- The former president of Zambia, Frederick Chiluba, is challenging the government to free his accounts, said to worth around $8 million, which had been frozen when his corruption case was launched.
Mr Chuluba is further filing a complaint against an officer from the office of the Director of Public prosecution, for allegedly unilaterally initiating an appeal against his acquittal without the sanction of such from his superiors.
The court last week found Mr Chiluba not guilty on all counts of corruption amounting to half-a-million US dollars, saying the state had failed to prove its case against the accused. However, two of Mr Chiluba’s co-accused were convicted on the charges.
The acquittal drew different positions from the Zambian sectors, especially the pro-government groupings, which felt the court’s decision was justice failed.
The Zambia’s Task Force Executive chair, Maxwell Nkole, was been fired following the verdict, with the government announcing the appointment of the new Task Force chief as Drug Enforcement Commission Director General, Godfrey Kayukwa.
The Committee for Citizens (CC) also appealed to President Rupiah Banda to fire Mr Nkole and to disband the Task Force for allegedly handling the case against Mr Chiluba in an unsatisfactory way.
Mr Chiluba was facing charges of corruption involving some US$ 500,000, and for allegedly enriching himself with public funds during his stay as the head of state. The court free him last week after saying the prosecution failed to prove its case against him.
The charge against Mr Chiluba was raised in 2003 when the former and the late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa launched an all out anti-corruption campaign, even against his predecessor. Mr Mwanawasa was hand-picked by Mr Chiluba as his successor following his two full terms as the Republican president in Zambia.
Mr Chiluba’s wife, Regina, was given a three and a half jail sentence, in a separate charge, in March this year, for receiving stolen state funds. She is however appealing the sentence.
Mr Chiluba was Zambian president for two terms, having taken over in the return to multi-party democracy in 1991, in the former British colony.
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