IT will be unforgivable for the Attorney General to drag his feet over filing submissions on Frederick Chiluba’s London High Court judgment, Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Wynter Kabimba said yesterday.

Commenting on the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss an appeal by former president Frederick Chiluba, Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu on preliminary issues relating to the registration of the London High Court judgment last Thursday, Kabimba said delaying the submissions on the part of government would be tantamount to working against the interest of the public over the matter.

“The public wants to see this matter to its logical conclusion as soon as possible, but in a proper way,” Kabimba said. “In a manner that takes into account the legal provision of all the parties, without that decision coming out because one party is in default of expressing the legal provision in the matter.”

Kabimba said the matter had run a very long course, and the decision by the Supreme Court was in the interest of both parties.

“My hope is that the High Court will maintain the pace that has been set by the Supreme Court in resolving this very important matter of national interest. This matter has taken a period of time that really is causing concern to everybody,” Kabimba said.

“If the government is not filing submissions, the High Court must proceed to determine the matter without the submissions from the government, from the Attorney General, that is what it means. I don’t think that the court should work at the pace of the Attorney General. The court must work at the pace of taking public interest into account.”

Kabimba said if one party was failing to give priority to the matter, the normal thing for the High Court was to dispense with the submissions of the other party.

“…Which will be extremely unfortunate, so I can only urge the Attorney General’s chambers to work efficiently and ensure that their side of the story is heard, so that the High Court can arrive at a judicious decision that takes into account the views and submissions of all the parties,” said Kabimba.

Last week, Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) president Stephen Lungu said delaying the submission would defeat the whole purpose of the directive given by the Supreme Court to do so.

The Supreme Court last Thursday dismissed an appeal by Chiluba, former Access Financial Services Limited (AFSL) directors Kabwe and Chungu on preliminary issues relating to the registration of the London High Court judgment.

This is in a matter before Deputy Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima, Supreme Court justices Dennis Chirwa and Marvin Mwanamwambwa where Chiluba, Kabwe and Chungu appealed against a ruling of Lusaka High Court judge Evans Hamaundu refusing to hear their preliminary issues separately from the main case.

London High Court judge Peter Smith on May 4, 2007 found Chiluba and 19 other defendants liable of having defrauded the Zambian government out of millions of kwacha ordering them to pay back the money.