- Washington “follows with interest” Morocco’s openness onto Africa (John Kerry)Posted 11 years ago
- The trial of South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius opened in Pretoria on Monday.Posted 11 years ago
- USA welcomes efforts of King Mohammed VI in MaliPosted 11 years ago
- Egypt’s population reaches 94 millionPosted 11 years ago
- Mugabe celebrates his 90thPosted 11 years ago
- Moroccan Monarch to Build a Perinatal Clinic in BamakoPosted 11 years ago
- King Mohammed VI handed a donation of bovine semen for the benefit of Malian breeders.Posted 11 years ago
- Moroccan King’s strategic tour to Africa: Strengthening the will of pan African Solidarity and stimulating the south-south cooperation mechanisms over the continentPosted 12 years ago
- Senior al-Qaida leader killed in AlgeriaPosted 12 years ago
- Libya: The trial of former Prime Minister al-Baghdadi AliPosted 12 years ago
Ex-Zambian leader blocked from traveling to South Africa despite court order
Immigration authorities on Friday blocked former Zambian President Rupiah Banda from traveling to South Africa for a meeting despite a court order that he be allowed to travel, one of his lawyers told Xinhua in an interview.
Banda was initially supposed to have traveled on Tuesday for the 2013 African Presidential Roundtable meeting, at the invitation of the Boston University African Presidential Center. But a lower court refused to allow for the release of his passport, a move that forced him to apply to a higher court.
On Thursday, High Court Judge Jane Kabuka ordered that the former leader’s passport be released so that he could travel to South Africa.
Banda’s passport was confiscated as part of the bail conditions after he was charged with power abuse in connection with a Nigerian oil procurement deal.
Ireen Kunda, one of his lawyers, told Xinhua that Banda was blocked by immigration officers when he went to board a South African Airways plane at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka the Zambian capital.
“It is true that he has been blocked. I am just from the airport; he has not been allowed to travel. Where are we going as a country if court orders are not respected,” she said.
She said junior immigration officers could not give a satisfactory answer on why they blocked the former leader from traveling but only said they were acting based on orders from “higher authorities.”
“There is a court order and the DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) was there and we served him with the court order and we are surprised at the turn of events,” she added.
The lawyers, she said, will consider initiating contempt court proceedings on whoever has disregarded the court order.
Banda was expected to moderate a session entitled “Making Government Work” during the roundtable meeting in South Africa which is also being attended by former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, former Tanzania President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former South African president Thabo Mbeki and former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga.
This is the third time Banda has been blocked from traveling outside the country following the removal of his immunity in March.
