Hakainde’s massage of Kakubo’s exit

By Daily Revelation Editor

Former president Edgar Lungu issued a statement days ago, like many others, condemning the ‘massaged’ manner in which President Hakainde Hichilema handled the exit of former Foreign Affairs minister Stanley Kakubo from cabinet.

Edgar said he was compelled to comment on Hakainde’s continued shielding of his ministers and other senior government officials from corruption allegations while at the same time proclaiming that there will be no sacred cows in his fight against corruption.

Edgar said very serious allegations have been revealed against Kakubo whom he merely thanked for resigning his position after the allegations were made public, and that when Stanley was first accused it was Hakainde and not the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to declare him as innocent.

We agree with Edgar when he calls Hakainde’s corruption fight as double standards, and as nothing more than a sham.

It appears that when Hakainde talks about corruption, in his mind it is the corruption that happened during the PF administration. It seems the definition of corruption in Hakainde’s mind is ‘PF corruption’ and nothing else. Because how does one explain the meek manner he has handled corruption allegations against Stanley and other senior officials in his administration?

Wasn’t this the same Hakainde who said with his own mouth that there would be no sacred cows in his fight against corruption, and that as opposed to Edgar he would not allow corruption accused officials to remain in office but would ask them to step aside? Alas, how many current serving officials in his government are facing active investigations before the ACC and other investigative wings? We do not even need to belabor mentioning them as these are people that have been mentioned in the stories we have been carrying, including those being carried by the other media organisations.

Why are these senior government officials serving in his administration? Doesn’t this give them room to maneuver and temper with the investigations using the same offices they hold as Hakainde himself once declared with his own mouth? Does it mean that Hakainde has no confidence in his own investigative wings that he shows so much contempt for the work they are doing? Does corruption only matter or qualify to be called corruption only to individuals Hakainde does not like?

The legislation that he signed to enable corruption cases to be tried within five months, is it meant for PF leaders or it is a piece of legislation aimed at holistically fighting corruption in the country? Because his own remarks that some were trying to derail the cases in the hopes of “alebwelelapo” coming to power, are in themselves subjective. Does he mean to say that even the corrupt in the UPND administration will have to wait for alebwelelapo to come back to power and be saved? We don’t think so. No wonder our firm position that the statement was clearly directed towards those who served in the PF administration.

And we have stated before that someone who is really genuinely committed towards fighting corruption would want to set themselves as an example of openness and transparency. They should ensure they do all it takes to make themselves transparent before the people they lead. Hakainde says he is fighting corruption but he’s hiding the valuation of his assets from the people. Why is he scared to be transparent by simply declaring his assets so that the people he wants to project a corrupt free personality to can keep track of the accumulation of his assets? A person who is really committed towards leading a transparent life should not wait for the enactment of the law to compel them to declare their assets regularly before the people they lead. You can’t demand accountability from others when you fail to be accountable yourself. That is living a lie, a pure definition of hypocrisy!

It should be even more worrying for Hakainde that Edgar, whom Zambians punished heavily for leading what they saw as a corrupt administration, is today seen to be holding the moral high ground over Hakainde on this matter. Some are even pointing to the fact that Edgar did not have to wait for several of his ministers to resign so that he could ‘accept and thank them for their leadership’, but that he was the one who took the initiative to fire Margaret Mwanakatwe, Felix Mutati, Emerine Kabanshi, David Mabumba, Chitalu Chilufya and Moses Mawere, among the others he fired.

Everyone knows that it is more dishonorable and shameful when one is fired rather than waiting for one to resign so that ‘you can accept and thank them for their leadership’, as that gives them an opportunity to bounce back unscratched at some later date.