Calls for convicted UPND councilor to stop serving

By Daily Revelation Editor

UPND members in Kafue have brought to the public fore information that one of their own councillors in the district, Likolonge ward councillor Emmanuel Moonga, has continued to perform his duties despite a court conviction against him over gender based violence.

Moonga of course appealed against that two-year conviction in the higher court, but his party critics argue that as opposed to the many in PF who have not had the opportunity to be granted bail pending appeal, he was granted one. They insist that his seat should have actually been declared vacant, but he was being protected by party leaders who view him as a potential candidate for higher office in the district.

For his part, Moonga has dismissed his critics, and boasted that they were against him because of his popularity in the area.

Adding to the calls against Moonga, PF deputy secretary general and Lundazi member of parliament (MP) Brenda Nyirenda said the UPND will pay heavily for disregarding the law over Moonga’s continued service despite a court conviction against him.

There is an element of truth in the concerns being raised by the officials in both the UPND members and Nyirenda on the double standards when talking about how the conviction of Moonga and those in the PF have been handled. Worth noting especially, is the observation coming from UPND members who are denouncing the double standards they said they had noticed, albeit on an off-the-record basis.

There are several examples of PF leaders who have been convicted and whose applications for bail pending appeal have been flatly rejected by the courts of law. In saying so, we are not suggesting that these PF members are innocent. If they committed crimes, they deserve to serve their convictions and jail terms actually. However, if the cases they have been convicted upon are bailable, we wonder why it has become a common trend to deny them the right to seek the same bail pending appeal of their cases. The seeming normalisation of that trend is what is making Nyirenda and the UPND members to raise the questions which they are raising.

In fact, the move to declare the seats of PF members who have been convicted has been very swift, with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) correspondingly moving along speedily to announce elections in constituencies where those members are coming from.

There is also another aspect that needs mentioning. The Mfuwe parliamentary by-election is going ahead despite the appeal by former area member of parliament Maureen Mabonga, one of the few who has been granted bail pending appeal.

It is such double standards which are making people to raise the questions they are raising over the what appears to be an unfair system prevailing in the country.