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SA ‘s opposition leader who wanted to meet HH has been denied entry into Zambia

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South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane
South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane

South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane has been denied entry at the Kenneth Kaunda International Lusaka Airport. Maimane who is leader of the Democratic Alliance in South Africa, arrived at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) with South Africa Airlink at 17:45hrs.

Immigration authorities advised Mr. Maimane to immediately return to South Africa as his presence was inimical to the rule of law in Zambia and would subject the judicial process to ridicule.

The authorities also said his presence would undermine the independence , integrity and standing of the Court.

Maimane has since returned to South Africa

The DA announced that its leader Mmusi Maimane would travel to Zambia and was going to to attend United Party for National Development (UPND) leader, Hakainde Hichilema’s court appearance due on Friday.

The DA also announced that it would rally the support of other regional opposition leaders to travel to Zambia to pressure the government of Zambia and the courts of law to release Mr. Hakainde Hichilema.

Below is DA’s fulll statement

South African Opposition Leader Maimane to Attend Hichilema Trial

Tomorrow, Friday 26 May 2017, Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, will attend the treason trial of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, the detained President of Zambia’s largest opposition party – the United Party for National Development (UPND) – in Lusaka, Zambia.

As we celebrate Africa Day, the leader of the opposition in Zambia faces trumped up criminal charges brought against him by a government intent on reversing the gains of democracy in Zambia and in Southern Africa.

Six weeks ago, Zambian Police arrested Hichilema and charged him with treason whilst he was on route to a ceremony in the Western province of Zambia. The initial “crime” he is alleged to have committed, is that he attempted to block Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s motorcade which was travelling on the same road.

However, when the state prosecutors failed to substantiate that charge, they amended the charge and alleged that Hichilema and 60 others had conspired to declare Mr Hichilema the President of Zambia, and therefore charged him with treason. Treason is a non-bailable offence in Zambia, with a minimum jail term of 15 years and a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

The violent nature of his arrest, and the inhumane treatment that Hichilema has received in detention, confirms the political motives behind these charges. The arbitrary arrest of political opponents is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes, which seek to systematically eliminate any potential threat to their rule. Hichilema has suffered injury in detention, and attempts we have made to visit him in prison have been blocked by the Zambian government. Even Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda was stopped from visiting Mr Hichilema in prison.

The circumstances which led to Hichilema’s arrest are an affront to democracy across the region, and point clearly to a political motivation. The South African government has maintained a deafening silence in this matter, despite our calls for President Zuma to intervene to stop this outrageous political trial. President Zuma and the ANC’s silence says much about their disregard for democratic values and principles on the continent.

The Democratic Alliance will not be silent. We will stand up for democracy and the rule of law on the African continent and we will be there in person to show our support for Mr. Hichilema. We also call on the Zambian government to drop these trumped up charges against the Leader of the Opposition, and release him from prison.

The ANC will be out of government in 2019. Authoritarian leaders in the region must know that South Africa’s post-ANC government will stand up for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.

The DA is unequivocally committed to the advancement of vibrant, competitive, multiparty democracy, the rule of law, and the entrenchment of human rights and free speech across Africa. The persecution of Mr. Hichilema goes against these values, and as such we must stand in solidarity with those who are fighting for true democracy on the continent.

In this light, the lack of action by regional bodies and other African nations is a great cause of concern. There has been not one word of condemnation by the South African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU).

This silence from the regional bodies responsible for fostering democracy and unity across Africa is unacceptable. We once again call on these bodies – and other African states committed to democracy – to condemn the actions of the Lungu administration.

The Democratic Alliance stands by Mr Hichilema and we offer him our full support, and will attend his trial tomorrow to demonstrate our support. We call on the Zambian government to stop this ludicrous trial.

The details of the trial are as follows:
Date: Friday, 26 May 2017
Time: 11:30
Location: Magistrate Court Complex, Hibiscus Rd, Lusaka, Zambia
Mmusi Maimane
Leader of the Democratic Alliance

85 COMMENTS

    • Mugabe is checking out soon. Once Zim has a new leader. Zuma is out. It will not be long before this young becomes the SADC chairman. Lungu should know these problems he is accumulating are not good.

    • Just google Raila Odinga, Obasanjo,Craig Mills,Maimane, Hichilema and add Oppenheimer to the search…………..one thing that will come up is that they are all linked to the Oppenheimer family which championed a racist agenda during the apartheid era in South Africa. These are the people HH associates with and wants to sale Zambia to. His campaigns are heavily funded by them. The agenda of the Oppenheimer family on Zambia is equivalent to economic sabotage and government should do something to counter it before its too late.

