Top 5 PF Scandals Of The Past 12 Months
We’re barely two weeks into 2021 and already another Patriotic Front scandal is dominating the headlines. Disgraced health minister and serial offender Dr Chitalu Chilufya has recently been sacked from his cabinet position for involvement in the HoneyBee procurement scandal, in which $17 million was spent on defective medical equipment from an unverified pharmaceutical company. Among other defective products, HoneyBee provided latex gloves and condoms that leaked when filled with water.
As opposition and civil society leaders call for Chilufya to be prosecuted, we thought we’d take the opportunity to reflect on the worst PF scandals from past year.
5. Privatisation Hoax
The PF were quick to spot a good smear campaign last September, when former finance minister Edith Nawakwi accused UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema of lining his own pockets during the privatisation of state assets in the 1990s.
Despite no evidence to support the claims, and numerous previous inquiries clearing HH of any wrongdoing, President Lungu and the Patriotic Front dominated news outlets with calls for an inquiry into transactions that took place over 20 years ago. The fact that these claims surfaced at the same time as the hotly contested Lukashya and Mwansabombwe by-elections should give some indication of the government’s true motives.
HH himself actually welcomed a government inquiry, not only into his own finances but those of President Lungu’s also. The PF eventually dropped the issue after it had served its usefulness, leaving Zambians scratching their heads as to why they had even raised it in the first place.
4. Cancelling Prime’s TV Licence
The PF government caused international uproar in April when the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) cancelled Prime Television’s broadcasting licence for refusing to air government messaging for free.
The decision was roundly condemned by both the United States and the European Union, which called on the government to reinstate Prime’s broadcasting rights in the name of freedom of speech.
US Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Robert Destro said he was “deeply troubled” by the IBA’s decision and issued a warning to the Zambian government that “A Free Press is vital to democracy, especially during a pandemic”.
3. Chilufya Arrested By the ACC
If the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) do decide to press charges against Chitalu Chilufya this month, it won’t be for the first time. Back in June the ACC arrested the then-health minister for possessing property suspected to be the proceeds of a crime.
Prosecutors alleged that Chilufya had - on four separate occasions - used criminal money to acquire property, shares in a tourism firm and a boat from the United Arab Emirates. He was eventually acquitted, but many civil society organisations questioned the efficacy of the ACC in bringing the case to trial.
2. Intimidation And Cheating At Lukashya By-Election
The hotly contested Lukashya by-election was overshadowed in September when stories emerged of politically motivated violence by PF thugs. Police in Kasama arrested two PF cadres for destroying a vehicle displaying support for UPND candidate Mulenga Davies. Previously, the PF campaign manager for Lukashya constituency, Brian Mundubile, had instructed party heavies not to allow UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema to even enter the constituency.
PF candidate George Chisanga eventually won the by-election, with Mr Davies accusing him of ‘stealing’ the vote. His claims were backed up by MMD president Nevers Mumba, who said the PF had used a South African IT firm to collect sensitive information on voters in Lukashya.
1. Radio Station Attacks
Combining the two PF favourites of wanton political violence and the suppression of free speech, last summer witnessed a string of savage attacks by PF thugs against radio stations who deigned to broadcast messages from opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema.
One of the worst attacks was at Iso Fm in Muchinga Province, where over 30 PF cadres overpowered security and assaulted the station. Staff were left fearing for their lives as the attackers threw a canister of unknown gas into the studio in an attempt to disrupt a live programme in which HH was featured.
Hichilema described the attack as “state-sponsored terrorism by the PF”, and part of a wider PF campaign to shut down Zambia’s free media.
That’s our list of the worst PF scandals from the last 12 months. Do you agree? Comment what you think the worst scandal of 2020 was.