By IPS Correspondents
LUSAKA, Aug 19 2003 (IPS)

As Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa’s anti-corruption moves into high gear, he himself has been accused of several charges of corruption – not in court though, but in the supreme lawmaking body – the national assembly.

Last week opposition legislators, calling themselves the Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on the Defence of the Constitution and Good Governance, successfully tabled a motion in parliament to impeach the president. They accused him of 25 counts of "gross violation of the constitution, corruption, nepotism" and "blatant disregard of the laid-down government procedure in awarding tenders".

The charges include claims that Mwanawasa violated the constitution when he appointed tele-evangelist and failed presidential aspirant Nevers Mumba as his vice president. The Zambian law does not allow for a person who lost an election to take up such a position.

The unprecedented motion took politicians by surprise and caused a split in the 159-seat house with some members of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) siding with the opposition. Crucially for Mwanawasa was the 32-page document that his former vice-president Enock Kavindele laid on the table which claims that Mwanawasa pocketed 60,000 U.S. dollars through his connivance with a named nephew to sell government 30,000 tonnes of maize at an inflated price. The alleged deal occurred at a time when there was a ban on imports due to a bumper harvest.

The impeachment motion was inevitably thrown out through a vote and the government claimed victory. But the opposition says its purpose has been served as it has made in-roads into Mwanawasa’s attempt at sainthood through his anti-corruption crusade.

Chief whip Crispin Sibetta of the opposition United Party for National Development said the impeachment process sent a strong message in Africa and also set a precedent in Zambia.

"What this shows is that no one including the president is untouchable. It shows that people are ready and willing to take corrective action where there is a wrong and most importantly, shows that people are taking an active interest in how they are being governed. For Mwanawasa, it shows that he too is as corrupt as his predecessor."

The fact that the opposition MPs were allowed to present the impeachment motion which required 57 signatures was a feat in itself. The legislators boycotted parliament for five days last week, forcing the Speaker to allow them present the motion. Although it was defeated 92 to 57, the motion compelled the Speaker to appoint a Supreme Court tribunal to look into the allegations.

Political analysts expected the government machinery to go to work and stop the motion in its tracks. "But it appears Mwanawasa was quite comfortable because he knows the MMD has the majority in parliament, including those in the opposition whom he won over with cabinet positions," says Alfred Banda, a law lecturer.

George Kunda, minister of legal affairs and attorney general, says the impeachment motion, which he describes as "baseless, reckless, malicious and badly drafted", represented a sad day in the history of Zambia. "The movers of the motion knew it would not succeed and did this merely to ridicule our beloved head of state," he says.

Government Chief Whip Eric Silwamba, a lawyer, says the law that allows for impeachment ought to be revisited because it was bound to be abused by legislators with political scores to settle. This was in apparent reference to the MMD legislatures, including former vice-president Kavindele, who have had run-ins with the present government and voted with the opposition.

But Kavindele told IPS that the contents of the motion, which accused the president of the very charges he is persecuting others, are not frivolous and need investigation. "Lets not pre-occupy ourselves with other matters, it is the content that we should concern ourselves with and these are extremely serious allegations. We are setting a bad precedent because we are failing to question one section of the leadership, while we seemingly harass others."

The Caucus decided to use parliament rather than courts to impeach Mwanawasa because the Supreme Court petition over the results of the 2001 presidential elections, which the opposition declared illegal, is "still cooking". And no one knows when that case will be disposed of.

"There are some issues that can only be brought up in parliament and not in court and also MPs are protected from prosecution when discussing issues in parliament," Sibetta says.

The Caucus, says Sibetta, has a ten-point plan that it will follow through until Mwanawasa, who was handpicked by Frederick Chiluba to succeed him in Dec. 2001, is removed from office. "We have not exhausted our options, the impeachment in parliament was just one," he says.

Chiluba, who ruled Zambia between 1991 and 2001, is also facing corruption charges.

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