    • @ ba sabenza

      Instead try mugabe, bokassa, museveni, mobutu, hitler, goebles, lungu and tell us what they have in common?

    • If he has failed to be president in south Africa he should not fool himself that by coming to Zambia he will become next south African president.
      His country is in so much a mess that you can not walk a kilometer without being attacked. The majority are in real poverty, worse than poverty levels seen in Zambia.

      Thats why I love this government, its a no nonsense government.

    • Chase all economical Zambian scavengers from SA back to Kanyama and Malipode where they belong.

    • This ka little f00l should just go and deal with his racists party. If he has failed to deal with Jacob no one will help him. It is an internal matter. So our thief HH is our legal internal matter.

    • This ka little f00l should just go and deal with his racists party. If he has failed to deal with Jacob no one will help him. It is an internal matter. So our thief HH is our legal internal matter.

    • We want to strongly warn Lungu of Zambia that soon will dance to a song of with bitter tune.Watch the space.We are men of few words.

    • As of last night the South African government through its dept. of international relations has demanded an explanation from Zambian authorities as to why Maimane was deported?

      I imagine the response from Zambia will be “He was only denied entry into the country and not deported” …

    • To a mad person all the normal people are mad and only him is normal and that mad person needs no mention. But lives in this country.

    • Deny all the disruptors. I am glad Zambia is finally learning that they are not obliged to let in everyone who appears at their borders!

  1. We don’t any kind meeting someone carrying Treason charges.
    Nonsensical really.

    He is cute this guy than anyone in zambia I saw

    Thanks

    BB2014,2016

    • If he has failed to be president in south Africa he should not fool himself that by coming to Zambia he will become next south African president.
      His country is in so much a mess that you can not walk a kilometer without being attacked. The majority are in real poverty, worse than poverty levels seen in Zambis.

      Thats why I love this government, its a no nonsense government.

    • This is embarrassment to Africa. So this PF can’t see any danger in this?
      Kapyongo should deport all South Africans. And you know how South Africans behave with xenophobia, the may close embassy there.

    • You are the biggest PF liability on this platform because with so called PhD your reactions are always at the kindergarten level.

    • Oh my Gosh! …. This must be a joke! … Another captured State!

      Zambia don’t give a shyte about AFRICA DAY

  2. 10 WAYS TO TELL IF YOUR PRESIDENT IS A DICTATOR By Prof. Stephen Walt, Harvard University

    1) Demonizing the opposition.
    These are the same tactics Erdogan and Putin have used in Turkey and Russia, respectively, to cement their own authority over time by initiating a vicious cycle of social hostility. When groups within a society are already somewhat suspicious of each other, extremists can trigger a spiral of increasing hostility by attacking the perceived internal enemy in the hope of provoking a harsh reaction. If the attacked minority responds defensively, or its own hotheads lash out violently, it will merely reinforce the first group’s fears and bolster a rapid polarization.
    Extremists on both sides will try to “outbid” their political opponents by portraying themselves as…

    • CONT’D
      Extremists on both sides will try to “outbid” their political opponents by portraying themselves as the most ardent and effective defenders of their own group. In extreme cases, such as the Balkan Wars in the 1990s or Iraq after 2003, the result is civil war.
      2) Systematic efforts to intimidate the media.
      As George Orwell emphasized so powerfully in 1984, autocrats survive by controlling information.
      3) Building an official user-friendly media network.
      Putin uses Reuters. lungu uses DeadNBC, Daily Nation, Times of Zambia, Daily mail.
      4) Politicizing the civil service, military & the domestic security agencies. lungu has politicized PF Police to brutalize citizens & ZAF for rigging.
      5) Using government surveillance against domestic political opponents.
      6) Using state…

    • CONT’D…
      6) Using state power to reward corporate backers and punish opponents.
      7) Stacking the Supreme Court.
      8) Enforcing the law for only one side.
      9) Really rigging the system.
      10) Fear-mongering. (Stoking public fears about safety and well-being is a classic autocratic tactic, designed to convince a frightened population to look to the Leader for protection. A frightened population tends to think first about its own safety, and forget about fundamental liberties, and would be more likely to look the other way as a president amassed greater power.) Zabians are now being arrested for facebook comments & are scared to even chat political topics online.

