Frederick Titus Chiluba
Chiluba is widely praised for helping to build the foundation for political pluralism and free elections in Zambia. Everybody remembers that multiparty democracy came with the name Frederick Chiluba. In many ways, Chiluba was an enigma and much of his background remained in dispute. Chiluba was Zambia's first democratically elected president since the country won independence from former colonial power, Britain in 1964. Chiluba led Zambia from 1991 to 2002. He began his tenure by allowing greater political freedoms and liberalizing the country's economy.
In 1990, he helped found the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), leading it to victory the next year in the first multiparty post-colonial elections in Zambia. The son of a copper miner and former union leader, Chiluba took office after almost three decades of one party rule by Kenneth Kaunda.
Chiluba became president of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy, a coalition of unions, civic and church groups as well as former Kaunda loyalists who had grown disillusioned with his autocratic style. Initially welcomed by the West who had struggled to get on with the leftist Kaunda, Chiluba won praise for his emphasis on democracy, human rights and governmental transparency. This diminutive leader – he was just 1.5 metes tall – oversaw the sale of more than 250 state companies to private firms. But while the sell-offs were originally seen as part of a program of reforms, much of the sale price went unaccounted for while hundreds of thousands were left out of work. Chiluba learned his political skills as a trade unionist and was detained by former president Kenneth Kaunda in 1981 for organizing a wildcat strike that paralyzed the economy.
After 10 years in office, the two-term limit that Chiluba had previously advocated kept him from running for the presidency again. His popularity had plummeted, and his party barely managed to stay in power. His handpicked successor, Levy Mwanawasa, won a narrow victory over a heavily divided opposition. Mwanawasa was originally seen as Mr. Chiluba's protege. But since the election in December 2001, he turned on his predecessor and targeted former government officials in an anti-corruption campaign that has boosted his own popularity. Mwanawasa sparked the inquiry by questioning Chiluba's role in a botched $20 million weapons deal. The weapons were paid for but never arrived.
After unsuccessfully trying to stay in power beyond his scheduled 10-year term, and as evidence of his personal excesses mounted, Chiluba was convicted by a court in London of pocketing $46 million of state funds. He was later acquitted of the charges in 2008. Chiluba was a virtual prisoner in his final years, confined to his residence after authorities confiscated his passport to prevent him from evading justice. His final reputation marked a dramatic fall from grace for a man who attracted the adulation of tens of thousands of supporters when he took on Kaunda who had ruled largely unopposed since independence in 1964.
Chiluba was arrested 05 August 2003 and charged with stealing millions of dollars from public coffers. His arrest, along with a handful of others, is part of the current government's massive crackdown on corruption. Zambia's Task Force on Corruption alleges Mr. Chiluba is one of six people who stole some $40 million from the country's public treasury between 1991 and 2001. The six are charged with 96 counts of theft. The chairman of the task force, Mark Chona, said former intelligence chief Xavier Chungu is one of the defendants, but would not name the others. Zambia's corruption task force was created last year by President Levy Mwanawasa to investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption committed by the former government.
Zambian anti-corruption investigators seized 100 pairs of shoes, 300 shirts and 150 suits belonging to former President Frederick Chiluba. The Zambian Post newspaper reports that authorities last week raided a warehouse which contained the expensive items. The paper said Mr. Chiluba's suits were purchased from a Swiss tailor called Boutique Bussille and that over $1million was paid to the shop. Reuters news agency quotes Mr. Chiluba as saying that the search and seizure of his clothes was a fresh attempt to "embarrass and disgrace" him.
