The OASIS Forum has charged that instead of a colonially imposed dictatorship, Zambia now has a locally grown autocracy 54 years after independence.
OASIS Forum Chairperson Eddie Mwiitwa said that instead of ruling white elite, Zambia now has a ruling African elite that has imposed a similar system of oppression and dictatorship as the white elite.
In a statement made available to medias, Mr. Mwiitwa says the development of a police state has greatly contributed to the unconstitutional powers assumed by dictatorial type governance.
Mr. Mwiitwa said that he was concerned that the Police service which is supposed to be a professional institution guided by the constitution and the Law, bu is instead found to be taking instructions from the government and even directly from the ruling party.
Mr. Mwiitwa has expressed displeasure on how the police are misusing the Public Order Act where they are prohibiting and sometimes attacking public protests and opposition party meetings and even arrest people on pretext that such meetings do not have a police permit.
He has added that this contributes to the perpetual stay in power of a dictatorial government by inducing fear in the citizenry through reckless conduct of some police officers who seem to specialize in violating people’s right to lawful assembly and freedom of expression.
Mr. Mwiitwa states that there is no requirement for a police permit in the Public Order Act.
Below is the full statement
Remove lungu and hh
Get new folks
These folks are screwing your great nation and the USA is watching
Very insightful thoughts Mr. Mwitwa. Democracy is under siege. Even Pastors are not safe. Arrested for discussing the budget. Thing continue to get ugly in Zambia. We are going to a very dark place. Meantime some people will justify these deplorable developments simply because they blindly support PF and perhaps they are benefiting through a political job.
Even when you find a PS being intimidated by a cadre like Minor Zulu, they can still justify it. If we are not careful we will end up with civil war.
Where do they manufacture new folks? Because whoever will come has a history, what we need is change of attitude towards people with different views ,learn to agree that disagreements are party of democracy.
Trump tweets, just enjoy your bread crumps wherever you are! Is Mr HH in power to determine the usage of Public Order Act or he is also fighting it because of its usage against him and his UPND and other Opposition Parties like the NDC of Dr Kambwili? Anyway, sooner or later, you will wake-up from your slumber!
WE HAD A REAL OASIS FORUM IMWE. NOT THIS PARTISAM FRAGMENT OF THE REGIONAL GROUPING. IMAGINE SOMEONE NAMED MWIITWA, DISCREDITING A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT WHO HAS A LARGE FOLLOWING AND WHO IS POPULAR AMONG ALL ELITE AND LITERATE ZAMBIANS.
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We had real civil liberty organisations who stood against the FTJ third term bid without a trace of singleton tribalism assualt. This fellow is as dented as Chipenzi.
Really laughable that these extremely important organisations should be headed by political party-biased wooves. What a sham organisation. Vivid breadcrumbs of polical infiltrated and discredited NGOs.
Thorn in the fresh do you even know the composition of the oasis forum? Actually the composition of the organizations that make up the oasis forum is more of a representation of Zambia compared to the current cabinet.
Composition is nothing to write home about but how the organization is trying to sound political in this era. How divisive it is getting. Matter of facts how politically charged it is getting of late.
The question you should asking instead is what are the values and mission of the oasis forum.
I was there when this organisation was born.
You call these scared children of the most high, politically charged? iwe mwaiche that oasis forum that gave birth to FDD was another level not these who are scared of cadres, not a day past without you seeing them toyi toyi in the streets during the third term debate.
Empty tin. Kids like you don’t have a clue about governing. From oasis forum, demented folks like mwiitwa will form another organisation just like chipenzi. From Fodep which he helped discredit to the current one. See, you re just barking like an old d*g and yapping like a sick puppy sometimes. We know how tribal elements infiltrate normal organisations twisting their agenda to suit and please a certain named individual who has hijacked the once vibrant UPND and turned it into the lawless UPNDEAD, the violent regional camp.
… it may be too late for this docile country but I think this police tendency and I pray it gets worse and get the army to oppress the citizens further.
