KATEKA DARES POLICE

By Kalobwe Bwalya & Fulman Mukobeko

THE New Heritage party will proceed with the Mandevu rally slated for Saturday next week with its own marshals ready to maintain peace because we do not need any police permit from anyone for us to gather, party president Chishala Kateka has vowed.

But the United Party for National Development (UPND) has advised the New Heritage Party that those who engage in political disobedience against the police will have themselves to blame when they push the police to react and that when such happen, the ruling party should not be blamed for it.

Speaking to The Scoop, Ms. Kateka said there was no law in Zambia that compelled the police to give permission for a political rally stating that the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) had already explained the matter in detail.

She alleged that the ruling UPND had continued holding meetings without notifying or getting permits from the police and wondered why the issue was different for the opposition.

“We advise the Inspector General of police Mr. Graphael Musamba’s command to create more room in the police cells should he decide to arrest us. We are coming in our thousands and we are prepared to pay any price Mr. Musamba deems fit,” Ms. Kateka said.

And Ms. Kateka said all party structures in Mandevu and Lusaka Province at large had been directed to continue mobilising for the peaceful mass rally in Mandevu as it will go as planned.

She said it was not fair that each time the opposition wanted to have a rally, they were stopped by police on account of security.

She accused the Zambia Police Service of being an impediment to democracy as it had been stopping the opposition from holding rallies and that if this continued, there would be no democracy to talk about in Zambia.

She noted with concern the alleged usual vague response from the Zambia Police Service that they should not proceed with the Mandevu rally, adding that if this was not stopped, the country was heading to one party state and citizens would become slaves in their own country.

“People are eager to listen to different manifestos because they are tired of the lies of other politicians. Therefore, the rally will proceed and we are ready to meet the police,” she warned.

And NEW Congress Party (NCP) president Peter Chanda says it is unfortunate that Zambia has become a police State and has since called on Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister Jack Mwiimbu to ensure that the new Public Order Act (POA) is enacted.

Speaking in an interview with The Scoop, Mr. Chanda claimed that Zambia was sliding into a Police State.

But speaking in a separate interview, UPND National Chairperson for Religious Affairs William Njombo parried assertions that Zambia is degenerating into a police State, saying such an assertion was ridiculous and only came from overzealous individuals who were only puffed up with politics at the expense of development.

Dr. Njombo said some disgruntled political party leaders wanted to spend the entire five years of the UPND’s first term to play politics in their failed attempt to divert the ruling party from delivering to the people of Zambia.

“I don’t think it is a correct narrative to state that Zambia is becoming a Police State. People like to do politics. They want to have politics at breakfast, politics at lunch, dinner, and at bed time,” Dr. Njombo said.

He said it was even laughable that people like Peter Chanda who has been an ally of the PF for many years when they ruled the country, failed to tell Edgar Lungu to repeal the POA but was today at the top of his voice telling the UPND to do so.

He said it was this kind of retrogressive thinking which was taking Zambian politics backwards where politicians only wanted to pursue issues for personal aggrandisement.

He wondered if Mr. Chanda had just realised now that there was the POA to which he kept a blind eye all those years the PF was in power and only saw it fit to talk about it now. He added that Mr. Chanda supported the police when Mr. Lungu was in power when they went ballistic, beating opposition political parties with impunity but never equated such acts to police brutality or talked about the country sliding into a Police State.

He said in between elections, it was important that people put politics aside and worked towards bettering the country and ensuring that the Government delivered on its promises.

He said the country had many problems that required citizens to come together and find solutions.

“What you see now is that some people are going to churches and communities pushing the narrative that we are going to have early elections and consequently encourage Zambians to rise against the democratically-elected Government.

“They do not see this to be a problem and think this is the way to do politics. If the same people are questioned why they are calling for early elections against what the Constitution says, they will cry that they are being persecuted,” he said.

He further regretted that the opposition abrogated the law and convened meetings without notification to the police who ensured that there was law and order.

He said as much as the ruling party agreed with the fact that the POA was archaic and needed to be repealed, the PF and its surrogates must continue to abide by it just like any other grouping until it was repealed because they had a chance to repeal the same piece of legislation but failed to do so as it worked to their advantage of oppressing the UPND when it was in the opposition.