jobless’ man
Anthony Kunda
ZAMBIA’S President Frederick Chiluba may be a national of the newly named Democratic Republic of Congo, and as such ineligible to hold his position.
Samples of Chiluba’s hair were secretly obtained and sent to laboratories in Johannesburg and London for DNA testing, according to The Post, the country’s only independent daily newspaper.
The hair was matched against samples from Luka Chabala Kafupi, originally a Congolese national, who claims to be Chiluba’s father.
“Four separate DNA test results from respectable laboratories in Johannnesburg and London carried out on the two samples have provided a positive genetic match, and there is little doubt that Kafupi is in fact Chiluba’s father,” anonymous sources said in the newspaper.
The sources did not name the laboratories or the doctors involved in the testing because of what were said to be security reasons.
Under the country’s laws, a person of foreign parentage is not eligible to be president and the supreme court is at present considering a petition filed by five opposition parties challenging the legality of Chiluba’s re-election last November on the grounds that his father was not a Zambian.
Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, now leading the opposition United National Independence Party, was astonished at the report of the secret tests.
“I don’t know who has done it,” he said. “But I congratulate them, especially that they have succeeded.”
Rodger Chongwe, leader of the Liberal Progressive Front which is also joined in the petition, said: “Some concerned citizens want to see justice done. If they come forward to offer evidence we will accept it.”
Chiluba’s lawyers – Eric Silwamba and Vincent Malambo, both of whom are members of his Cabinet – have not said whether they would challenge the admissibility of such evidence in court.
Sakwiba Sikota, one of the petitioners’ lawyers, said such evidence was acceptable. “The law as it stands in Zambia is that illegally obtained evidence is admissible in court,” he said.
However, Daniel Lisulo, another petition lawyer, expressed doubt whether the Supreme Court would admit such evidence.
He said: “The problem is that you cannot take a sample without consent and if such evidence was available, it is likely the court would refuse [to hear it].”
Early in the petition hearing, Kafupi testified that he was the biological father of the president and was ready to undergo a DNA test to prove it. He said he fathered Chiluba, but he could not marry Chiluba’s mother because her relatives hated him for being “short, poor and jobless”.
Three weeks ago, Chongwe told the press that four doctors were ready to carry out DNA tests, if the court ordered it.