Frederick Chiluba and Kenneth Kaunda are allegedly involved in a deal to quash court cases involving their nationality. Anthony Kunda reports
ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba and former president Kenneth Kaunda are allegedly involved in secret negotiations which could result in the petition against Chiluba’s nationality and re-election being withdrawn from the supreme court.
The petition was brought shortly after Zambia’s elections last November by a coalition of opposition parties, including Kaunda’s United National Independence Party (Unip).
Kaunda, who also has a petition coming up against him in the court in a few weeks, could have the case withdrawn.
Remmy Mushota, former legal minister in Chiluba’s government, and Patrick Katyoka, a prominent member of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), have petitioned the supreme court contending that Kaunda is a Malawian citizen because his parents originally came from Malawi, and that he has never renounced his Malawian citizenship properly.
According to a constitutional amendment instituted by Chiluba, no one with parents who are not Zambian is allowed to become president.
Revelations of the clandestine political- cum-legal trade-off first came to light this week in the government-owned Sunday Mail newspaper. Representatives of Chiluba and Kaunda have reportedly been meeting in secret locations to hammer out the deal.
But when confronted with the revelations, both camps denied such talks taking place. Kaunda’s press secretary Muhabi Lungu said he was not aware of such talks. Lungu said Kaunda would not agree to such a trade-off because, in his view, the two cases would have different outcomes. He said Kaunda is not afraid of the petition against him because he is “a Zambian through and through”.
Besides, Lungu pointed out that the trade- off would be untenable because the petition against Chiluba involves other parties apart from Unip.
Chiluba’s press relations assistant, Richard Sakala, said: “State House has never made any manoeuvres to try to have a settlement with anybody on the matter. This matter is in court.”
Sakala said the petition against Kaunda was instituted by private individuals, and Chiluba’s government had nothing to do with it. But some political analysts have said it is noteworthy that both Mushota and Katyoka, until late last year, were among Chiluba’s close lieutenants.
A few days before the revelations of the trade-off came to light, close aides of Chiluba’s reportedly visited Kaunda’s house on an undisclosed mission. When one of them was asked, he said: “Ask the people who were visited.”
l Jailed special projects editor of The Post newspaper, Masautso Phiri, has appealed to the Zambian Supreme Court to have his three months’ imprisonment reviewed, arguing, among other things, that his incarceration is unlawful.
Phiri, who has chosen to represent himself rather than hire a professional lawyer, has filed a 27-point affidavit in the supreme court. He contends that his case merits review because the criminal procedure code was not followed in sentencing him to prison, and that he has differences with three of the seven supreme court judges who sat in judgment over his case two weeks ago.