By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. Zambia is a beautiful country indeed. But the more things change, the more they remain the same. For me, perhaps my biggest undoing is my strong sense of fairness. I always believe that everyone must be treated fairly. By the way, treating someone fairly does not mean favoring them. It simply means adhering to the rules of natural justice. With the new administration coming into office, People’s expectations are obviously high. Each person has their own idea of the change that they want. Others believe that all those who were associated with the former PF regime must be lynched. But then, what kind of society would we be building if we did that? My belief has always been that we need to live in harmony as brothers and sisters if we are going to build this country into the great nation that it deserves to be.
2. That is to say those who served in the last administration need to be treated with dignity and respect. Of course the ones that erred and committed criminal offenses need to be charged and subjected to the due process of the law. But that should be done with dignity and humility. There is a thin line between persecution and prosecution. A few days ago, l complained about the high appetite by President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration to be sensational in their corruption fight. In recent days, we have seen the disclosure of intimate details of on-going corruption investigations such as the alleged purchase of a bank for K300 million by a former Councillor and more recently the alleged discovery of K65,330,000 cash and some dollars in a house in New Kasama, Lusaka. And yet no arrest has been made in any of these cases. As a former Police Officer, l can tell you that there is no decent investigative wing out there, worth their salt, that will disclose intimate details of an active investigation in which no one has been charged and arrested yet. Even if a case was to leak to the media, the standard response by any decent investigator is “No Comment”. Until such a time that the investigation has been concluded, the perpetrators and their conspirators of any, have been arrested and the case is ready for trial.
3. But what we are seeing under the new administration is totally different. We have investigative wings that are calling press briefings every day to update the public on the intimate details of ongoing major investigations. The question then becomes; to achieve what? It’s definitely not for purposes of building a strong case that can stand in court. A strong case cannot be built by sharing intimate details of an investigation with the public. By so doing, our investigative wings are simply arresting the co-conspirators to either run or destroy evidence. The end result is that these cases will be bungled and may not stand on all four when presented to the court. Guess who the biggest losers will be when that happens? You and l. Or in short, the Zambian people. Whatever money was stolen by members and associates of the former PF regime needs to be recovered and taken back to the treasury. But that can only happen if sober and professional investigations are done, and not this playing to the gallery that we are seeing.
4. The pattern that l am seeing here is that HH and his Government appear to be more in the business of portraying to the world how corrupt the PF administration was as opposed to prosecuting those specific members of the PF administration that stole and recovering the money. And here is the point fellow countrymen and women; when President Hichilema allows professional investigations to be undertaken which resulted in the arrest and conviction of perpetrators as well as recovery of stolen money, that is of benefit to the nation. It benefits you and l. However, when President Hichilema engages in grandstanding by merely portraying the former PF regime as corrupt through the media and ends up compromising these cases in court, that does not benefit you and l. It only benefits HH and his political fortunes. And my point here is that President Hichilema needs to act in a manner that puts the national interest first and not his personal or partisan political interests. We know that HH fought the PF for 15 years, and now that he is Head of State, he needs to focus on the national interest as opposed to continue with his fight against the PF, albeit now using state resources.
5. I know that some readers out there are asking to what end President Hichilema would decide to allow his law enforcement agencies to engage in grandstanding against the former PF regime as opposed to pursuing genuine cases in court. Well, my take is that HH wants to lift Lungu’s immunity and so he is trying to create a narrative for his next move. He is trying to inflame the emotions of the Zambian people and the surest way is to release sensational details of active investigations to the media. Details such as the purchase of a bank and its assets for K300 million by a mere Ward Councillor. Details such as that the coffers are empty even though there is US$2.9 billion. Details such as K65.33 million recovered, even if we have not seen pictures of the actual loot as the only pictures shown to us were downloaded from the internet. In other words, President Hichilema appears to have no intention to secure an actual conviction and recovery of stolen assets in court. Provided the emotions of Zambians are sufficiently inflamed to support the lifting of Lungu’s immunity, HH will be happy and he would’ve achieved his objective. In other words, you the Zambian people are being used as pawns in HH’s personal fight against Lungu, with no benefit to the nation.
