In Zambia, a southern African country, the presidents change, the Members of Parliament come and go but the dull ache of predictability that accompanies intimidation and arrests of people who oppose government stays the same,” says Charles Mafa, investigative journalist. (continued) If there is anything that one would hope for are the changes in the way we do our politics and in the promotion of the rule of law.
Last time it was President Michael Sata when he was in opposition, this time, it is Dr. Nevers Mumba, leader of the opposition Movement for Multi-party president (MMD), and who knows; next time, it might be me, you or someone else. Do politicians ever learn from their own experiences? It seems they don’t. If they did, we would not be seeing Dr. Mumba and seven other members of his party being arrested by the state police for what has been termed “unlawful assembly”. Experts have described these arrests as being politically motivated although Government through the official spokesperson and Minister of Information, Hon. Kennedy Sakeni has denied these allegations saying the police “are professionals” who do not receive instructions from anyone.
It is easy to see that the police are acting under instructions from the executive as this is coming only a few months after the abduction and deportation of a Catholic priest of Rwandese origin. Father Viateur Banyangandora, 40, who was in August this year deported without being given a chance to defend himself. Reasons for expelling him have not been made public but the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Edgar Lungu, issued a statement saying his “conduct was found to be a danger to peace and good order in Zambia”. The Government has since revoked the deportation order after relentless pressure from the Church, Members of Parliament and some civil rights groups. According to sources at his parish in Lundazi, some 800 kilometres east of the capital, his Sunday homily “was about the haves sharing with the have nots as the readings of the day were saying”.
When the Patriotic Front formed Government, expectations were high. The nation really thought that things would change for the better and that the nation, under the PF Government, was poised for a major take off on all fronts. But with the arrest and charging of Mr. Nevers Mumba for unlawful assembly, one wonders where the country is heading. According to media reports, Dr. Mumba, who is president of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), was arrested by the Zambian police on 10 December, during a visit to Kitwe in the Copperbelt. Police accused Dr. Mumba of “unlawful assembly” and “conduct likely to breach the peace.” The eight arrested have since spent two nights in police custody.
This has left many people wondering whether what they voted for was (real) change or alteration in personalities but old tactics of using the police to silence opponents. While in opposition, President Michael Sata made a forceful appeal to the Zambians to vote for him because he was coming to change the way we do our politics. But from what we are seeing, nothing is changing in the way the rule of law is being administered.
Mr. Sata should be reminded that when the people of Zambia elected him on 20 September 2012, they wanted the Patriotic Front (PF) to entrench a democratic culture, create jobs, improve the earning capacity of the ordinary people, eradicate corruption and promote of the rule of law. Under the 20-year rule of the MMD Government, it had become apparent that poor governance, mismanagement and endemic corruption had become the order of the day.
Soon after his election as Zambia’s fifth president, Mr. Sata, a practising Catholic sounded out with a good start when he vowed to lead a clean Government which he would govern according to the “Ten Commandments” – though it has never really been explained what “governing according to the Ten Commandments of the Bible” means.
The initial steps of the new PF Government were encouraging. The move by the new President, Michael Sata, to unconditionally release the Barotseland activists arrested by the previous MMD Government was one such laudable positive step towards entrenching confidence in the respect for human rights. President Sata received deserved praise for pardoning the 22 activists.
President Sata went a step further and appointed a leading Human Rights lawyer, Dr. Rodger Chongwe to head a Commission of Inquiry that would look into the grievances of the Barotseland activists – leading to the Mongu Riots. The tragic events of Barotseland in the Western Province culminated in violence, injuries and the loss of 2 lives on 14 January 2011. This was a result of the Zambia Police opening fire with live ammunition on a defenceless crowd of people. Several Barotseland activists were detained in the aftermath.
The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has since raised a flag concerning the worrying governance emerging under the Patriotic Front Government. The lawyers through their umbrella association have described what is happening as a “breakdown of rule of law”. Independent observers have called on the Government to devote their time to fighting poverty and joblessness as opposite to waging war against individuals.
