Veteran politician and Lawyer, John Mwanakatwe, has died.

Mr. Mwanakatwe died on Sunday at the University Teaching Hospital-UTH- in Lusaka where he had been admitted for the last three months.

UTH Managing Director, Dr. Peter Mwaba, has confirmed the death of Mr. Mwanakatwe.

And former Freedom Fighter Isaac Chileshe has described the death of John Mumpanga Mwanakatwe as a great loss to both the nation and his family.

Mr. Chileshe said Mr Mwanakatwe was the first education minister who left office without stealing anything and was also part for those who formulated the system of better education for the underprivileged Zambians at the time.

He was one of the few architects of Zambian politics who worked tirelessly to ensure that Zambia was independent.[quote]

Mr Chileshe said Africa has lost a great son in Mr Mwanakatwe.

He added that Mr Mwanakatwe should be remembered by all Zambians as a hero who made his contribution to the development of Zambia and that history can not complete without mentioning the late politician and academician.

He led the Constitution review commission in the Chiluba led Government which was also a huge contribution to the current constitution making process.

Mr Chileshe described Mr Mwanakatwe as a selfless leader, a beacon of courage and hope in the national life of the country.

Mr. Mwanakatwe who served in various positions during the first Republic was Zambia’s first education Minister.

He also served as chancellor of the University of Zambia.

The Committee of Citizens (CC) says it is disappointed with the manner Task Force Chairman Max Nkole has continued to mislead the nation over second Republican President Fredrick Chiluba’s judgment.

CC Executive Director, Gregory Chifire says the CC is dismayed with a story in one of the tabloids purporting that Mr Nkole has appealed against the judgment in Dr Chiluba’s judgment.

Mr Chifire explained that the Task Force has no legal right to sue on any Government Legal matters and that according to article 56(4)(6), the constitution only mandates the Director of Public Prosecution with such matters.

He said this in a media statement obtained by ZANIS in Lusaka today.

Mr Chifire said Mr Nkole cannot attain these duties using whatever methods as that would be illegal and could amount to an attempt to create constitution anarchy.

He said he is disappointed with the manner Mr Nkole has been misleading the nation on many legal matters and has since urged President Rupiah Banda to relieve the Task Force Chairman of his duties before embarrassing himself on matters of law.

Mr Chifire further said calls by Mr Nkole that the Task Force now wants to pursue the Carlington maize saga and the arms deal should not be entertained as it is only meant to justify their existence.[quote]

He wondered why the Task Force on corruption did not want to pursue the above named cases together with the other cases if they were very important.

The CC Executive Director said if the Zambian people wanted to pursue these cases , there were legally mandated institutions such as the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) that could pursue the matter and not the Task Force.

He has advised Mr Nkole against using blackmail in order to justify the existence of the task force.

He said time has come for the Task Force to be disbanded so that the already existing investigating and prosecuting wings of Government can be empowered to enhance their operations.

Mr Chifire further charged that claims by Mr Nkole are only driven by the huge allowances he and his colleagues in the Task Force were getting and not by the desire for service to the Zambian people.

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TASKFORCE on Corruption executive chairperson Maxwell Nkole has said his organisation will pursue the case of US $20 million arms deal and the Carlington maize saga for as long as it has the mandate.

A non-governmental organisation has, however, called for the disbandment of the organisation following the acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba saying it has outlived its usefulness.

Mr Nkole said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that $28 million was a lot of money for Zambians to forego hence the resolve by the Taskforce to pursue the two issues to their logic conclusion.[quote]

Mr Nkole said all those calling for the disbandment of the entity should tell Zambians how they intended to pursue the two scandals saying the Taskforce’s preoccupation was to recover the funds and prosecute whoever benefited from them in any way.

He said that on the Carlington maize deal involving $8 million, the whereabouts of one of the two masterminds, Alexander Legalt, a Canadian, have been discovered while the other one, Arri Ben Menashe, an Arabian, was still on the run.

“These are the two key people whom we have been hunting for since 2003 and it has not been easy because these are trans-national crimes,” he said.

He said that the organisation had received information that Legalt was in jail in one of the states in American and would face another sentence on October 10 this year for brokering other fraudulent deals.

Mr Nkole reiterated that the $8 million was obtained from the Zambian Government for the procurement of the maize but the commodity was never delivered.

On the $20 million arms deals, Mr Nkole said that the Zambian Government paid out $20 million for the purchase of arms but the weapons were never delivered to Zambia.

He said but the Taskforce had now established where the money was deposited in one of the banks in Europe and could not just move in until after their requests were responded to by the relevant wings of the involved country.

On the disbandment, Mr Nkole said that he had no problem with that if the people of Zambia and the appointing authority decided that doing away with the entity was the route to take.

He said he was aware that the Taskforce had been under threat since 2006 but for as long as it remained with the mandate, it would continue discharging its responsibilities by pursuing all the cases lined up.