6. And the worst part of all this drama is that we have seen it play out before. I for one remember vividly that day in 2002 when late former President Levy Mwanawasa addressed Parliament and made grandiose claims of criminality against late former President Fredrick Chiluba and his associates. We the Zambian people cheered and clapped for Mwanawasa at that time. But when the cases were taken to court, what was the end result? President Chiluba was vilified for owning expensive suits and shoes. Meanwhile Mwanawasa made his lawyer friends stinking rich as he paid the billions of Kwacha of taxpayers money for the private prosecutions against FTJ. And a lot of people’s lives were needlessly destroyed. People such as Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu who had worked their butts off building a prosperous indigenous Zambian company; Access Financial Services Limited, had their company forfeited to the State for no sound reason whatsoever. All because Mwanawasa wanted to settle his personal beef against Chiluba? The question that each one of us must answer honestly today and now is; how much destruction of innocent people’s lives is acceptable as President Hichilema embarks on this familiar journey of settling his personal scores against former President Lungu? Fellow countrymen and women, I submit that President Hichilema should restrict himself to prosecution of alleged wrongdoers and not persecution.
Very sound and sober commentary Mr Tembo. If you can maintain this type of critic and commentary with a sober and sound approach you will present good opposition. You’re there for checks and balances on government so maintain objectivity of praise and criticize on merit
Let him just go ahead and remove this immunity but this should not be a diversion from the reasons he was voted for. Everyday criminals are appearing in court but government business doesn’t stop because of this. And the case if any involving Edgar shouldn’t be different… jobs must be created.
I am not reading this if it has come from the bitter loser beaten 10 zero. If its good let others read it for me and phone me, I am not reading it. This is a guy who is so malicious that he was calling for free education from HH a week after HH was inaugurated, very unreasonable fellow this one. Very uncouth and irritating
Sean is the man
So he has stopped wearing surgical gloves…kikikikikiki Baby President ..what was the main purpose….at least Anthony Bwalya spends alot of time reading comments on Lusaka Times so he advised HH to stop wearing surgical gloves….and also notice how Mutinta has disappeared…she didn’t know her position not until i gave a body check…iffact if I didn’t put her on spotlight she should have followed HH to the UN General Assembly with her unsightly outfits….they should continue reading through comments and making adjustments….Spaka and Tarino Orange doesn’t want anyone criticizing their small god HH
Lungu must be investigated,…..
least we forget and another one comes along and abuses office with impunity thinking he can not be prosecuted………..
Is HH going to anything good in your eyes Mr Tembo Sean ?
#5 Saulosi
No one takes any position on your comments because of sour grapes from the election mauling you suffered with lungu…….
Soon your silly comments will be dismissed like those of KZ without anyone reading them……..
#5 Saulosi
No one takes any position on your comments because of sour grapes from the election mauling you suffered with lungu…….
Soon your silly comments will be dismissed without anyone reading them……..
If you saw how many people were at the airport tarmac when he was leaving for NY then you will know that nothing has really changed…just colors from green to red…..they should reduce the number of Ministers lining up at the Airport tarmac…thats alot of taxpayers money being wasted….HH IS WORSE THAN LUNGU
Look at this lost soul, you were beaten by a million votes, that’s how people told you, so stop flirting around here and get a life, poor Sau, Please vanish the way your colleagues have vanished on these bloggs after elections, poor you, yes poor soul.
On the K330m. Sean Tembo rushed to comment. While it’s no offence to keep money in house one has to prove how how he/she got such colossal sum
Imagine after one week ati where is free education, that is a 2 to 3 years project, they drained the coffers and they want free education
This is utter no sense. HH has not commented on this K65M issue and this Tembo jumps the gun to protect Lungu from future prosecution. The money shown is extracted from internet says Tembo – but the owner want same loot back. Are you fooling us ?
