Vice President George Kunda has disclosed that Zambia is liable to compensate Lusaka Lawyer Dr. Rodger Chongwe.

And Mr. Kunda has said that there are no provisions to register Dr. Chongwe’s case in the Zambian courts contrary to claims by the Law Association of Zambia.

Mr. Kunda says Dr. Chongwe’s case is being ably handled by the office of the Attorney-General in accordance with the constitutional provisions and the United Nations Convention on Human Rights under which Dr. Chongwe ‘s claim was lodged.

He says Solicitor-General and Acting Attorney-General Abyudi Shonga made the necessary negotiations as a Constitutional Office Holder representing government to arrive at the compensation.

The Vice President was speaking during a press briefing at his office in Lusaka today.

Mr. Kunda stated that Zambia being a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) was found Zambia liable to pay Dr. Chongwe the sum of US$6.7 million as compensation.

He stressed that as Vice President and Minister of Justice and on the instruction of President Banda, he met Dr. Chongwe and referred him to the Attorney-General where the matter was dealt with in full.

“I can confirm that in 1997 Dr Chongwe was short by police and medical evidence is there. Zambia was found liable to the party of UNHRC which Zambia is a member of. As government we are merely executing the legal issue or court ruling.

There are many serious cases before the Office of the Attorney General to pay and not just that of Dr. Chongwe which is even less. This matter was dealt with in accordance with the law and there was no impropriety in the way it was dealt with. The whole process was left to the AG to negotiate a reasonable sum of compensation,” Mr. Kunda said.

And has Mr. Kunda described as malicious and politically motivated, allegations by the Law Association of Zambia that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Chalwe Muchenga was being controlled by the Executive.
He said the allegation was merely aimed at casting aspersions on the integrity of the person holding the office of the DPP.

The Vice President said there was no way the executive could meddle into the constitutional mandate of the DPP.

Mr. Kunda said he is proud to be a member of LAZ but was not happy with manner some of its members inclined to the opposition are influencing LAZ President to do wrong things.

“I’m proud to belong to LAZ. I love my president Mr. Lungu except I am not happy in the manner LAZ is operating because there are people using it as a legal Body influencing Mr. Lungu to do wrong things and abusing the Body,” he lamented.

He said LAZ should be a professional, independent and reputable legal body but regretted that its President Steven Lungu is surrounded by a few Patriotic Front (PF) individuals who are tarnishing the name of the association.

Mr. Kunda further accused Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata of working with LAZ to undermine government.

The Vice President challenged LAZ to come to his Office and help find best ways of amending some of the archaic laws than concentrating on politically motivated legal matters.

He dismissed calls by both LAZ and some sectors of the society for the resignation of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga.

The Vice President maintained that the DPP has not done anything wrong adding that many legal practitioners were not consulted on the issue of having Mr. Mchenga dismissed.

He said Mr. Mchenga is a well qualified lawyer who enjoys security of tenure.

The Vice President said government shall only accept constructive criticisms and that any departure from that amounts to under-mining government of the day.

ZANIS/

MMD Chairperson for Finance and Economics Ng’andu Magande has said the MMD is still a strong party and the recent losses in the by-elections should not make people lose faith in the party.

Mr Magande said in an interview yesterday the MMD was still strong on the ground and that problems the party was experiencing could be resolved internally.

He said although MMD members were saying the party was currently facing serious problems, he personally felt the issues could easily be sorted out from within the party.

Mr Magande, who is Chilanga member of Parliament, said the MMD was a movement, which should not lose steam just because one or two people were not interested in it.

The former minister of Finance said he was a strong member of the MMD who was extremely comfortable in the ruling party where he had been for a long time and would not join any other party.

“I personally feel the problems our party is facing now are minor and should not derail the MMD. It is something we can sort out as a party.

“The MMD is still strong because even the recent loss in Solwezi Central was just a minor setback which should not portray that the party is finished.

“I have been talking to the people of Solwezi and they have told me that despite losing the Solwezi Central seat, the MMD still remains a strong party on the ground and they still want it,” he said.

Mr Magande said it was wrong for people to think he was a rebel whenever he said something perceived to be contrary to the party.

Mr Magande said the formation of new political parties in the country was not a solution to the problems being faced by the people of Zambia.

He said there were already more than 30 political parties in Zambia and did not think the formation of any more political parties would solve the problems the people of Zambia were facing.

The solution to the country’s problems was not about how many political parties should be there but how focused to national development the leaders were.

[Times of Zambia]

DEPUTY Minister in the office of the Vice-President Gastone Sichilima has called for the immediate resignation of Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) president Stephen Lungu.

