The Grand Coalition on the Campaign for a People Driven Constitution is dismayed by the reports carried by some media houses on Thursday of His Excellence President Edgar Chagwa Lungu to the effect that he had allowed the planned Chuundu meeting to take place on Saturday in Monze.
We find it worrying that the President thinks he has power to allow or disallow Zambians from exercising their human rights, in this case freedom of association and assembly, which are guaranteed by our constitution. We want to remind His Excellence that the presidency does not confer human rights instead, him and his government has a duty and obligation to uphold the constitution by respecting those rights, and refraining from undue interference in citizens’ enjoyment of their human rights which are clearly provided for in the constitution.
The fact that he has the audacity to state publicly that he gave a go-ahead for the meeting leaves us without any doubt that he is the one who instructs the police to use the Public Order Act to silence dissenting voices. This also gives credence to claims by some sections of our society that the panga wielding thugs who occasionally harass citizens and disrupt such exercises of fundamental rights have the blessings of the highest office of the land.
We further remind the President that there is no law that allows him to confer human rights onto Zambians for him to now appear as if he is a benevolent leader generously ‘conferring human rights’ unto us.
In the same statement the President shows his hypocrisy by saying that he will meet the chiefs of Southern Province on Tuesday to “bring an end to the divisive sentiments some sections of society are fermenting to sow seeds of discord in the nation”.
As the Grand Coalition, we have no doubt that the sower of divisive sentiments is none other than Patriotic Front Secretary General Davies Chama, and not the convenors of the Chuundu that is due to take place on Saturday or any other persons in support of the Chuundu. Chama made his unpalatable tribalistic remarks on 20th June 2015 and that he was equally preceded by his deputy cadre Mumbi Phiri who referred to the people of Southern Province as “bakachema” and that the people of Southern Province have been patiently waiting for some recourse in vain until they have been forced to take this in their own hands.
[pullquote]We find it worrying that the President thinks he has power to allow or disallow Zambians from exercising their human rights[/pullquote]
We call on all well-meaning Zambians, of any tribe, who genuinely abhor tribalism to travel to Monze on Saturday and give solidarity to the Chuundu as a demonstration of taking a stand against such divisive tendencies being exhibited by the ruling party leadership. We believe that a new people driven constitution will ensure that the party in government respects fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of all of us citizens.
We also stress that the final draft constitution provides for a constitutional court to which, if it had been enacted in the 90 days, the injured ethnic group could have taken Davis Chama to seek redress on whether his remarks had not put a slur on the constitutional right of the people of Southern Province to the exercise of their culture.
We further encourage our Royal Highnesses, the chiefs from Southern Province to refuse to meet Lungu until he unreservedly apologises on behalf of his cadre and takes responsibility for his cadre’s remarks by firing Chama. There is no way the Head of State should begin to think that it is in his powers to ‘okay’ human rights. We reject this mediocrity, it has no place in our country.
for/THE GRAND COALITION
Fr. Leonard Chiti
CHAIRPERSON
Zambia under pf is a failled state!
If someone has no vision, they will say anything. Edgar by his own sis he had no vision. It is extremely naive to even contemplate that Edgar knows what he is doing as President. Come 2016, lets move on.
Do not be cheated that Zambia is failed state.You guys you think HH can solve Zambia s diverse problems when in fact he plundered the Zambian economy by selling the mines and some Zambian parastal at an under valued amounts. Remember we will never vote for HH
Is the meeting on Saturday or Sunday? Please clarify before you confuse the people. I thought the advert in The Post said Sunday?
All this is b’coz of BANDIT Davies Chama, & visionless Lungu has lambently failed to dismiss the culprits. As such, the visionless PF have continued to prove their failures: The ECONOMY & KWACHA are in LIMBO!
“The fact that he has the audacity to state publicly that he gave a go-ahead for the meeting leaves us without any doubt that he is the one who instructs the police to use the Public Order Act to silence dissenting voices. This also gives credence to claims by some sections of our society that the panga wielding thugs who occasionally harass citizens and disrupt such exercises of fundamental rights have the blessings of the highest office of the land” true that Fr Chiti. Bravo to you as you stand for justice!
The Skeleton Key
~206~
PF BANDITS!
Do you know what a failed state is? I think you mean Syria!
