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Magande wins graft case
30/07/2007 18:52 - (SA)
Lusaka - A Zambian court on Monday cleared Finance Minister Ng'andu Magande of corruption charges levelled against him by two losing candidates in last year's parliamentary elections.
Magande was facing 62 charges of graft which Priscilla
Kamanga of the chief opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party and
Cosmos Moono of the United Party for National Development (UPND)
brought before the court in Zambia's most contentious and highly
publicised parliamentary petition.
Economic analysts had feared a serious economic management
backlash if Magande had lost the case.
He is credited with the fiscal discipline which has seen a
turnaround in Zambia's economic performance, with GDP growth
averaging 5% in the last five years.
'We can now forget about the elections'
High Court Judge Marvin Mwanamwambwa threw out all 62
allegations that Magande and his election agents bribed voters
to win the vote in an opposition stronghold. The court said he
was duly elected as a legislator.
"I have found that there was no bribery and corruption as
defined by the Electoral Act," Mwanamwambwa said in his ruling.
He said the few irregularities which had been proven did not
warrant the nullification of Magande's election victory.
"In my view honourable Magande won the election because the
opposition (candidates) split the vote among themselves. He did
not win because of (allegations of) rampant corruption and
bribery," Mwanamwambwa said.
Magande said Zambia should put the elections behind it and
focus on serious challenges.
"We can now forget about the elections and this will help me
to focus on making sure we work hard to address the most
pressing issues of poverty alleviation and finding improving the
economic environment," he said after the ruling.
- Reuters
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