Imagine yourself to be Oswald Lutepo living in a poor African country called Malawi.
You are accused of a myriad of crimes that include stealing billions of poor taxpayers’ money; laundering a couple of billions more; conspiracy to murder a former budget director as well as lying under oath in court otherwise known as perjury.
To cap it all, you are also accused of tax evasion.
Unless otherwise stated, you are clearly facing a long jail term as you cannot escape the swift sieve of all these utterly odious crimes.
You should be made of sterner stuff if you can keep your head upright and clearly Lutepo is not.
I am not surprised then that his health is failing and he has gone into the habit of going on venomous rants trying to attract the attention of authorities as he implicates in his crimes just everybody that he knew once upon a time.
His head is simply confused. First he writes Attorney General (AG) Kalekeni Kaphale, accusing former Justice minister Fahad Assani, former DPP Kalemba and Cashgate prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu of underhand dealings, saying they forced him to lie and implicate former AG Ralph Kasambara.
To Lutepo’s utter disappointment, Kaphale could have none of it and told him point blank the three gentlemen are as innocent in the matter as a newborn baby.
Yet Lutepo made the mother of all Cashgate allegations last week accusing former president Joyce Banda of being complicit in his crimes.
It should be clear to us all watching this saga from a distance: Lutepo is merely trying to attract the attention of us all, but more especially of the Democratic Progressive Party administration for obvious reasons.
He wants to cut a deal and try to save his skin from getting roasted due to a myriad of cases against him currently raging like bushfire in courts.
Kaphale has not played ball so far. Neither has the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mary Kachale, who has said she cannot act on radio interviews.
Lutepo currently has a horde of advisers that include his family, friends and lawyers so, perhaps, he does not need my counsel which would be that he can lose everything including money, family and friends.
But if there is one thing I implore him not to lose because that is what he needs greatly, it is his head.
Lutepo is in the middle of a battle of his life. He is the most hated person by taxpayers in this country. The crimes he is accused of are dead serious and he faces long jail terms.
If he wants to plead guilty, I am sure Malawians’ ears are wide awake and open to hear that, but there is a way of doing it and, as he has been advised by all and sundry, it is in the courts.
Anything else is madness. Lutepo does not need it just like Malawians.
On the other hand, we want our tax that Lutepo says he was stealing returned. He should come out clean on how much he has stolen and how he did it.
Tressa Senzani said it that she went away with a cool K63 million and did it the right way right in court.
Otherwise, the rest of Lutepo’s blubbering is pure nonsense that must not be taken seriously although both DPP and People’s Party did this week.
They traded barbs, taking full pages in newspapers (by the way that was nice of them so that yours truly can get paid) thereby falling into the snare that Lutepo expertly laid for them.
Lutepo is a scared man and is cracking up in the face of pressure that he should all be responsible for.