      The worst case, of course, would be an Erdogan-like attempt to use a terrorist attack or some other equally dramatic event…

    • CONT’D
      The worst case, of course, would be an Erdogan-like attempt to use a terrorist attack or some other equally dramatic event as an excuse to declare a “state of emergency” and to assume unprecedented executive authority.

  3. Simple thing to help HH ask him to behave like an educated person. HH must stop putting up a fight in a wrong way. Fighting for his release without educating him on good behavor wont help.

  4. Really Zambia is sinking very low. How can Maimane’s presence in court affect the court proceedings? Are PF scared of international exposure to the baseless treason charges. Surely guiltiest are always afraid…

    • “The DA announced that it would rally the support of other regional opposition leaders to travel to Zambia to pressure the government of Zambia and the courts of law to release Mr. Hakainde Hichilema”……if this statement is not contempt of court, tell me what is!

  5. Hehehehehe

    Lungu is buggered if he does and buggered if he does not.

    That is the fate of a theif. Mother nature always comes back to bite you.

    • I totally agree. Lungu is left alone dancing to Dununa Reverse – ALL his concubines Dora Siliyas, Luo, Mwanakatwe and Zambia Open smelly pus.sey Mumbwi Phiri are quiet!
      That is how it will be when he leaves the presidency which he stole!! Even his corrupt Godfather Rupiah Banda whose delinquent thieving son Henry is hiding in SA has backed off.
      SA was supposed to be their last place of refuge when they leave office but now they can’t count on it especially when Maimane’s DA takes power! Lungu has fcked up and has few options left and no where to run to after this SH.IT!! Glad that we helped South Africans in their liberation struggle and they are also helping Zambia in the fight against the Dictators.

  6. The white racists have indeed evolved new strategies to subjugate the integrity of African Governments. Their sinister project involves the hiring of politically gullible BLACK AFRICAN politicians to execute their programs to exploit African resources. The list of such treacherous Africans include Jonas Savimbi, Congo’s Mobutu, RENAMO’s leader in Mozambique, DA’s Mmusi Maimane, Nigeria’s Obasanjo and Hakaimbe Hichilema. None of these African traitors actually care on the plight that genuine freedom fighters experienced yo free this region. Their prime motive is to amass wealth at the exclusion of poor in majority.

    Maimane has a racial issue stack in his pockets. Helen Zille has openly told him that COLONIALISM was an essential factor to teach the blacks in South Africa. We are yet…

    • @Mwansa Kabinga:
      Mother fcking id.iot! Put that sh.it back into your ar.se! After 53 years and you are still blaming other people for your own mess. This is Lungu’s failure to govern even so illegally!

  7. It seems the Government and the DA leader are both right depending from which angle yo see things. Unfortunately one has to make a decision seen to be helpful in the moment. Another grey area for me.

    • @Edward:
      You piece of Matuvi! When you know that your PF Lungu is wrong you say it is a “grey area” – so what do you really want? A blue, red, yellow, pink area etc? Ar.sewhore!

    • @Edward:
      You piece of Mat.uvi! When you know that your PF Lungu is wrong you say it is a “grey area” – so what do you really want? A blue, red, yellow, pink area etc? Ar.sew.hore!

  8. Maimane has a racial issue stack in his flesh to resolve. Helen Zille has openly told him that COLONIALISM was an essential factor to teach the blacks in South Africa. He should have been man enough to decisively confront Hellen rather than shy away and opt to seek solace by provoking political upheavals in Zambia.

    In order to gain some relevance to some gullible South African blacks, the DA leaders have been exploiting Mandela’s name to gain popularity, yet these whites privately scorn at Mandela vision to unify South Africans. As for Maimane and his friend Obasanjo, we are yet to know the true nature of their assignment programmed for execution in Zambia.

  9. I have never seen such a thing in Zambia except for Kaunda whose friend nyerere came to see in mukobeko; however HH is a nobody he has never ruled but is so interngled with foreign characters.
    These guys want to influence zambian politics, which is not good.

    • And this “nobody” has made your “wise”, “humble”, “visionary” and “annotated” convicted embezzler run like headless chicken?

  10. He should have been detained as well and charged with court contempt. He is not among those that have been listed to visit HH. The court gave guidance.

    • Learn couple of things 1mbecile:
      1. He was REFUSED entry and therefore cannot be detained,
      2. It is OPEN COURT hearing and ANYBODY can attend and
      3. This has created first FREEDOM FIGHTER of new democratic Africa

    • What’s this all about ?when PF imported the youth from south Africa that was okay.so what’s wrong with this guy visiting Zambia to stand with a fellow human being.shallow minded people.