[Times of Zambia]

Government has expressed happiness with the remarkable progress made in the phase one of the continuous mobile issuance of National Registration Card (NRC) in three provinces.

Home Affairs Minister Lameck Mangani says this is why government decided to increase the budgetary allocation for the exercise in next year’s budget.

Mr. Managani was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.

He disclosed that in Eastern Province alone, more than 120 thousand people had registered, while in North-Western and Western Provinces over 100 thousand people have registered.

Mr. Mangani said in next year’s budget government will allocate over K50 billion to ensure that phase two of the exercise in the remaining six provinces was successful.

He assured people in other parts of country not to panic because the mobile issuance of NRC’s was on-going and would be conducted in all the districts including areas that are said not to be reachable.[quote]

The Minister said despite the challenges that officers face in carrying out their duties in areas especially those that where affected by floods in the last rainy season, government will find a way to ensure that such areas are also served.

Mr. Mangani has since appealed to people in the country not to wait for the mobile registration exercise but ensure that they obtain their NRCs where the registration officers are within reach.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mangani has said that government is seriously considering the matter of a Mazabuka woman who is in prison with her 10 months year old baby.

He stated that government will look at how best it can deal with the issue to address the plight of the innocent child.

The Minister has however, noted that government would also discuss with various organizations to ensure that the child’s rights are protected.

Committee of Citizens (CC) has described calls by some sectors of the society for the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to appeal against the acquittal of former President Fredrick Chiluba as retrogressive.

Committee Executive Director Gregory Chifire says calls should not be supported by all meaningful Citizens adding that they are aimed at bringing a burden to country’s strained financial resources.

Mr. Chifire told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka that, it would be expensive for government allow the DPP to appeal against the ruling as the exercise would require more resources for the cases to be effectively investigated.

He noted that people in the country should be happy with the acquittal as it shows how independent the Zambian judiciary was.

He said the judgment must be seen as a symbol of reconciliation and help the nation move forward.

Mr.Chifire stated that people are now supposed to urge government to consider disbanding the Task Force on Corruption for being selective in the way it was handling the corruption cases.

He pointed out that ever since it was created,the Task force had failed to investigate other serious and important cases such as the Zambian Airways and the ZCCM assets privatization which involved billions of United State Dollars but instead has concentrated so much on Dr. Chiluba.

He said the Task force’s sentiments that Dr. Chiluba’s immunity should not be restored because he has not yet been cleared on other counts are meant to bring confusion in the country.

Mr. Chifire explained that continued existence of the institution that was mandated to investigate the former President would mean more money being drained from government coffers instead of channeling such funds to other important developmental programmes.

He said of allowing the Task Force to continue, government must instead strengthen the Zambia Police, Anti Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission.

In another development CC Executive Director has called on the church in the country not to be partisan but instead offer constructive criticism to government only when it is necessary.

Mr. Chifire said it was important for the church to strive at ensuring that it encourages peace and reconciliation among the citizens in the country.

And The New Generation Party (NGP) has asked government not to appeal against the ruling in which Former Second Republican President Dr. Frederick Chiluba was acquitted last week.[quote]

And the Party has called for the dissolution of the Task Force on Corruption following the acquittal of Dr. Chiluba.

Party President Humphrey Siulapwa says appealing against the court ruling is detrimental and will be a waste of time as it might also take long before the matter could be concluded..

Mr. Siulapwa said his party had welcomed the court ruling and has since congratulated the former president over his acquittal.

Mr. Siulapwa said this at a media briefing in Lusaka today.

He said the judgment was a plus to the Zambian judiciary especially that it has taken about seven years to conclude the matter.

He appealed to Zambians to accept the court decision saying they should not be mislead by the media and other people who have personal differences with the former President.

Mr. Siulapwa said Dr. Chiluba had the right to ask for the restoration of his immunity now that he has been cleared of all the charges.

He said his party will make an effort to ensure that the former president gets back his immunity although this was dependant on parliament.

Meanwhile Mr. Siulapwa has appealed to government not to domesticate the London judgment.

He said there was need for the country to start respecting its former Presidents by not entertaining any call to have them judged by foreign courts.

“We need to protect our Presidents. Like the US and Britain, we should not allow them to be judged by foreign courts,” he said.

On the Task Force on Corruption, Mr. Siulapwa said there was need for its dissolution especially that former Second Republican President Dr. Chiluba’s case was closed last week.

He said there was no possibility that the Task Force on Corruption would recover any more money from the cases it was pursuing.

Mr. Siulapwa has further castigated the Post Newspaper for their continued attack on the former president despite him having been cleared by the courts of law.

He said it was not good for the Post to be writing misleading stories against the former President when the courts had acquitted him.

The opposition leader said it was for this purpose that his party supports the call by government to have the media regulated.

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