We NEED SEAN TEMBO HE IS OF GREAT HELP TO OUR ZAMBIA
Emphasis must be on strengthening institutions and removing some powers from the Presidency. This the sure way of avoiding state capture and the abuse of the Presidency that we have witnessed. Address the root cause of the problem not treating symptoms. The fact that 2 presidents have had their immunity lifted is an indication that the institution of the Presidency is flawed
Mr Tembo there is more wisdom in offering advice without being cynical and cantankerous. Your point should have been that Government must avoid being sensational as the pursue these cases – Capwa ! But when you insinuate that these cases are fabricated to persecute Lungu then you loose points in the eyes of the Public who are able to judge own their own.
Tembo is very intelligent and his analysis of issues is in most instances coupled with facts. But most of the people who criticize him are either doing it deliberately in favour of the new dawn government or are just poor at perceiving intelligent and well intentioned good articles put up by people like Tembo. Truth hates and this is exactly what is happening to the people on the other side of this truth displayed by Tembo.
it just shows that you and Sean are crooks together with Lungu Team. there is no incorrupt person who can support looting of publics fund by Lungu administration. Who does Sean represent if not Lungu and his team. Thieve will always defend each other. There is no good nor sense coming from one part man.
#11 Moses P Sichula
September 20, 2021 At 8:49 am
“Tembo is very intelligent and his analysis of issues is in most instances coupled with facts. But most of the people who criticize……”
How is demanding free education in the first week as promised in campaigns while the current budget was a PF fake budget , intelligent ???
ST is just a loud mouth who has failed every where else at being a politician , only thing left for him is to make noise on line in the hopes of duping a few to support him……
LT please do not publish Sean Tembo’s useless rants that do not make sense. It’s very evident that there was massive looting during Lungu’s time in office. Can Sean explain to people whose relatives died in hospital because medication was not available or expired medication that was bought. Fire truckers etc. Leave HH out it. Zambians employed Lungu and he must explain what happened. This has nothing to do with HH. Zambians have the right to be angry if their resources are abused by those entrusted. If Sean you want to hero worship Lungu please go visit him and publish articles that you send to him only. I think majority of Zambians are interested in moving towards better livelihood.
The Problem of HH and his UPND praise singers has been and will always be that of demonizing ECL and the PF. Theirs has been to create a very negative narrative of ECL and PF to an extent where whatever good the former ruling party may have done, no matter how little in the perception of many, is completely wiped away. What is being touted as a corruption fight is a fight against ECL and the PF. As Sean Tembo has accurately observed, the country saw this with Levy Mwanawasa’s so-called corruption fight which only ended up benefitting his lawyer friends. FTJ thought Levy was going to be perpetually indebted to him for delivering the Presidency on a silver platter to him. But when Levy thought FTJ was beginning to undermine his Presidency by dictating to him who should form his cabinet and…
… and so on and so forth, his response was to politically fight back by raising serious corruption allegations against FTJ and Co. in order to have the latter’s immunity lifted and kept at bay. Remember how Levy one time told the Chiluba group “ndemiposa pa panshi”( I will throw you to the red ants) and that Northerners and Luapulans were a group of Zambians stinking of corruption? We are seeing something similar with attempt by HH and the UPND to obliterate the opposition PF through the waging of a sustained smear campaign against the former ruling party with no legal framework for a fast track corruption court, a legal body of appointed prosecutors and investigators and serious investigations in place.
its true that HH has a personal issue with PF and particularly with lungu, and by the way that the investigative wings are carrying the investigation…..
the only people that will benefit are the police who up to now have not displayed the monies for all to see, the old police tactic of “leave the money and agree that its was is much and we will let you go” work on the 65 million
#8.1 Kampyongo… The “ONE WEEK OF FIXING” came from the president himself and if you make an effort you can retrieve these recordings from our studios. If I may as why are speaking on his behalf?
As it was under Liato’s case so it will be in this case, lest some people have forgotten: Mr Justice Malila, in his judgment, states that: “The money was buried underground in a chalet at the convict’s farm and the top was sealed with concrete. This raises a lot of questions on whether the money was gotten legitimately.
