LUMEZI member of Parliament (MP) Munir Zulu says he has submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur, Irene Khan, that the harassment of opposition leaders and government critics and their arrests for seditious practices and hate speech have the blessings of President Hakainde Hichilema.
In an exclusive interview with The Mast yesterday, Zulu said if President Hichilema disapproved of such actions, then human rights would be respected in Zambia.
“So long as you see a systematic pattern of these arrests, it tells you to say the President knows about them and he has deliberately given them a blind eye,” Zulu said.
He registered his displeasure with the parliamentary committee that was allegedly composed of United Party for National Development (UPND) MPs only that made submissions at Parliament on Wednesday.
“And I equally asked the Rapporteur because she went to Parliament Building yesterday, but she met UPND MPs when committees at Parliament are constituted not based on your political affiliation. You have MPs from the independent opposition and the ruling party forming a committee of 10,” he said.
“So, how is it possible that only UPND MPs made submissions from Parliament Buildings? Others had to go and meet her from the United Nations. So, she said no, she took note of the affiliation that she met.”
Meanwhile, Zulu says fugitive former Petauke Central member of Parliament Emmanuel Jay Banda has been asked to send an email to explain his ordeal.
“Jay Jay Banda was requested to push in an email to explain his ordeal because he is one of the cases on her table. In fact, before her coming, my case and Jay Jay cases are one of the many cases that were reported to them before their coming. I don’t even know who reported on our behalf,” Zulu said.
“For me, I am hoping that they can put sanctions on certain individuals so that we can restore the rule of law, especially on human rights, on freedom of expression and on opinion.”
