Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The opposition UPND has described the disbanding of the Judge Lovemore Chikopa- led tribunal by President Edgar Lungu as long overdue.
The UPND thinks that President Lungu should be commended for disbanding tribunal as his move makes fiscal sense because Zambia will save money.
UPND vice president for politics Canisius Banda has told Qfm News by telephone that his party is further of the view that if President Lungu’s action to lift the suspension of the two judges that were being probed for alleged misconduct is legally sound then it is well and good because this is the way forward.
Dr. Banda says what however needs to be done is to see whether the President’s action is in keeping with the expectation of the citizens.
Canisius Banda
He states that the UPND on the other hand thinks that the tribunal should not have been set up in the first place and therefore his party finds it to be very saddening that the country has lost a lot millions of Kwacha on this tribunal.
He has advised that this action of setting up such wasteful tribunals should never be repeated in future.
The UPND vice president for politics notes that the prayer of his party is that the money that has been saved from the dissolved tribunal will be channeled to Hospitals and Education.
He says part of the saved money should also be focused on mitigating the effects that are likely to arise in the country in view of the anticipated crop failure due to droughts.
Meanwhile the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has also welcomed President Lungu’s decision to dissolve the Malawian judge led tribunal.
FODEP Executive Director MacDonald Chipenzi
FODEP Executive Director MacDonald Chipenzi says his organization is nevertheless asking President Lungu to go further and institute investigations to ascertain how much money was spent on the tribunal.
Mr. Chipenzi has told Qfm News in a separate interview that the President should ensure that people that were depending on the holding of the tribunal, which attracted widespread condemnation from various stakeholders like FODEP, be brought to book.
He says FODEP wants government to call for accountability and transparency for those that managed the disbanded tribunal.