“This court holds the view, therefore, that the money was ill-gotten as no one would conceal money the way the convict did even if one had lost faith in the banking system in the country.”
That alleged secret account at the ministry of finance, wasn’t Felix Mutati not the man in charge of the ministry?
Is HH answerable for the bungling of investigations by the ACC?
HH has more problems to worry about than ECL, ECL is a very small fish compared to HH what Lungu is is a very small percentage compared to the poor man now in state house, he is not as free as he was as a common Zambian opposing the government, don’t you think he is still thinking about the floppy privatization where he looted the whole nation!
Do you really think he sleeps soundly in the state house with all those empty promises he made to the Zambian public all lies flying around his head and the the gay freedom and the Christian nation those are part of the bones he has to chew, HH is more a prisoner than he was before he has gotten more in trouble than anticipated.
How about his offshore accounts what will Zambians say about a president who has stashed billions in offshore…
Zambians are funny. There’s this recruitment officer with some Chinese company. He “sells” jobs at 2,000.00 Kwacha. He’s one among those calling for Lungu’s prosecution. You should see how excited he becomes when the subject comes up. Corruption is not only a leader does it, it’s All of us. After all we are all potential leaders, even president.
To Sean, I have to say this; since PF officials appear bewildered, You Sir appear to have become their mouth piece. We do not know what motivates this. It is ok if it is all about your role as opposition leader. But lies have short legs. We are dealing with complicated form of corruption here and every Zambian who felt the pain of not having medicine in hospitals cannot be taking the position you are taking. We are left to suspect that given a chance Sean would rather we move on without seeking justice for stolen money. police should watch closely everyone including those insulting PF officials. It may just be a distraction; there could still be huge sums exchanging hand in a bid to hide the lot.
Let’s look at just one fact: none of those organisations making their investigations public is headed by an appointee of HH. So how does HH’s name come in? Unfortunately Sean Tembo is not decent enough to answer the above question.
Lungu stole and you know it, we will discover more issues and then you will see Zambians lynch a former head of state.
The issue is you cannot be commenting all the time on everything and on anything. This is misunderstanding of opposition politics. Let him learn from seasoned politicians also in the opposition. Where was this guy during the brutal PF govt? Instead was attacking fellow opposition as well. Thus he has had no strategy as a politician. When you have no strategy, you comment on everthing and on anything.
Politicans need to learn, zambian electrolate are maturing and they can also tell and weigh in on opposition statements and come at their own conclusions. No politician can influence them if they sense that they say is just noise and has no merit.
The problem with young Sean Tembo is he shoots first and thinks and asks questions later…this is why he couldn’t get even one body in Parliament.
Yesterday the boy posted a photo of himself eating meat and claiming to be cattle man the lad thinks cattle people eat meat everyday…
it just shows that Sean is a crook together with Lungu Team. there is no incorrupt person who can support looting of publics fund by Lungu administration. Who does Sean represent if not Lungu and his team. Thieve will always defend each other. There is no good nor sense coming from one part man.
True – persecution of Mr Lungu and his family should be condemned as we condemned the persecution of Mr Hichilema. Obviously, a lot of things went wrong on Mr Lungu’s watch and the people need answers. But this cannot be achieved through “headlines” grabbing announcements – proper investigations should take place.
I feel for Mr Lungu – It’s hard when your affairs are under scrutiny; you can feel unfairly persecuted. But, in this instance, the usual happy walk into retirement bliss, cannot be, because, the people suffered immensely under Mr Lungu’s rule.
For the first time ever, in a peaceful country – people were being gassed in the safety of their homes, tracts of virgin forests were decimated for their indigenous trees, people were murdered without anyone being held…
Conti:-
…responsible, families in remote villages survived on wild fruit – some resorted to eating raw onions! The list is endless. It’s left the people traumatised. Mr Lungu has to take responsibility.
When you take oath to lead and protect the citizens, you are ultimately promising to take responsibility for any failures during your tenure. Its your duty to deliver as promised. When failures occur, it should be a matter of course to explain to the people who employed you.