Some times it is better to let certain things the way they are.It is absurd for Father Chiti to pretend ignorance that Presindent Lungu is the Commander in Chief of the Security Forces.How do you become the commander and not have power to direct things.If the Presidents speech was clearly understood by Father Chiti,the President was merely directing those people with different approach to the conveners of the meeting to stay away so that the meeting freely discusses their agenda without interference. What is wrong with this Ba Father Chiti?
“Remember we will never vote for HH” @ 1.2 Fred, please qualify your “we.”
Nimwamene! Manje for once mutasheniko munyamata. Don’t kick him even, when he shows civility.
If think it time for us Zambians to look at things in a broader perspective. Those people who are meeting in chirundu are our fellow Zambians but what they are doing is bordering on treason because they are planning to form their own country within a country which is wrong. The president was right to allow them to go ahead with their meeting so that what ever they will discuss and come up with , then they can later meet the president on Tuesday and iron out the differences. This in the end will bring the matter to an end.
@ fred
What you mean “bordering on treason”???
Do you know what TREASON means? And if so, how you define “bordering with treason”?
Learn first, comment afterwards!!!
Don’t be uneducated like Hon. Kambwili who think that English and Zamglish are the same language.
@Fred: Drunk so early who is meeting in Chirundu its Monze bra, if you cant differentiate between the 2 then I dont know what logic can come from you mate. Please get full details when you are getting paid to comment.
I do not know why people insist on taking Lungu seriously. this dude and his government are the biggest joke this side of the equator and it is better just to watch them with amusement as we wait for 2016 so that hopefully the joke ends and we start being serious as a country again.
On both sides of the equator!
This clown is truly clueless. He is supposed to be a lawyer and does not even understand the basics of law.
It would be a good joke if only we did not have to suffer from the consequences of his stupidity.
No one finds a collapsing Kwacha funny.
No one finds load shedding funny.
No one finds fuel prices funny.
No one finds mealie meal prices doubling funny.
PF is a very SICK joke on the Zambian people!
You are just useless instead appreciating the man you are still condemn him,what do you really want to do.
Asking us to appreciate Lungu for saying what is constitutionally guaranteed to citizens is like you requesting us to appreciate you for going to the toilet.
peddle u are just a fool.
In the movie Zero Dark Thirty one character describes Obama as being a “thoughtful and analytical guy”.
How I wish someone could describe our President as such.
Every time our man opens his mouth (& he does it so often) awee sure na inzi zi seka.
am now wondering what is the motive behind the so called THE GRAND COALITION. Me I thought this cartel is for the release of New constitution.With this article I conclude now that it is a political party a subsidiary of UPND. R.Chiti if you start issuing such remarks /states Pipo will lose confidence in you. Why are you so low to be used by UPND no wonder you will not succeed in your fight for new Constitution this year
The issues of respect for civil liberties that the Coalition is raising in this article are constitutional. That you have failed to understand the obvious linkage is what should worry you, a cause for mental concern. Why are you so low to be used by ignorance? Exercise your mind, my dear kuntakinte. You are better than that.
No doubt that Chagwa is a jerk. But I have to question where this Fr Chiti was when Sata was insulting people from NWP and Lozis? When it was a Bemba speaker doing the same, these Bemba Catholic priests were very quiet. Now that Lungu is escalating the assault on Tongas (Lungu himself called people supporting UPND as bakachema), Fr Chiti has suddenly found his voice.
always looking for loop holes ba Childless Father Chiti. The way you are going you will ditch the pulpit soon. This how Frank Bwalya started, look where he is today.
“CHUUNDU CHABAKACHEMA CHAITWA, ALL STINKING KACHEMAS INCLUDING THE KACHEMA INCHIEF (HH) SHOULD ASSEMBLE IN MONZE WITH THEIR WHIPS WITHOUT FAIL.
foolish, shadreck kachema is better than you dog keeper.
Your stinking mother ,rite?
The Grand Coalition on the Campaign for UPND have also become tree huggers.
HE ECL should not be seen to be tiptoeing around not wanting to offend, as it just panders to those who wish to create division and chaos…
As I always say the first question to be asked of ANY coalition, such as this is one, is who financed/sponsored it. Then treat what they say accordingly.
*Sorry meant human right buffs not tree huggers
This man hav a vision 4 all zamians. nangu acita pretend, God be u yo Exlnce
So what did you want the president to do? Keep quite when it was obvious that police was going to stop the meeting so that his paymasters makes capital out of nothing? This is what happens when men of the cloth abandon their calling! Hopeless ans hypocritical father, is this your so called statement part of the process for a people driven constitution?