  11. Mmusi Maimane’s alleged deportation highlights Zambia’s downward spiral – Mail & Guardian

    • OK so give an example where someone else was turned back with no proper reason….because there is no adequate enough reason for a so called democratic state to do this.

  12. Government has done well to deny entry to this opposition leader. We do not want anarch in this country and let the law take its course. NO BODY IS ABOVE THE LAW….. À very important cornerstone to democracy world over.

  13. What a shame!! Lungu Lungulila you are not the first president of Zambia but you will be the first President to go in exile when you will be out of power. Time will tell, you are digging your own grave. Mr. President your advisers are bad news misleading you daily. Where are you taking this Country forward or backwards?

  14. This action by the Lungu govt will backfire. Zuma and SADC were using quiet diplomacy on Lungu and they now have no choice but to confront Lungu head on. Zuma talked of an “A Dictator and an Angry President arresting his Opponents and throwing them into Jail”.Now he will say he was talking about Lungu and he is now forced to take retaliatory measures. AU,SADC and the UN will be forced to take a firm stand on the Zambian Crisis. International Sanctions beckons for Lungu and his goons. This is a Repeat of what Mugabe did in Zimbabwe so the Zambian Economy will collapse with dire consequences.

  15. Imwe ba UPND, don’t be excited with such characters like the DA leader. You seem to have very short memories because its the same party, the Democratic Alliance, (DA), full of white racists who jailed Nelson Mandela and others for 27 years on the notorious Robbin Island. If some of you have never traveled to Cape Town and visited the Robbin Island, please I advise that you do so immediately and listen to how cruel these criminals are. Today, this chap called Mmusi Maimane, cannot have guts to come and pretend here in Zambia that he and his party are clean, far from it!
    We know their interest in Zambia, they want to continue colonizing us to this day by using fronts like this chap, IT WONT WORK! Just for your information, the DA is an opposition party in South Africa dominated by White…

    • You are the one with short memories, sir. It’s NOT the DA that jailed Mandela, it’s the National Party. This National Party then formed an alliance with the ANC post-Apartheid era. When the party was disbanded, the National Party merged with the ANC. We can essentially say, the bulk of the so-called White racists who jailed Mandela are now in Mandela’s ANC.

  16. The Catholic Bishops already warned us. But if you think you are a strong dictator, by now you must have some knowledge that dictators usually have a very sad ending – examples are there for all to see – Mobutu Seseko, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddaffi, Idi Amin.

    • catholics only make 20% of Zambia’s religious affiliation of the population while 75% make up the protestant affiliation. Is the voice of the minority more important than the majority?? Is that democratic??

  17. contd
    White Extremists. These are the thieves that have robbed South Africa of its Gold and Diamonds through Anglo America. hh is a criminal who has links with Africa’s National plunderers and Drug dealers and this is the reason you are seeing these desperate creatures like Mmusi Maimane, Raila Odinga, Obasanjo,Craig Mills, and the infamous Oppenheimer!
    The DA chap, false Prophets like Bushiri are all brain washed blacks being used by the White Imperialists to continue causing havoc in countries with very rich mineral resources like Zambia, Congo DR, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe etc. Sorry, we are far ahead of them and lets be alert because their strategy is to use black fronts, cause confusion and continue scrambling and rapping Africa! HH, does not respect Zambians and those don’t…

  18. These events happening from the time HH was incarcerated just show how sensitive this matter is, where even international opposition party leaders try to intervene to have HH released. It has never happened in the history of this country. Waiting to see how the whole drama unfolds

  19. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8New International Version (NIV)

    4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

  20. you talk ill of the country, you denounce its leadership, you think you can be accepted in their country? well done our country for denying him entry. we don’t need his yap yap here, we have enough of our own Nevers, mulongoti including muliokela

  21. And this happened on Africa freedom day, what an embarrassment of epic proportions. How can his presence in court affect the ruling? This guy is the next president of SA, this country has really gone to the dogs. What will Lungu do and we’re will he go with a begging bowl when this guy rules SA in 2019? This has confirmed to the outside world what we have been saying all along that the arrest and subsequent slapping of treason charges on HH is politically motivated.Any sane Zambian must condemn this thuggery in the strongest term.

    • Maimane next president of RSA??? ANC control 62% of parliament and DA only 22% with their numbers coming from racially charged Cape Town, how are they going to change 22% into a majority 50%+ overnight????