So, the minimum this government can do, to assure citizens – &, as a lesson to all future Presidents in Zambia, is to bring to book, all those involved in atrocious activities during Mr Lungu’s rule. We need to see people in jail, and monies recovered! Zambia is not a “rogue boys club”, for club members…
Cont:-
…..to come and play & then walk away – patting each other’s backs, regardless of all the damage they may have caused. People should not tolerate this.
STOP MESSING AROUND WITH THIS IMMUNITY THING THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN AND VOICED THEIR CONCERNS
AND YOU Mr PRESIDENT SAID CORRUPTION STOPS NOW
MAKE UP YOUR MIND !!
Non beneficial articles. Am not sure what the LT Editors find in them. It is not strange the author has always had an axe to grind with the current president. Go back and check the so called indaba meetings. Well, continue to defend the former president and his tean, its your job mr author. My opinion.
Doesnt Sean Tembo and some commentators who support Sean Tembo know that the emotions of Zambians were already sufficiently inflamed when they emphatically voted ECL and his PF out?? HH is more clever than you Sean Tembo. HH knows that solid evidence shall be needed should he decide to request the parliament to remove the immunity of ECL.
Were is the secret intelligence in all this? Are they just Bodyguards at state house? Its clear that the task at hand is too big for FIC, ACC, DEC and Police. Everyone is tripping over each other. Even Sean T wants to be the first one to post an article.
Sean Tembo. this is the person who wants to a republican president full o f tribalism, defending corruption. how then can we trust Sean tembo.
i agree with mr tembo it appears MR president hh is trying to phsyche members of the public to direct hate and resntments against the former president mr ECL
YOU are telling me ECL was just stealing money in state house for seven years he presided over the affairs of this country
look at this chipenzi mac donold he is coming up with alot of silly dreams to see ECL being striped of his immunity why this rush you people from southern province
EDGAR lungu is not a fool to have said that he is not interested in politics as at now
i can not believe this madness coming from people like mc donald .
and can not believe that president lungu was such careless in his time at state house that he was just stealing money and that he left signatures all over for mr HH to pick.
if that is the…
Witch hunt! Witch hunt!
H² can’t convict ECL even when he lifts this gallant man’s immunity, Acepa sana, unless he abuses his power.
It seems Mukobeko Max Prison ordeal still lingers in h²’s head. He wants vengeance against his brief detention in Kabwe.
All upndeads loath ECL and PF no wonder they keep unleashing dark corner assaults on PF members.
One day I see a tit for tat encounter down there in Zambia.
But Zambia is bigger than all hooligans.
Hoax moneys being discovered; hoax narrative to remove ECL’s immunity. Well read. You wanted pettiness, pettiness you will get.
@Saulosi #5 those were not surgical gloves, they were white cloth gloves and that is the symbolic for the Freemasonry.
Meanwhile my fellow countrymen and women. Brothers and sisters never saw the dollar going down at inauguration day. More teachers and youths want employment. Civil servants na mayouth banazigong’a.
No changes in fuel, mealie meal, food, prices. Ati more time.
Yes Rome was not built in a day, but that’s what ECL was doing, building Rome. These niggaz are out there to get Romans. Who damn does that?
It’s tick tock in your 1st 100 days and you will have achived Zero. At least we notice gloves are off. I bet ya butt it is now getting really hot in that seat.
And then he will go to parliament to and UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE….
TO ALL THE DULL COMMENTATORS SAYING WHY ASK HH ABOUT FREE EDUCATION BARELY 2 WEEKS INTO OFFICE? That is not what Sean said. He has been telling HH to tell the nation that based on what we promised you when we got into the race with 15 other candidates, we are confirming that we shall fulfill all the promises we made that made you vote for us instead of any other candidate. Lets stop the issues of Worshiping whoever comes into office. And don’t just oppose dissenting views just because your surnames, comment based on objectively. People did not vote for HH and Updn for whoever they are, they are just human like anyone else, but for the PROMISES they made. Some people are now feeling they where cheated and they have the right to feel so if Updn remains mute and doesn’t no address this…