Zimbabwe paper lauds lifting of Chiluba's immunity Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - A Zimbabwean newspaper Thursday hailed the lifting of former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba's immunity from prosecution by parliament this week as a lesson for corrupt and abusive leaders throughout Africa. In an editorial, the weekly Financial Gazette said corrupt leaders should not be shielded from prosecution and the law, adding that it should be made abundantly clear that "there is no choice, certainly no place for leaders who may want to become larger than their own nations." The Zambian parliament, angered by revelations by President Levy Mwanawasa of gross financial impropriety under Chiluba's ten-year rule which ended last December, this week stripped the former president of his immunity from prosecution. That paves the way for him to stand trial on the corruption allegations. The Financial Gazette said this would sow the seeds of good governance across Africa, and deter government leaders from abusing power while in office. "Zambians have come of age, proudly showing the rest of southern Africa that their nation is now a true democracy where political leaders with dictatorial tendencies are not only frowned upon, but are made to account for their actions, even after leaving office," it said. It added: "There is no denying the fact that Mwanawasa, elected in flawed elections last December, is only acutely aware of those damning circumstances and wants to make a clean break with the bloated record of Chiluba, who crafted the rules of that presidential ballot." The newspaper also paid tribute to ordinary Zambians for showing intolerance towards bad and corrupt governance, saying this had partly jolted the authorities into acting against Chiluba. -0- PANA RS/TKS 18July2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~