HH HAS DUPED ZAMBIANS
He’s inviting chaos by criminalising communication among ourselves – SP
- Hichilema has criminalised free speech by enacting the rejected Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act in order to rig the 2026 general elections
- Zambians must rise up and defend their basic rights against abuse by the UPND.
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has dribbled and duped Zambians by taking away their ability to communicate among themselves freely, the Socialist Party (SP) has said.
And the opposition political party has warned that there will be confusion and mass protests in Zambia if Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) continue enacting laws aimed at instilling fear in citizens to remain in power.
SP secretary general Dr Cosmas Musumali said in Lusaka yesterday Hichilema had criminalised Zambians’ ability to communicate by enacting the rejected Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act in order to rig the 2026 general elections.
“Zambians have been dribbled and duped by the UPND after enacting laws aimed at bringing fear in the people’s lives. When you use laws to consolidate your dictatorship in the country, when citizens cannot express their views, when you leave gaps on who defines critical information, when the police are not being objective, when the Judiciary has been compromised, then the laws are not in good faith,” Dr Musumali said.
He said this when he featured on the popular Socialist Hour radio programme on Hot FM yesterday.
Dr Musumali said Hichilema was scared of the certain defeat next year and was therefore using the law to rig the general election.
“We have been duped. We are getting into those elections with [our] hands tied because our ability to communicate, to strategise amongst ourselves is already being criminalised. And that’s what Zambians should know. That’s what Zambians should be aware of,” Dr Musumali said.
He said Zambians should know that they were dealing with a dishonest president and a rigid person who had disregarded their views and feelings to fulfill his personal political agenda.
Dr Musumali said Hichilema could not listen to anyone, including the Church, Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) and civil society organisations and many others.
He said Hichilema was openly attempting to rig the 2026 general elections by using the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act which would stop ordinary people, monitors and observers from communicating information pertaining to the elections and related activities on the ground.
He urged Zambians to stand on the streets and march against the injustices that Hichilema and the UPND had inflicted on them.
“With these cyber law, the UPND is rigging the 2026 elections. This is worrisome. So, let’s not look at it just in terms of oppression,” Dr Musumali said.
He said the state of democracy in the country was extremely worrying because the UPND had duped political opponents through the Electoral Reform Technical Committee (ERTC) report.
The opposition had been misrepresented in the ERTC report the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) had handed over to the Ministry of Justice for action.
Dr Musumali urged Zambians to rise up and defend their basic rights against abuse by the dictatorial tendencies of Hichilema and the UPND.
“There will be no appropriate time other than now. So, again, we are ready for the streets. We are ready for mass action because that’s the only viable option left to us,” said Dr Musumali.
