Rights CSO demands clarity on Lusambo cases

By Charles Musonda

ZAMBIA Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) executive director Isaac Mwanza has called on the government to clearly state its position on cases involving incarcerated former Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo.

Mwanza said in an interview that all prosecutions carried out by law enforcement agencies were executed in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and urged authorities to provide transparency to maintain public confidence in the justice system.

“The DPP is the rightful person who makes decisions on matters of prosecution, so when we hear the contradictions in one breath, the DPP says they have discontinued, and the ACC [Anti-Corruption Commission] says the properties remain forfeited. It brings confusion in the public mind as to what exactly the law enforcement agencies and the chief prosecutor of the government are saying,” he said.

Mwanza said it was highly confusing that the decisions coming from the ACC and the DPP were contradicting themselves over the Lusambo’s property.

“Yes, we know that they can put a forfeiture order, but that forfeiture order is not sufficient if the property is challenged in court, the property cannot be disposed of and cannot be utilised by the State. It cannot be fully forfeited by the State until the court makes a decision, but where there is a challenge, the property cannot be utilised by the State for any other purpose until the matter is confirmed by the court,” Mwanza said.

He said it was saddening that the ACC and DPP Gilbert Phiri were spying on each other in public instead of speaking with a single voice on the case.

“So, we are sad to see this contradiction as to what is happening with this matter of Bowman Lusambo, we know he is incarcerated, he may have his own inadequacies to prosecute the matter fully but the truth of the matter is that the State must come out clear on what their position is on the case because we know the ACC cannot do anything in terms of prosecution unless the DPP authorises. They cannot discontinue, they cannot stop, forfeit, unless the DPP declines, but where there is a challenge, the property cannot be utilised by the State for any other purpose until the matter is confirmed by the court,” Mwanza said.