High level convictions, justice, accountability or partisan politics

The the recent conviction and jailing of high level personalities have striggered debates on various platforms on the sincerity of the government in dealing with corruption.

Last week former Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji was sentenced to four years in prison with hard labour after being convicted of corruption.

Malanji was found guilty on seven counts of buying properties, including helicopters with yoney believed to be the proceeds of crime.

His co-accused, former treasury secretary Fredson Yamba, received a three-year jail term for authorising the movement of more than $8m (£6m) to Zambia’s diplomatic mission in Turkey without justifying the expense.

Meanwhile, a number of ministers in former President Edgar Lungu’s government have been convicted of various offences, but Malanji is the most high-profile of them.

President Hakainde Hichilema promised to root out corruption when he swept to power four years ago after defeating Lungu in elections.

Lungu and his party, the Patriotic Front (PF), have accused him of waging a political vendetta.

Meanwhile, analyst have responded to the scenario with mixed sentiments saying there is a thin line between prosecution and persecution among people believed to be sworn enemies.

Patriotic Front vice president Given Lubinda told journalists that no member of his party is safe under UPND.

“All of us are walking potential victims for what you say and now even for what you think. Because under the governance of UPND, unfortunately even your thoughts, just your thoughts can lead you to prison,” he charged.

For him, Malanji’s four-year sentence is part of a wider campaign to cripple the PF ahead of 2026.

However, Nalolo MP Imanga Wamunyima, who sits on the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, proferred a different lens.

He recalled how as early as 2022, the Committee flagged irregularities in the Turkish chancery deal now at the heart of Malanji’s case.

“On 24th December 2020, Government entered into a sales contract worth $19.5 million, but failed to execute it fully.

“Proof of payments only covered $6.87 million, leaving an outstanding balance of $12.6 million by May 2022. Today, we read it was withdrawn from the counter, proper grand theft,” he wrote.

He added that testimony shows the scandal was documented long before UPND took office pointing out that these were not invented charges.

They were in Auditor General’s reports, examined in Parliament, and questioned by oversight bodies, he said.

Wamunyima added: “When we travelled to Turkey as a committee, our colleagues there could not comprehend how a small economy like Zambia’s could sustain such blatant scandals.

“To them, it was unbelievable and frankly, we became a laughing stock. This Court outcome therefore restores our dignity on the front of diplomacy and international relations.”

Apparently, political watcher and veteran journalist Charles Chisala says the convicts are being viewed as criminals or victims of political persecution depending on one’s political alignment.

He warns that if the country is to weed out greedy and impunity the issue should be looked at with an objective eye and not a subjective one.

He says the facts should be the base for argument as opposed to merely jumping to conclusions.

Chisala adds that leadership should always come with accountability, adding that embezzlement of public funds must not be rewarded but punished.