Frederick Chiluba was acquitted 17 August 2009 of six counts of theft by public servant totaling USD 500,000. The 445-page judgment, handed down by Ndola High Court Registrar Jones Chinyama, took over seven hours to read and ultimately concluded that the prosecution "failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt." Chiluba was alleged to have routed Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) funds through third parties to Access Financial Services (AFS) accounts controlled by co-defendants Faustin Kabwe (AFS Chief Executive Officer) and Aaron Chungu (AFS Director) who were both found guilty of theft and possession of state funds. v The USD 500,000 in question was allegedly used to pay school fees for Chiluba's children and to purchase private residences for former ministers Eric Silwamba (presidential affairs) and Vincent Malambo (legal affairs). While the acquittal marks the likely end of this case, which Chiluba's legal antics and health issues helped drag out over eight years, it is unclear what will happen with the 2007 United Kingdom high court ruling of a civil case that found Chiluba and others liable for misappropriating USD 41 million of GRZ public resources. That finding, labeled by Chiluba as "racist" and "obscene", has yet to be registered and enforced in Zambia.
Central to the criminal case was the origin of funds in the secret account known as Zamtrop (which was used by Zambian intelligence services). Chiluba described in unsworn testimony earlier this year how his "personal funds" came to be commingled in the account that was used to pay for the former ministers' houses. His lawyers previously admitted that Chiluba put contributions, supposedly collected from Zambian and international supporters of his ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), into the Zamtrop account. Chiluba suggested that he did so at the behest of the former director general of intelligence, who recommended the money pass through Zamtrop for security purposes. While the money used for the homes of Chiluba's former ministers came from the secret account, the prosecution failed to demonstrate that the money spent actually belonged to the GRZ. Prior to the ruling, Embassy contacts suggested that the prosecution had a very difficult time linking anything directly to Chiluba, possibly explaining why his cohorts were found guilty while he was acquitted.
The prosecution was unable to directly question Chiluba about these funds because of Chiluba's decision to provide unsworn testimony on the matter. While it was initially believed that his refusal to testify under oath would weaken his defense, it worked to Chiluba's advantage, because the prosecution could not cross examine Chiluba about the specific origins of his funding (Note: Co-defendants Kabwe and Chungu both provided sworn testimony). Without being able to specifically prove that the USD 500,000 in question was stolen from GRZ coffers, the prosecution's case collapsed. UK lawyers who investigated the 2007 civil case against Chiluba said they had to redo most of the testimonies and acquire their own evidence as a result of the shoddy work by the Task Force on Corruption (responsible for prosecuting Chiluba, supporting the argument that the prosecution failed to present an adequate argument in a criminal case where the evidentiary standard was higher than for the civil case.
Chiluba held a defiant press conference after the verdict was announced during which he described his acquittal as God's blessing. He suggested that "for eight long years the devil has tried to put stigma of a thief on me, but God has dealt with the devil" and chastised "those who would put their president at the mercy of foreigners." Chiluba spokesman Emmanuel Mwamba echoed the former president's anti-Western message, suggesting that "the British in particular attempted to use this (case) as an example to Africa. And I'm glad the judiciary in Zambia has refused to be used for such an international scheme." Chiluba also cautioned the press "to be careful not to play with God's anointed people" and promised he would hold a more detailed press conference in two weeks.
While the ruling was clearly disappointing to Western donors and those Zambians actively engaged in the anti-corruption effort, the reaction by everyday Zambians and the GRZ appeared muted. Chiluba and his supporters seemed to recognize that it was hard for observers to publicly criticize the process. He continued playing the role of persecuted public servant who has been vindicated by a free and fair judicial system. Despite being found guilty of separate corruption charges by a UK court, blame was not likely with Magistrate Chinyama.
Chiluba was admitted in a South African hospital October 31, 2009 for his aggravated heart condition. But sources say Chiluba refused to hand over his passport to the Zambian embassy in South Africa south as directed by president Mwanawasa. The Zambian government agreed for the former president to travel to South Africa on the condition that he would surrender his passport to the embassy upon arrival. Now the Mwanawasa government says former President Chiluba will have to pay for his own medical expenses for failing to keep his promise.
Frederick Chiluba died 17 June 2011 at his home in Lusaka. President Chiluba suffered a heart-attack at home after spending most of Friday with his lawyers and members of parliament. He had been treated for a heart condition for several years. Emmanuel Mwamba, his former spokesperson said he became ill in the early evening and his condition continued to worsen.
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