Zambian Supreme Court Verdict in the Savenda vs Stanbic Bank is ‘Questionable’ says COMESA and SADC Journalist
By Derrick Sinjela
Leina Stanbic CEO
THE Judiciary in Zambia needs a complete overhaul in my view. The Supreme Court judgment in the Savenda vs Stanbic matter has sent negative shockwaves in the SADC and COMESA region primarily among the business community. The values that attract investments in a country include but are not limited to good laws, but more importantly the practicality of rule of law.
The absence of the reliability of the rule of law is the beginning of chaos. What is worse is when the Judges who are supposed to deal with adjudicating over matters fairly and without fear or favour are caught up in bribes and corrupt practices and hope the public doesn’t know.
Stanbic has a record on the African continent of being corrupt, biased, and racist; there is evidence to support this.
Picking up the facts in the Savenda vs Stanbic matter in the Supreme Court of Zambia, if these same facts were adjudicated in Republic of South Africa (RSA) or the United Kingdom (UK) or any other country where the judiciary is not compromised the outcome would have been different.
When Judges move their eyes away from the law, public interest and choose to employ gut feelings, objectivity escapes through the window and subjectivity occupies the thinking of such judges and we end up with judgments that bring anger and if this anger is not handled people lose confidence in the judicial system. Many Zambians talked to have no confidence in the judicial system. Many believe the judicial system in Zambia needs an overhaul. In Kenya the judicial system began to rot slowly before long the system was stinking and decency had to be reintroduced.
In South Africa the Judicial System is so reliable that the citizens have faith in the system. In my next article I will be showing you how in Ghana an investigative journalist like myself, revealed the corruption in the judiciary. Based on the Ghana case clearly judges can be bribed and have been bribed on this continent.
