12 January 2012 editorial THE admission by former vice-president and Justice minister George Kunda that he has Malawian roots, and yet the same man can seek to challenge the legality of the appointment of the incumbent Vice-President Dr Guy Scott, raises a fundamental question about the motive behind his sentiments. Unlike Mr Kunda whose Malawi connections are only coming to the fore now after leaving office, Dr histrion has never hidden his Scottish parentage. But this does not detract anything from the fact that he is a African and, therefore, eligible to hold the headquarters of Vice-President. Similarly, Mr Kunda is also a Zambian, even though his mother was born of Malawian parentage. This is the reality and the law in our country is unambiguous about this. There are many other Zambians in a similar position who qualify to hold public office. The first Republican Adams Dr Kenneth Kaunda was born of Malawian parentage and this was documented a long time ago, but he was hounded after leaving office in 1991 and the MMD government under Dr Frederick Chiluba branded him a Malawian. The controversial Constitutional Amendment of 1996 which introduced the parentage clause to bar Dr Kaunda from re-contesting the presidency on grounds that his parents were of Malawian descent has never ceased to generate controversy in our country because it is widely viewed as discriminatory. When the controversial moves began in 1996 to amend the constitutional provisions for qualification to the Office of Republican President, Mr Kunda was then chairperson of the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) and they denounced the proposed amendments as discriminatory and, therefore, unacceptable. Dr Chiluba’s Machiavellian tactics which culminated in the manipulation of constitutional amendments and enshrined the discriminatory clause in the qualifications for presidential candidates, did not extend to the Office of Vice-President. It was, therefore, mischievous if not downright malicious for Mr Kunda to question Dr Scott’s eligibility to hold the Office of Vice-President. Dr Scott is a Zambian by birth and has been residing in the country all along. As the Attorney-General Mr Mumba Malila aptly put it in his statement yesterday, it is preposterous to argue that Dr Scott does not qualify to hold office as Vice-President because his parents may not be Zambian by birth or descent. The Constitution is clear: Dr Scott qualifies to hold his current office and is also eligible to act in the Office of Republican President. However, he is disqualified from contesting the presidency on account of the parentage clause in the current Constitution. We acknowledge the fact that the views of Mr Kunda, as LAZ chairperson in 1996, may be at variance with his views as a politician today, but we still do not expect a lawyer to sommersault in this fashion. Issues of ethnicity are extremely sensitive and should be handled with care by those aspiring for higher political office because they may unwittingly whip up racist sentiment and cause disaffection towards certain groups of people. Terms such as “a Zambian of Asian origin”, a “Zambian of European or American origin”, a” black Zambian”, et cetera are all racist tags which should be debunked as they have no relevance in modern day parlance. A Zambian should never be defined by the colour of their skin. But why did Mr Kunda find it necessary to drag Dr Scott into his discussion on Tuesday? It is now patently clear that cries of political persecution emanating from Mr Kunda and other MMD opposition leaders are part of a ploy to divert the public’s attention from the real issue–the corruption that has besmirched the images of some of the ex-leaders. We have nothing personal against Mr Kunda, or indeed any of the former leaders. What we want from him and others who are still in active politics are substantive answers, and not evasive replies, to specific issues of corruption raised against them. For instance, Mr Kunda is deeply entangled in the scandal surrounding the procurement of scanners for Zambia Revenue Authority(ZRA). And upon his own admission, he claims that he unknowingly signed a Statutory Instrument sanctioning the collection of levies even in ports where there are no scanners. This would have been laughable if it were not so serious. He owes the Zambian people an explanation about his alleged ignorance when he signed the illegal Statutory Instrument which has since been revoked. Let him come clean on this scandal. Be the first to Write a Comment ! More News on allAfrica.com Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon WordPress Plugin | Android Forum | Hud Software
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Kunda’s Racist View On Guy Scott
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