MONDAY 12.30PM:
ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba has turned down an appeal from President Nelson Mandela to pardon former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda and to guarantee his safe return home.
The Sunday Times of Zambia reported that Mandela telephoned Chiluba asking him to forgive any offences that Kaunda may have committed, and to allow him back into the country safely.
However, Chiluba allegedly turned Mandela’s request down, saying that he could not intervene in the matter as it is a police investigation. The Zambian police want to question Kaunda on his alleged role in the October coup attempt. Kaunda had left the country just days before the coup to attend the coronation of King Letsie III in Lesotho, and has since been too afraid to return. He has been travelling since then, with stops in Zimbabwe, Britain, the United States and now Malawi.
The newspaper quotes a source close to Chiluba as saying: “Mandela asked President Chiluba to guarantee Kaunda’s safety when he returns home to Zambia, but Chiluba cannot — there are other arms of government which are investigating the case. The law does not allow the president to interfere in any investigations.”
Kaunda’s son Wezi, meanwhile, has claimed that police are planning to arrest his father when he returns home.