Zambia: Chiluba's tribulations.

According to state prosecutors, the former Zambian president, Frederick Chiluba, has a case to answer over his use of state coffers during the 10 years he was in power. Chiluba denies the charge and rather points accusing fingers at the former colonial power, Britain, as an interested party eager to see him behind bars. Reginald Ntomba reports from Lusaka.

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When criminal charges were first read to Frederick Chiluba in court some four years ago, his immediate reaction was to laugh. But when he enters the dock next month, he may find little to laugh about as he will have to expend his energies defending himself.

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In February, a magistrate's court in Lusaka ruled that Chiluba had a case to answer, involving an alleged theft of $500,000 belonging to the state. On the same charge are two directors of a private firm which the government believes was used in siphoning state funds from the treasury during Chiluba's reign. With the latest ruling, the case passes its first crucial stage. It had earlier been mired in legal technicalities and long adjournments after Chiluba fell ill in 2006. To support its case, the state will summon over 30 witnesses whose evidence Chiluba would have to rebut when he opens his defence in May.

After winning this round, the state will be waiting in anticipation of how Chiluba and his associates will seek to prove their innocence. Judging from the time the case has taken to reach the current stage, it might take even longer to be disposed off.

Both at home and abroad, President Mwanawasa has not hidden his frustration with the sluggish pace at which corruption cases have been moving in the courts. Last December, he told Zambians in Germany that with the speed at which the cases were moving, it was likely that they would outlive his term which ends in two years time.

But this is not the only case Chiluba has to contend with. In May last year, he and 19 others lost a civil case in a London high court after it ruled that they defrauded Zambia of over $40m. Chiluba denounced the judgment as racist and claimed it was "engineered and orchestrated by the Mwanawasa government in consent with the British government". Having strenuously rejected the jurisdiction of the London court, Chiluba is now challenging the registration of its judgment in the Zambian courts.

The February ruling cheered the government, NGOs and anti-corruption watchdogs, whose comments have riled Chiluba. He argued, and rightly so, that the ruling did not mean he had been found guilty. The "celebrations were thus premature", he said.

He particularly took offence with comments made by the British high commissioner to Zambia, Alistair Harrison, who said it had been difficult to find evidence against Chiluba in the civil case in London because the key witnesses had refused to turn up. Chiluba retaliated, accusing the British of conniving with the Zambian government to secure his conviction. But the government rejected Chiluba's assertions, advising him to clear his name in court.

Chiluba has on several times differed with the British whom he accuses of "imperialist conspiracy". Britain funds Zambia's anti-corruption agencies but Chiluba sees that as part of its effort to see him behind bars. In 2005, the British government offered to fund the sittings of the London high court in Lusaka. That angered Chiluba who declined to appear before the British judge, Peter Smith. When the Duke of Gloucester, Prince Richard, visited Zambia in May last year, he lauded the London judgment against Chiluba, forcing the ex-president to wonder what business a member of the British royal family had in commenting on his case. The timing of the visit was equally suspicious to Chiluba and he reckoned it had been rehearsed. The duke visited Zambia at the time the judgment was passed.

Western ambassadors in Lusaka have consistently praised the country's anti-corruption drive and are generally outspoken on governance matters. Chiluba has not spared them, denouncing their comments, particularly those on his cases, as "reckless and unguarded". He accuses the government of giving Western diplomats excess freedom to meddle in internal affairs. The diplomats issued a statement, after the London judgement, saying: "We jointly welcome the judgment as an historic victory for the people of Zambia that shows their commitment to bring those who steal from the state to account regardless of how powerful they are."

Chiluba's troubles started just when he left office in 2002 as parliament waived his immunity after his handpicked successor, President Mwanawasa, launched an anti-corruption crusade which has since seen several ex-government officials arraigned and properties recovered locally and overseas.

But his crusade has suffered some knocks. Some suspects in the corruption saga, who could have proved potential and vital witnesses, have either fled the country or jumped bail and their whereabouts remain unknown despite international manhunts for them.

This has earned the Anti-Corruption Task Force sharp criticism. In 2006, Mwanawasa accused the body of "dismal performance" and hinted at dissolving it, but he back-pedalled.