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Chaponda’s arrest dents DPP—analysts

Political commentators have said the arrest of former minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda signifies the existence of high-level corruption in government.

In separate interviews after the Blantyre Magistrate’s Court granted Chaponda and his suspected accomplice bail last evening, the analysts cautioned the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to take the arrest of its vice-president responsible for its Southern Region stronghold as a wake-up call.

Tayub (C) and Chaponda (R) on arrival at the court Thursday

Political scientist Mustafa Hussein observed that Chaponda’s arrest has sent imperfect indicators not only to the DPP, but government as a whole in view of the position that he holds in the party and held in government before his dismissal.

He said: “It has an impact on government. The fact that he was dismissed as a minister and has now been arrested and charged reflects very badly on the party.

“It has also shown that even in higher levels, corrupt practises tend to exist, therefore, the DPP needs to take this as a wake-up call among its rank and file because it sends a strong signal.”

People jotle to enter the courtroom 

On the other hand, Mzuzu-based political analyst Charles Kajoloweka, who has been one of the vocal citizens against Chaponda in the Zambia maize imports saga, said politically the arrest “becomes an indelible stamp of corruption on the DPP as a party”.

He said: “So, it is up to the party to redeem itself from this indelible mark of corruption. It should also be a reminder to President [Peter] Mutharika to demonstrate that he means what he says that his government champions zero tolerance of corruption.”

However, Kajoloweka, who is the executive director of Youth and Society (YAS), said the arrest also gives an opportunity to Mutharika and his party to stamp out corruption.

He said: “If a powerful politician like Chaponda could be arrested and taken to task it means the current administration demonstrates some political will. It has an opportunity to send a different message that it is there to fight corruption tooth and nail and that Mutharika is not party to the current scheme of corruption scandals taking place in government.”

Kajoloweka further said the arrest has also sent a strong message that if voices are put together and the public remains resilient in demanding accountability from duty bearers, everything is possible.

“What we have witnessed shows that government is acting out of public pressure because everybody has been looking for answers on the issue,” he said.

But Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi, who is also the official government spokesperson, said he hoped Chaponda’s arrest will put to rest assumptions that the graft-busting institution, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), applies selective justice.

He said: “I hope those people will now be fair to say its better to be patient and give chance to the ACB to do their thorough investigations because the perception of selective justice has been defeated. Hopefully, people will now begin giving chance to the investigative and prosecutorial authorities to do their work according to the Constitution.”

The ACB arrested Chaponda, regarded as one of the influential politicians in DPP, alongside his two accomplices on Wednesday after they handed themselves over following their summoning.

The former minister, who is Mulanje South West member of Parliament (MP), spent a night at Blantyre Police Station together with businessperson Rashid Tayub, director of Transglobe Produce Export.

The third suspect, Grace Mijiga Mhango, who was arrested in Lilongwe, also spent a night at Lilongwe Police Station before she was given court bail earlier in the day.

 

 

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