Focus on tensions mounting over alleged coup plot

Reports of a plot to unseat President Levy Mwanawasa's government has diverted attention from a growing humanitarian crisis and fuelled fears of an impending political crackdown, say observers. On 28 June President Mwanawasa said he was aware of a plot to either assassinate him or overthrow his government, ostensibly by people who wanted to curtail investigations into high-level corruption during his predecessor's rule. Mwanawasa did not name the alleged plotters and no arrests have been made in connection with the purported plot. However, senior members of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), led by Northern Province Minister Peter Filamba, claimed disgruntled party members loyal to former president Frederick Chiluba were involved. Mwanawasa is said to have ruffled the feathers of the MMD's inner circle by not protecting Chiluba and other party leaders from investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission, the police and the Drug Enforcement Commission. The agencies have recently arrested several influential political figures, including former State House aides Richard Sakala and Gilbert Zimba, as well as former Zambia Intelligence and Security Services head Xavier Chungu, for various criminal offences. Chiluba himself is said to be the subject of official scrutiny. Mwanawasa may have also angered MMD leaders by detaching the party from the government when he assumed office in January. The National Executive Committee (NEC), the party's central decision-making organ, is said to be displeased that Mwanawasa appointed only two of its members to his cabinet. NEC members have traditionally dominated the cabinet. Party leaders are allegedly also upset by the president's refusal to pay party officials from the public purse, and his dismantling of a number of projects initiated by his predecessor that were widely seen as vehicles for the enrichment of ruling party leaders. Political observers see a link between the government clampdown on corruption and the purported plot to overthrow Mwanawasa. Civil society leaders have joined politicians in demanding the arrests of both the alleged coup plotters and those involved in corruption. "We condemn the plot to overthrow the government. We feel the law [enforcement] agencies should swiftly move in and bring the culprits to book," NGOs said in a joint statement released on Thursday. "The recent revelation that millions in taxpayers money was paid in bribes and kickbacks need to be fully investigated and all those involved brought to book." Opposition leader Anderson Mazoka expressed similar sentiments, but warned that a preoccupation with settling old political scores could derail the country's development programme. "It is a pity that we are not addressing pressing issues that have hit the country but are just politicking. There is hunger facing the nation, lack of employment and education, and other issues [which] are being neglected," Mazoka, who heads the largest opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), said. Zambia faces its worst food crisis in over a decade, with around 2.3 million people in need of food aid as a result of poor harvests brought on by a recent drought and earlier floods. Another opposition politician, Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika, echoed Mazoka's words: "While there may be truth in the allegations of a coup plot, there is always the temptation to take advantage of the situation to settle old scores. We saw it happen in the past, when the Chiluba government detained opposition leaders for treason, only to withdraw charges against them later." This week two NGOs alleged that the coup plot was fabricated to justify the arrest of witnesses who would testify against Mwanawasa in an ongoing legal challenge to the recent presidential election. "We are aware that the issue of the presidential election petition has created a lot of anxiety in the government, and it is very difficult for us to believe that the republican president was being sincere when he informed the nation that there are people ... planning to assassinate him and take over the country because of his position on corruption," the Zambia Independent Monitoring Team and the National Organisation for Civil Education said in a joint statement. "We are of the considered opinion that the issue of the coup is ... a creation of the administration to win sympathy from the public and [allow it to] proceed to use this treasonable case to deal with all those they expect to testify against them in the elections petition. We can safely argue that the administration intends to take advantage of the fact that treason cases are not bailable [offences in Zambia] to lock up potential witnesses in the elections petition case," they alleged. Three opposition leaders, including Mazoka, are petitioning the conduct and results of a controversial poll that saw Mwanawasa assume office in January.