DEFUSE TICKING TIME BOMB
…Zambians living in constant shock, fear – Changala
By Thandizo Banda
IF PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema does not courageously address the current political tension and division in the country by initiating national dialogue, they will remain a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, civil rights activist Brebner Changala has warned.
Meanwhile, former Patriotic Front (PF) acting president Given Lubinda says the unfolding situation in the Mandevu Constituency parliamentary by-election where United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate Adrian Banda has remained the sole contender is part of the bitter fruits of the 2025 constitutional amendment Bill 7.
Changala said Zambians were living in constant shock and fear following the events before, during and after the August 13 general elections.
“Zambians are in shock. Never in the history of this country have citizens been pushed in a corner of fear like [it is happening] now under UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema,” he said.
Changala said it was unfortunate that citizens were too frightened to speak out on issues affecting them and the nation because they had been pushed into a corner like never before by their own government since the general election.
He said the fear stemmed from arbitrary arrests of opposition leaders and members, and critics of Hichilema and the ruling UPND.
Changala cited unresolved grievances from the disputed August 13 elections, including the suspension of vote counting and intermittent announcement of results, seizure of polling stations and totalling centres by heavily armed special forces soldiers, sealing off of courts during petitions by soldiers and the brutal killing of former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya as some of the causes of the current tension in the country.
He pleaded with Hichilema to call an urgent national indaba through Cabinet Office.
Changala warned that ignoring the current happenings in the country would be like leaving a “time bomb” ticking, ready to explode.
“Zambians are ready to talk to each other. Zambians are more than ready to live as one people,” he said.
The UPND has been dismissing calls for national dialogue as unnecessary and mocking those making the calls.
Meanwhile, former Patriotic Front (PF) acting president Given Lubinda says the unfolding situation in the Mandevu Constituency parliamentary by-election where United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate Adrian Banda has remained the sole contender is part of the bitter fruits of the 2025 constitutional amendment Bill 7.
In a statement issued at the weekend titled ‘Mandevu By-Election: The Fruits of the 2025 (Bill 7) Constitutional Amendment’, Lubinda said the reported withdrawal of three rival candidates from FDD, Leadership Movement and the independent camp on the same day raised profound concerns about the future of multiparty democracy in Zambia.
“This development demands serious national reflection. It raises a fundamental question: What is the value of an election if the people are left without a meaningful choice of representatives?” he wondered.
Lubinda, a former justice minister, said before Bill 7, Article 52(6) provided for cancellation of an election and fresh nominations where a candidate resigned after nominations had closed.
“This was so as to protect political parties from being ditched by their adopted candidates for whatever reason. It was also to safeguard voters from remaining without alternatives in an election,” he said.
“The Bill 7 amendment changed that position. Under the revised provision, a candidate who resigns/withdraws after nomination becomes ineligible to contest, but the election proceeds on the scheduled date.”
Lubinda said the practical consequence was that an election might proceed even after competing candidates had withdrawn.
“This is the emerging situation in Mandevu: FDD and LM whose candidates have decided to withdraw, for whatever reasons and the electorate in Mandevu have no opportunity to choose among competing political alternatives. They are stuck with the UPND candidate,” he said.
Lubinda said the people of Mandevu deserved more than a predetermined choice.
They already suffered disruption of their original election following the attack on the constituency’s results-totalling centre by UPND cadres.
“I have totally nothing against Adrian Banda, a young and rising politician who I am closely associated with. However, the people of Mandevu should not have to endure an interrupted election only to find themselves deprived of a meaningful choice when the process resumes,” Lubinda said.