  22. While I do not agree with the incarceration of HH, I don’t think it is of any help to us to sink so low as to think the likes of Maimane are going to solve our problems. In RSA they are talking of “State Capture”. Ironically, the same Maimane who is against Zuma for being influenced by people outside government is trying to do the same in another country.

    In my opinion, Maimane’s interest in HH’s case is self serving. He is just trying to build his own reputation and not necessarily trying to help us.

    The PF government too should not think that they can get away with impunity if HH is seen to be denied justice. The sooner this case is dealt with the better for the country.

  23. Sata was also not allowed entry into Malawi rather deported from Malawi ,so that is not strange. EL and Government have done the correct thing

  24. This apply to Lungu and his team of corrupt officials:
    “One of the commonest manifestations of under-development is a tendency among the ruling elite to live in a world of make-believe and unrealistic expectations.

    This is the cargo mentality that anthropologists sometimes speak about – a belief by backward people that someday, without any exertion whatsoever on their own part, a fairly-ship will dock in their harbor laden with every goody they have always dreamed of possessing.”

  25. I am non partisan, but the way HH and is group behaved is clear to everyone their intent, the Presidential motorcade which they blocked would have involved in fatal accident looking at the nature of roads, our able President was saved because the stretch of the road were they blocked the motorcade is still in good shape, had it been that one of the vehicles had hit the pothole it would have been a different story now.
    i am surprised that people turned a blind eye despite watching everything on social media were HH’s group made the presidential motorcade to swerve just to pass through……
    The DA Leader is just the bazungus puppet in SA who are busy using him to regain control of South Africa……..how can someone who has neglected is people and join forces with the racists who…

  26. The country is better with hh in orison. This under 5 was playing a dangerous game. He was lacky he landed in prison than in a mortuary.

  27. Cry my beloved Zambia. The signs of dictatorship are growing as time goes by.
    But we have our selves to blame. We should have seen it when there was a silencing of the media, (several radio stations were shut down just as they came into power, the claims were inciting violence. Only when they begged and pleaded were their licenses restored). They continue to control what information is put out and insure that only messages that they like are aired. Otherwise it is considered to be disrespectful or biassed. The fact is we need to let people voice different opinions. If someone blindly supports the PF, UPND or Green Party let them. Let us learn why they do and choose to either agree or disagree with them.

  28. @ A better Zambia for us all – You don’t misbehave and expect the arm of the law to keep quite. We all know why Post has been closed may be you, you don’t know. As for Maimane who does he think he is here in Zambia to dare our Government? He was told to wait but he opted to come. What they did is a lesson to others who thinks they can undermine Zambia’s authority.

  29. You Are Not Welcome, go fight your own battles in SA with Zuma. Young boys trying to run when they are still crawling.

  30. How does a president degrade himself to the level of an Immigration Officer, inspecting everyone who is coming into the country. just Govern the country properly then you will sleep at night not minding who is entering Zambia. We as Zambians or a few Zambians know what the PF government is doing and trying to hide so these no need to fear that the outside world will point to us what we already know.

    Ba Lungu dont you have a job description. you are every where and everything.
    *Police Man
    *Judge
    *Religion
    *Immigration

    Relax mudala no matter what you do your fate has already been sealed, the least you can do is to ask the christians for lungu to help you repent, its not to late God can forgive same as for the Zambians though you need to pay for what you have done so far.

  31. Did this Cape donkey get permission from Helen Zille to travel to Zambia?
    Tell this Cape breed of donkey that Zambia liberated herself from colonialists in 1964, we treasure and enjoy our freedom and democracy, and we are not about to give up that hard won freedom to Helen Zille’s surrogate, the Cape donkey namedMaimane. Fuc.k the hell OUT!!

  32. Did this Cape donkey get permission from Helen Zille to travel to Zambia?
    Tell this Cape breed of donkey that Zambia liberated herself from colonialists in 1964, we treasure and enjoy our freedom and democracy, and we are not about to give up that hard won freedom to Helen Zille’s surrogate, the Cape donkey named Maimane. Fuc.k the hell OUT!!

  33. @ Malinso,
    You got it all wrong, it was the National Party that jailed Mandela and that party merged with the ANC after Mandela came into power. The DA was led by Helen Zille, she was part of the UDF during apartheid, a front inside SA for ANC and led by Albertina Sisulu. Let’s now see where Lungu will go for his ARVs when “lwanya lwakwa Dununa reverse HIV bebele”.

  34. Anyway, this incarceration of HH is what will hasten the break up of Zambia right in the middle into two countries, thanks be to Lungu and his Bemba/Nyanja Janjaweed ISIS foo.ls

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