Parley anxious to hear government’s stance on Chiluba’s London Judgment

Lusaka, February 20, ZANIS…….Members of Parliament have begun mounting pressure on government on the registration of the London High Court judgment which found Frederick Chiluba and others liable for theft of about US $46 million public funds during his reign as President of Zambia.

On the first day of sitting this year, Members were anxious to hear whether government had plans to have the London judgement registered or not.

Kabompo West Member of Parliament Ambrose Lufuma rose up and asked the Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba whether Government has any plans to enforce the London High Court Judgment involving Dr. Chiluba and others.

And Justice Minister stated that government was seriously pondering on registering the Late President Chiluba’s London judgment which found the Former Head, Frederick Chiluba and others of state guilty of misusing the national coffers.

Dr Chiluba and seven others were convicted in the London High Court judgment by Judge Peter Smith but the registration of the judgment has been elusive.

The Justice Minister told Parliament yesterday that registration of the judgment has taken government too long because it involves a long process following the death of Dr. Chiluba who was a defendant.

Mr. Kabimba said that the Patriotic Front is too allergic to corruption and will make sure that the matter is pursued but noted that it will take time to conclude.

He said government will consider consulting stakeholders and will inform the House on the proceeding of the case.

 Mr. Chiluba faced a London civil court judgment in 2007 after he was accused of stealing $500,000 from the national coffers. In that case, Justice Peter Smith of the High Court ruled that the former president owed Zambia $57 million for, among other things, expenditures from a secret intelligence agency bank account in London that was "set up primarily to steal government money."

In his judgment the judge concluded that though Mr. Chiluba had a salary of only about $10,000 a year during his decade in office, he spent more than $500,000 in a single shop, Boutique Basile, in Geneva. The shop owner, Antonio Basile, testified in 2008 that payment for the clothes sometimes arrived in suitcases stuffed with cash. President Chiluba died last year.