilyata has been banned on many platforms including ZO. Just ban him from here again. He can by nature not interact civilly and as such picks swearwords from Harlem thinking he is woke. Ban him!!

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