Gender Minister Nkandu Luo says her ministry is considering coming up with a bill that will make sexual offences such defilement and rape non bailable.
Professor Luo says this is in an effort to deter perpetrators of sexual violence.
She says will ensure that the Sexual Violence Bill is enacted into law in three months time, stating that it is high time the country starts punishing sex offenders differently.
Professor Luo notes that a lot has been said about sexual violence over the years, but that such cases have continued to be recorded.
She says her ministry would leave no stone unturned in bringing to book perpetrators of Gender Based Violence.
Agreed, I am with you 100% on this though you are PF.
No case should be non-bailable. All suspects should be treated as innocent until proven guilty. May be make bail conditions tough. The best is to make our courts deal with cases expeditiously, like the fast track courts for traffic offences.
Yes, keep the pervert locked up for good.
Ya what’s wrong with our politicians and some NGOs. You think because you remove bail you will reduce these cases. Some people accused are falsely accused so you want them to rot in jail while the case proceeds. There is presumption of innocence. Unless she is saying these people have been running away from court after being granted bail and are later found guilty. Drug dealers in Mexico are murdered but someone else takes their place.
I agree with you too. Present another bill that will demand hanging for anyone caught murdering women or men
Not withstanding the gravity of the case, the law is such that one is presumed to be innocent until one is found guilty in a court of law. On this premise, you are therefore denying an ‘innocent’ person his rights if you cancel bail. It is on this premise that even people accused of murder are granted bail in developed countries and even in South Africa. We should also be mindful that sexual violence cases are also prone to false accusations even in families. No offence meant to our Womenfolk.
Some CHEAP POLITICAL mileage – as much as Sexual offences are bad, we all do realise how difficult it is to differentiate between a “Yes Yes” & a “No Yes No”, Nkandu Luo should know better!!!
Yes, make it unbailable and stiff. I also propose that girls under the age of 16 who consent to defilement also be punished by the same law. My 13 year old niece who was defiled is said to have been sneaking out and spend nights at the 21 year old school mate. I was so upset to learn that my cousin the Father to this girl was persuaded not to report this case to police and that this boy keeps coming ati mukumona umwana. I would not be surprised if she becomes pregnant again. My point: let the law start visiting stupid minors who consent to defilement.
There is no such thing as “CONSENT TO DEFILEMENT”, it’s like saying one has “Consented to Rape!!”
So what you are saying is that all the sex offender has to do is say that the victim gave him consent to sleep with her (whether true or not) and the victim will also be punished? That doesn’t sound like a solution for me… the point is that the older one should get all the blame because the safety of every child is his responsibility and he failed at that… so punishing ‘consenting victims’ is not a solution.
its subject to abuse, disgruntled women will use it as a weapon to get back at men, remember the theft of motor vehicle? all it take is a complaint at the police that Mr. x did this to me, then you are in baba! its bad idea.
Why, they need more “ambassadors”?
Nkandu Luo, regretting that your president bailed out a defiler, unstable defiler to be exact.
He was not bailed out; he was pardoned. He is still a convicted defiler along with forger Masumba, launderer Liato and that other minister turned crazy car thief… Kanene has gone on to do lesser criminal acts of battery and assault. Crazy country!
As much as defilement and rape are satanic, i do not agree with your proposal professor. Our rule of law is sufficient to deal with these matters.
However, am saddened with the behavior of our political leaders such a H.E. Lungu; who chose to abuse their authority by releasing a convict for such demonic crimes just because same guy sings his lungs out in praise of the authorities. What a shame bwana H.E Edger Lungu.
..while no one is expected to tolerate any sexual offence…bear in mind that 99.99% offenders victims are men and 99.99% victims are women…if this law is left loose in the hands of women folks…men will regret to have supported this cause….my point is that let the courts determine the bail circumstances and condition depending on each individual case……just as it has already been alluded to above that sexual offences are also prone to false accusations just to get/hit back at the man….in Zambia just like anywhere else, a woman’s word on sexual issues is louder than the man’s word……
99.99% offenders are men….
We must move a step away from punishment to rehabilitation and rule of law. Remember how the car theft non-bail came back to bite those who passed it in the hind quarters!? A crazy will just have to accuse you, Nkandu Luo, of sexual assault and by the time you are cleared you will have been sorted out in gaol. Be careful what you wish for…
Very emotional as usual. Please let us be level minded. That is the problem with our counterparts the ladies. A person is deemed innocent till proven guilty. Think of offenses which are unbailable such as murder, armed robbery, treason etc. Have people stopped committing them? Answer is no. If we target boys and leave out girls we are making a huge mistake. The truth remains that both boys and girls do these things willingly and sending boys to jail will not solve the issue. We are merely doing the opposite of what Saudis do by punishing women and letting men go Scott free. There is going to be no difference between the so-called Christian nation and Islamic states. After all the girls sometimes do these things for money. I am a Christian with 2 sons and 2 daughters whom I love very…
Yep that sounds like an emotional decision. That’s dissapointing coming from a professor. Don’t get me wrong, I hate sexual offenders as much as the next guy, I believe they are the scum of the earth, but we also need to protect the rights of the falsely accused.’ Innocent until proven guilty’ as they say.
This will go against the presumption of innocence! This is being shallow minded because such a move will only increase congestion in prisons and it will entail grave suffering for people who have been maliciously implicated.
And she is called professor.Someone tell me what they know that this country has benefited from this professor and her titles.Even just providing leadership in Munali constituency she has failed.Does she know foe example that if you hit a womans bum that is called defilement and the minimum sentence is 15 years?Has she noticed the correlation between these offences and poverty?Is it a mere coincidence that these offences are now spiralling out of control under PF leadership which in my view can be linked to increasing poverty and illiteracy?