Nkombo assault charges an abuse of state power-Changala
By Thandizo Banda
CIVIL rights activist Brebner Changala has described the assault case slapped on former Mazabuka member of Parliament Gary Nkombo as a clear abuse of state power.
In an interview with The Mast yesterday, Changala urged Nkombo to resign from the United Party for National Development (UPND) before he was destroyed and sidelined completely.
“The sooner he jumps off the sinking boat, the better. This UPND regime is gone and gone forever,” Changala said.
He said Nkombo must rescue himself from the worst-case scenario of a regime that was determined to purge long-standing members.
Changala said the assault case against Nkombo exposed deeper institutional problems, adding that the former UPND strongman had fallen out of favour with senior party officials while being embraced by majority members.
“We are witnessing the fracture of the judiciary at the whim of authority. State police have found themselves in an awkward space after being turned into messengers of injustice by the UPND administration,” Changala said.
He urged the police to understand that political affiliation did not exempt anyone from accountability.
“The fact that assailants belong to the ruling party does not exempt them from responsibility. Our fear is that if a man of the status of Gary Nkombo, a senior member of the UPND, can be humiliated and ill-treated in that manner, what fate is there for a common Zambian who is not a member of the ruling party?” he wondered.
Changala said the indictment alleging that Nkombo assaulted UPND cadres had been rejected by right-thinking Zambians and those behind the scheme must know that the time for reckoning was approaching fast.
“It is in the public domain that Gary acted in self-defence of himself and his wife from violent UPND cadres. I wish to warn these UPND criminals that time for reckoning is coming and approaching so fast. They must learn from the past. We had a gentleman who was jailed by this regime for a murder case of Lawrence Banda and those behind these criminal activities will have themselves to blame when there is a change of government,” he said.
