Fair elections: Cage your thugs first
Editiorial comment
IF PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema is serious about ensuring credible, free, fair and peaceful elections in august, his party must rein in the ‘Thugs in Red’ who went to terrorise opposition leaders in Kasama during the just-ended mayoral by-election.
His assurance to the diplomats accredited to Zambia that the general elections will be credible because they will be held in a peaceful environment sounded hollow because barely two days earlier, armed cadres from the United P arty for Nation a Development (UPND) were spreading terror in Kasama to intimidate opposition leaders who were in the district to campaign for the candidate.
Information available indicates that some of the cadres are the same who caused havoc in Kawambwa during two by-elections there earlier. They were also linked to the violence abduction and torture of the Socialist Party’s officials in Mpulungu. We have never heard Hichilema mention these incidents or rebuke his violent cadres.
Patriotic Front (PF) aspiring presidential candidate Chishimba Kambwili yesterday condemned the political violence in Kasama by UPND.
Speaking on Kasama Radio, Kambwili said his team was waylaid by UPND cadres who wanted to slaughter them with machetes.
He said they were chased and stoned by the UPND cadres who showed openly that they wanted to injure them.
“Nga mwaya ku Location bakamweba ati ba PF balibapepeka. Yali amabwe ayo [If you went to Kasama’s location compound, they will tell you that PF officials were chased while being stoned],” he said.
Kambwili said he was in the company of former home affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo when the lives of PF supporters were put in danger by the violent thugs brought to Kasama by senior UPND officials and known ministers.
He said it was unfortunate that the UPND was conducting itself in that manner, warning that politicians should learn from experience.
And Kambwili says the country’s economy is in a coma.
“The economy is really bad and the people of Zambia needed to wake up and show the UPND that they were fed up,” he said.
Kambwili said Zambians should take elections seriously.
Attaining the change they wanted in their lives depended on the choices they made.
Kambwili said the UPND government was dishonest in the manner in which it was governing the country.
We also refer Hichilema to the concerns raised by another opposition leader contained in the story below.
Hichilema’s assurance to diplomats that Zambia will hold credible, peaceful and transparent elections in August lacked sincerity, Bob Sichinga has said.
Sichinga, the People’s Pact Movement vice president, advised Hichilema to practise with action the peace he preached in words.
in an interview, he raised serious concerns about government’s intentions, citing the appointment of ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) party supporters to lead the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
He also cited the use of police and the courts to block opposition parties from holding peaceful public assemblies since 2021.
“Every Zambian knows the President doesn’t keep his promises. He says things which he can’t honour,” Sichinga said.
On Thursday Hichilema assured diplomats accredited to Zambia the country will hold credible, peaceful and transparent election in August.
But Sichinga, a former agriculture and commerce minister, said the United Party for National Development (UPND)-led government had focused more on political rhetoric than tangible action, especially on key issues like human rights, economic development and job creation.
“If the President truly wants peaceful and credible elections, why is he not allowing others to freely meet and mobilise supporters a couple of months before the August 13 elections?” he asked.
When we look at the two stories, we wonder whether the President meant what he told the diplomats or it was the usual praise seeking. If he is indeed serious, he must hold to account the leaders who have been financing and sending the ‘Thugs in Red’ who have been spreading terror on behalf of the UPND.
If this is not addressed, there could be unprecedented violence in august because the opposition will have no choice but to fight back to save their lives.
