Justice Mumba Malila, honorary judge from the Supreme Court Zambia recently made some shocking testimonies. These testimonies were related to past situations wherein the judgment from the courts was unethical, misdirected or influenced by external parties. Among several of his testimonies, the most significant one is related to Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman in Zambia. Dr. Rajan Mahtani has more than three decades of business experience in Zambia during which he built numerous top organizations. Some of these include Finsbury Investments, Mahtani Group of Companies and Finance Bank Zambia.
As per the testimony from Judge Mumba Malila the 2012 case against Dr. Rajan Mahtani was politically motivated. In this testimony, Judge Mumba Malila claimed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani was wrongfully prosecuted without having any significant evidence or information against him. Now this is now a new phenomenon as it has been seen in the past that honest and ethical business person are often at the mercy of court judgments and law makers who are often influenced by unethical parties. However, the testimony from a residing Supreme Court Judge indicates the level of corruption and unethical practices. According to the testimony, the 2012 case was requested to be made null and void as it was motivated by several political undertones as well as was against the interests of the public policies. Even after several requests, no such action was taken by the higher authority. This clearly indicates that the decision-making capability of the higher government officials is often compromised due to the influence of several corrupt, greedy yet powerful entities, organizations and individuals. It seems like the government is in hands of these corrupt individuals who are able to change the decision-making of the government, courts and political offices to suit their own personal interests.
It is yet to be determined whether this revelation will have any positive impact on the country’s law-making policies or the government will continue to run the way they are now.