Mr Sichilima said yesterday at a Press briefing that Mr Lungu should immediately resign because he was allegedly running the association like a political party.

He said Mr Lungu had allegedly failed to run the affairs of LAZ and was playing to the gallery of some media houses and had turned the association into a political party.

Mr Sichilima said LAZ was supposed to be a professional body that provided means for lawyers to effectively participate in legal matters.

He said as a professional body, the public and the Government relied on LAZ for legal advice. He urged other lawyers to come out in the open and condemn Mr Lungu for his careless statements.

He said by demanding the resignation of Director of Public Prosecution Chalwe Mchenga, LAZ was not protecting one of its members even when it was consulted when the DPP was appointed.

“He should immediately resign as LAZ president because he has no agenda to run the association,” he said.
Mr Lungu said he could not comment because he did not know in what context Mr Sichilima was calling for his resignation.

“I will not comment because I do not know in what context he is saying that and if he is a LAZ member,” he said.

[Times of Zambia]

THE Lusaka High Court has dismissed Lusaka lawyer Kelvin Hang’andu’s petition over the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to withdraw an appeal involving former Republican president Frederick Chiluba.

High Court Judge Gregory Phiri said in his ruling that Mr Hang’andu’s petition was improperly taken to court and that its cause was speculative in nature, form and bore an unclear cause of action.
Mr Justice Phiri said the petitioner’s interest was too remote to sustain a challenge under Article 28 of the Constitution of Zambia.

Mr Hang’andu had petitioned the High Court over DPP Chalwe Mchenga’s withdrawal of the notice of appeal filed by dissolved Taskforce prosecutor, Mutembo Nchito against the acquittal of Dr Chiluba.

He said although the DPP had the authority to stop the appeal against Dr Chiluba’s acquittal, he should have consulted the attorney general before doing so.

“As regards the petitioner’s claim that this petition discloses a cause of action, in my view of my finding, the petition’s interest is too remote to sustain a challenge under Article 28, it will be purely academic to exhaustively discuss this claim and that it is improperly before this court and must be dismissed,” he said.

The judge wondered what facts the petitioner intended to prove in order to attach liabilities to the attorney general when seven of his nine proposed witnesses, including the AG were from the respondent’s side.

He said, according to Mr Hang’andu’s list of witnesses filed before the court, only two proposed witnesses were from outside the respondent’s realm like reporters from The Post newspapers George Chellah and Kennedy Phiri from Muvi TV.

Mr Justice Phiri wondered how the AG, who had been sued, could be the petitioner’s key witness, saying this clearly showed that the petitioner’s cause was speculative in nature.

Solicitor General Abyudi Shonga had submitted that the petitioner had failed to exhibit any proof that he had locus in this matter and that he also failed to show that the petitioner’s rights had been personally affected.

Mr Shonga said the petitioner also failed to show any cause of action he was attempting to disclose and therefore the liability, which he hoped to be attached to the respondents, could neither be seen nor identified.
But Mr Hang’andu, in response to Mr Shonga’s submissions, had argued that he had interest in the criminal trial and that he had shown the discontinuance of the said appeal filed by State prosecutor affected him as a citizen of Zambia.

The petitioner had also contended that when the State or prosecutor filed a criminal prosecution, he had no liberty to discontinue it at his will for it was not only his concern but that of every citizen because crimes were an injury against public welfare.

[Times of Zambia]

First Lady Thandiwe Banda has commended the Chinese government for its investment in Zambia. She urged Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin to woo more investors from his country to Zambia in an effort to develop the country.

Mrs. Banda further commended the Chinese government for identifying Zambia as their preferred destination for investment. The First Lady said this in Lusaka today when she toured Huazhan Manufacturing Company, Huawei Tele-communications and Golden Bridge Hotel to familiarize herself with their operations.

The First Lady was accompanied Vice President George Kunda’s wife, Ireen, ministers’ spouses, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin’s wife Zeng Hongyan and senior members of staff from the Chinese Embassy.

She expressed gratitude at the level of investment the firms have injected into the Zambian economy and hoped that the lives of Zambian people would be accelerated to enjoy the benefit of the investments in the country.

“I’m impressed with the level of investment the Chinese government has injected into our economy. If we had more committed investors like Huazhan Company, Huawei Tele-communications and Golden Bridge Hotel, our people can begin to see a brighter side of life. You would not have come to invest in our economy if the investment climate was not conducive and please continue being a true partner of Zambia,” Mrs Banda said.

