Democracy going to the grave, Mundubile warns
By a Correspondent
TONSE Alliance president Brian Mundubile has accused government of shrinking democratic space in the country by weaponising state institutions against the opposition.
President Hakainde Hichilema, who is seeking re‑election amid soaring fuel, electricity and mealie meal prices and widespread joblessness, faces mounting criticism from rivals who say Zambia’s democratic credentials were eroding.
In an interview, Mundubile said his own ordeal illustrates the depth of repression.
“Last month, my mobile phones three of them were forcefully taken away from me at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport by state police and intelligence operatives. They searched them without a warrant, seized my passport, interrogated me for almost ten hours and detained me without charge,” he said.
He said the persecution had continued with various schemes dotted around his political mobilization.
“You don’t need a law degree to know that taking away property and detaining a citizen without charge is a breach of law. It is a human rights violation,” he said.
Mundubile appealed to the international community, including SADC, the European Union and the United States and UK to take keen interest in the unfolding undemocratic event in the country ahead of the August elections.
“Let the international community cast its spotlight on Zambia’s shrinking democratic space. I have to warn that democracy is going to the grave today in Zambia right before the eyes of the world, before the elections,” he said.
He said he had been arrested twice in one week and faced another attempted arrest before Easter, questioning whether he would be allowed to appear on the ballot.
“What is happening to Zambia, once known as the last beacon of democracy in the sub‑region where arrests are now like birthday gifts dished out at the will of the government?” he said.
Mundubile said during the Easter period there was an attempt to abduct him, describing Zambia as becoming a Gestapo state where dissenters were abducted.
“I am being accused of trying to set Zambia on fire, to destabilise it. How can I burn the country I seek to lead? I love Zambia, I love the Zambian people, and I want to rule a peaceful Zambia, not turn it upside down,” he said.