All roads lead to Monze this Sunday!
Its a case of “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t” – with all due respect to Father Chiti ( an old friend of mine) – to bring sanity to the whole situation and also given the overzealous reaction by some Commissioner of Police as demonstrated in the Pilato case, The President had to come out and spell it out for any doubting Thomases. To therefore, conclude that he is permitting the meeting to go ahead and in that light be seen to be the one that denies other meetings taking place is rather below the belt and your capacity to simplify things.
The best way to diffuse some of these things is to “give a devil a rope to hang himself!”. ECL has done a good thing! Allow them to meet and then let us see what they will discuss! If he allowed the Police to stop the meeting he was going to just play in the hands of these people who may be fighting to gain recognition! Let them meet just like kusefya pa ng’wena will be meeting but they have to understand that police have a right uphold law and order so will be there to ensure peace prevails just like they are found at many public gatherings. What will matter is the content of the meeting! The President is in-charge of defence & security as Commander In-Chief so no one should wonder what powers he has to stop a meeting if he has evidence it can lead to breakdown of law & order!
@Zambia ni yatu
Well said. Let them go ahead and the whole country will hear what their agenda is all about. It looks like Chama must be such an important person in Zambia for them to meet over his inconsequential statement. Even when Chama is quoted to have said that the UPND will never lead Zambia in the next 100 years, would one be bothered about this. Is Chama the one who tells Zambians how to vote, and will the Zambia of the next 100 years be the same as that of today for a group of people to want to meet over this?
When Mwanawasa came to power, He was hated even worse than our current Lungu. Everybody called him all sorts of names including cabbage claiming in his head there is no brain. I remember one MCL was in the forefront of this campaign. The police in their overzealous way of doing things wanted to block MCL from holding public meetings, But “Ichibumba” would go ahead and overrule the police to allow the opposition to meet. Even when they would meet, the subject was on him and how much of a cabbage he was.
6 years down the line, everybody saw wat the so called ”cabbage” was all about. To his excellence ECL, please dont relent in your endeavour to correct things that had gone wrong during the last 3 yrs of MCS. We are behind you and we shall ensure you succeed.
I have told in the past and i m saying it again. Pf are locusts!
The Grand Coalition of people who do not think. The President has allowed the Tonga Indaba to meet , and you say it is wrong. If the Police had stopped it, again you woud have said it was wrong. Of course you know this meeting is back firing on the same UPND, now you want to blame an innocent person. I will never ever take such useless organizations seriously. True Colors are now being seen. Ba Father Chiti Go and observe Chuundu Chaitwa called to discuss one Chama’s comments. At least when HH called us monkeys in the maize field, we didn’t bother!
I hear the Grand Master, his Imperial Majesty, Know it all , Most Intelligent Zambian, the Chief Kachema General has developed cold feet on the Chuundu Chaitwa. Twapapata ba HH Na ba mita . Dont hide behide this useless Father Chiti. Go to Monze. You are the Organiser , and we wont be fooled. All roads lead to Monze.
In the eyes of Father Chiti, Nawakwi, Milupi, Sara Longwe – President Lungu will never do or say anything acceptable. Zambians are watching – and 2016 is near.
And, in so far, they are absolutely RIGHT.
Either he has bunch of crooked 1mbeciles as advisers or ……….?
I will live to you to decide which one apply.
You put it aptly, observer
Fr. Chiti re-examine President Lungus statement . Yapping just so you can earn a few pieces of silver is not befitting for a priest,if anything you are misleading your flock.
@ Joe
Yes ECL is Commander in Chief of Armed forces, but is the scheduled “Chuundu” meeting in Monze an “armed force”? I suspect you are on a hallucinogen for you out of 14 million Zambians to individually perceive “combatants in Chuunduland.”
Fuseke Fred cipuba..
Blame Kafupi (deceased) for sells of mines.
The widow in 8m€ hand over to her finn business partner
Where she got that money when zed is wraggling in poverty???
What is the meaning of Chuundu? Does it mean Bakachema? Ok Kachema means cattle herder. Chuundu chaitwa ku Monze ba kachema balaswangana sunu.
No no no, tribal alliances are never to be propelled. If indeed chuundu is a tribal grouping of the people of Southern Province, it renders the one Zambia one nation slogan useless. If chuundu chaitwa is non-tribal and the meeting organizers who have called it think it is of developmental and neutral nature, let the chairperson be of
Bemba descent.