She further pointed out that China and Zambia both enjoy warm bilateral relations that have continued to flourish from the 1960s.[quote]

“Such investments we have seen today do contribute massively to the improvement of relations between the two countries. Real partnership demands that both parties benefit and please do carry a massage to other investors back in your country that in Southern Africa, Zambia is on the move into the right direction due to the friendly, supportive and genuine investment initiatives,” Mrs Banda said.

She assured that Zambia is on the right track to becoming a middle income country by the year 2030 as exhibited by the fast rate of development due to government’s political will and fiscal policies.

Meanwhile, Huawei Zambia Managing Director Dajiang Xin revealed that his firm has projected a US$30 billion profit this year compared to US$23 billion in 2008. Mr. Xin further said Huawei has created over 2,000 jobs for the local people and assured that Zambia stands to benefit greatly from China.

He said Huawei is geared to transform the corporate market in the country in a competitive manner but most importantly add value to the Zambian products.

And Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin has disclosed that at least 200 companies from China will come in the country before the end of this year and over 100,000 jobs will be created in Zambia next year.
The Chinese Envoy commended President Rupiah Banda for his good administration and urged the two peoples from both countries to rally behind and support President Banda to finish his vision.

ZANIS

Patriotic Front Leader Michael Sata was last evening on Straight Talk Africa – an international call-in talk show hosted by Shaka Ssali. The show features topics of special interest to Africans, including politics, economic development, press freedom, health, social issues and conflict resolution. Last evening’s topic was :

Can the United States, or any other industrialized nation, compete with China’s growing  influence in Africa?

<p>The other guest, in addition to Mr Sata, was Professor Sharon T. Freeman, President and Founder, All American Small Business Exporters Association Author, China, Africa, and the African Diaspora: Perspectives

Below is the audio of the show. Click on the play button to listen to the show. You can also download the show for both audio or video in case you need to fast forward to the relevant bits.

Right click on the links and Save As.. to save the file on your PC

For Low Bandwidth Download  just The Audio Here:

For others Download the Show Video Here

LUSAKA lawyer, Rodger Chongwe has said it was nonsensical and embarrassing for the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to suggest that his judgment should be registered locally because Zambia is a signatory to the United Nations Human Rights Treaty.

Speaking in an interview from West Australia, Dr Chongwe said yesterday that since Zambia was signatory to United Nations Human Rights Treaty, there was no need to register judgments passed by the United Nations Human Rights Tribunal with the Zambian courts before executing them.

He said judgments which required to be registered were those obtained in individual countries such as the United Kingdom.

“I did not register to the Zambian courts, the Government is aware why. I have the right to go to the UN Tribunal because my country is a signatory and its judgment is not bound to the Zambian courts. There is a difference. It is better for LAZ to understand issues before commenting because these are national matters,” he said.

He said it was not true that the Zambian Government was not represented during proceedings because after judgment was passed, the Government applied to the UN to have it reviewed but the application was rejected.

But LAZ president, Steven Lungu maintained his earlier stance on the registration of Dr Chongwe’s judgment and wondered how else it could be enforced if not registered locally.

“If Dr Chongwe insists that there is no need for registration, then it’s his opinion. I am not misleading the nation, and what LAZ is not comfortable with is the fact that he is involving the president. This is wrong, we have the Ministry of Justice to deal with such matters,” he said.

Dr Chongwe said it was nonsensical and embarrassing for LAZ to suggest that his judgment should be registered locally because the treaty signed was between the UN and Zambia.[quote]

He said the Government should pay him because he was not the first one who would be awarded damages without having the judgment registered locally, claiming that many Zambian convicts who dragged their cases to the UN Tribunal had been awarded damages or had their capital sentences replaced with life imprisonment.
“In 1998, Chiko Bwalya was awarded damages by the Zambian Government after he won the case under the UN Tribunal. His case was not registered, so why should people raise eye-brows over my case? It’s probably they are not studying the cases, these judgments are different as well as their verdicts,” Dr Chongwe said.
The Government should not claim that it was not represented when it had even written to the UN Tribunal requesting to have the order re-opened but the tribunal rejected the request.

Dr Chongwe said then attorney general, Bonaventure Mutale had written to the Zambian Government to support the decision of the UN Treaty and asked it to pay him and this was copied to the UN in Geneva and the International Bar Association.

He said this did not raise any contentions at that time and it was only that the payment was not effected. He saw no reason why the contention should be raised now because the figure had risen.

Dr Chongwe was claiming for US$2.5 million plus interest of $700 per year since 2000 when the verdict was passed in his favour.

The claim results from a shooting incident which happened in Kabwe in 1997. He advised Mr Lungu and people who wanted to understand international law to consult professional international lawyers.

[Times of Zambia]