Zambia’s former president, Frederick Chiluba, returns to court on Friday for judgement in a drawn-out trial on accusations of corruption and theft of public funds totalling $500 000
The 66-year-old, Zambia’s second post-independence leader, is accused of siphoning public funds during his decade-long stint as president until he retired in 2001.
The embattled former leader faces a jail term of between three and five years, in what became one of Africa’s most high-profile corruption cases after he first went on trial in December 2003.
The proceedings were dropped nearly a year later, but Chiluba was re-arrested and returned to the dock in November 2004, while facing a separate civil claim lodged in a British court by the Zambian government.
The Lusaka trial has been bogged down by legal technicalities and Chiluba’s poor health, with travel restrictions eased in 2006 to allow him to seek medical treatment in South Africa.
His spokesperson, Emmanuel Mwamba, said on Thursday that Chiluba — who maintains the charges are a political prosecution against him — will attend court on Friday.
”Yes I can confirm that we are going to court on Friday. We have to oblige,” Mwamba said.
The former head of the copper-rich state, whose population is among the world’s poorest, suffers from an acute cardiac complication and kidney failure.
A ruling was deferred last month after Chiluba, who faces the graft charges alongside two other businessmen, failed to file written submissions in time to the court for consideration in the judgement.
In 2007, the London High Court found Chiluba guilty of defrauding the Zambian government using London-based bank accounts and ruled that he should be denied access to his pension and properties in Ndola.
Chiluba has taken his fight to stop the local registration of the London judgement to the Zambian Supreme Court.
During the London case, the judge pointed to Chiluba’s extravagant tastes and said Zambians should know that Chiluba’s flashy suits were paid with money stolen from them by the former president.
Chiluba — who officially earned about $100 000 during his time in power — had hundreds of custom-made shirts bearing his monogram and ”signature” shoes with raised heels.
The former leader was targeted after his handpicked successor, the late Levy Mwanawasa, embarked on an anti-corruption campaign in Zambia and stripped his former mentor of immunity against prosecution.
His wife, Regina, was sentenced earlier this year to three-and-a-half years for receiving stolen property. She is appealing the sentence. — Sapa-AFP