Zambia has a lesson to teach us
The headline on the internet caught my eye and I could not resist. The temptation to write was just too great. Son of Zambian ex-president jailed two years for graft. “Zambian ex-diplomat and son of former president Rupiah Banda was on Friday sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of corruption.” (AFP) …
The headline on the internet caught my eye and I could not resist. The temptation to write was just too great.
Son of Zambian ex-president jailed two years for graft. “Zambian ex-diplomat and son of former president Rupiah Banda was on Friday sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of corruption.” (AFP)
So there are still places in Africa, where, no matter who you are, who you are related to, what ‘connections’ you may have or what political party you belong to, if you are found guilty of corruption or any criminal activity, you do get thrown in jail. Wow! I was beginning to lose hope.
The fact that he is an ex-diplomat did not save him; that he is the son of a former president did not save him. He was found guilty of corruption, and that was it. To quote Yahoo, “Andrew Banda, 53, was arrested in 2012 on charges of soliciting a kickback from Italian company Fratelli Locci, which was awarded a contract to build roads.” He was also found guilty of being unable to account for $63 000 found in his possession, “…which is suspected to have been proceeds of criminal activities.”
The father’s name is Rupiah Banda, his son is Andrew Banda and the magistrate who sentenced him is Joshua Banda. So, no matter who your father is, it does not protect you in Zambia. Does this set a benchmark for us, or what? Hooray for Zambia! Do you ever see that happening in South Africa? I think not. It would have been explained away by The Department of Explanations as having been some huge mistake and that we, the public, just don’t understand the way things work.
What? There isn’t a Department of Explanations, a DoE, or a College of Corruption? You could have fooled me. So many seem to have degrees in the profession. Then today we find that the DA wants to impeach Zuma if the Public Protector’s report finds him guilty of wrongdoing. Hey, this is South Africa, not Zambia and as I said, the DoE will ‘explain’ to us how we just do not understand these things. ‘Nuff said.
Errol Clarke