This will wake up all lurthagic Zambians, who stay away from participating in their national affairs.
Next monitor the bars they love and slap them a car tax. That will pay half the country’s debt.
If they still are not participating, slap them a backyard tax for those will big yards who are managing to grow tomatoes.
There’s a lot we can do with this docile lot!
Hahaha
Car tax = bar tax
Very insightful thoughts Mr. Mwitwa. Democracy is under siege. Even Pastors are not safe. Arrested for discussing the budget. Thing continue to get ugly in Zambia. We are going to a very dark place. Meantime some people will justify these deplorable developments simply because they blindly support PF and perhaps they are benefiting through a political job.
Even when you find a PS being intimidated by a cadre like Minor Zulu, they can still justify it. If we are not careful we will end up with civil war.
I thought democracy was about having different views. If citizen A supports PF, it must be respected as much as citizen B who supports upnd. Dictatorship is demonising citizen A for his choice!! How can the Americans be praising our democracy while you see all those imaginary things?? Don’t you think the Westerners with their super advanced information systems would have picked up your “threat to democracy”??? You have fallen for the lies. Do you think hh has a magic wand that will solve all our problems??
Zambian citizen. Good to have you back mate. You have been very quiet of late.
My friend how do you justify the arresting of pastors for discussing budget? How can you justify the interference of Munir Zulu and Kaiser Zulu in the running of civil service. I have not said you can’t support PF. I am saying you can’t justify these actions.
I do not support HH by the way.
Also, you are applying double standards. When the west condemns PF you say they have hidden agenda. When they say something positive, you want to claim they are reliable. Try to see things objectively. don’t be blinded by political lenses.
Those pastors were involved in a political discussion and didn’t inform ZP. My problem is that these sentiments of dictatorship and break down of rule of law are only coming from particular sections of society. If it was from a wider aspect of society, i would agree. Tell me, hh has abrogated the upnd constitution, Nawakwi has equally done that, why doesn’t LAZ comment on these undemocratic tendencies in our political parties who can be in govt. tomorrow?? Instead it’s orchestrated attacks on PF using falsehoods. That’s where I have a problem.
Zambian Citizen are you seriously.saying that for anyone in this country to meet up and discuss the budget they ha e to get a police permit and you find it normal??????
@Dudelove: If it has a political tone, it’s lawful to inform ZP. There’s always the danger of violence breaking out if rival cadres decide to disrupt the gathering. Believe me, I hate caderism with a passion, whether PF or any other party but it poses a security risk.
What is frightening (and reminiscent of colonial times) is how scoundrels become heroes in the eyes of the electorate. Just look at how compromised individuals from a previous government become heroes in a new one that is ex-opposition led. So what is the solution? A more enlightened populace that must realize that wealth distribution is not about an individual, but a society at large. Some UNIP era civil servants were professional and defended their integrity. We even had civil service exams. Now it is just rascals and scoundrels masquerading as civil servants, politicians and so-called police.
When I said pf are a dictatorial party. I was called name . Thanks for this
And when was HH challenged in UPND??. Oh he us the only one who is clever
And who challenged lung Wu at mulungushi rock of authority in kabwe?
Oasis forum is an extension of the cartel. These are familiar sentiments that are echoed by the same characters because they don’t have a hold on power today like they did in the Mwanawasa years. The American people through their ambassador has hailed Zambia today as an example of democracy yet these people feel otherwise. EAZ has remodelled itself as a non-partisan entity interested in national development, LAZ has again showed us how deep it has entrenched itself in partisan politics and is now a front of a political party. While the country has progressed, LAZ has regressed from its original mandate.
The glory of NGOs in Zambia have vanished reminiscent of lack of common norms and sense of the status quo. It is clear that most of these clubs have lost their goals and mission for ideals that seem suspicious in the work of these very remarks in the article. Extremely divisive.
And the surprising thing is it’s the same people since the advent of civil society, Sarah Longwe, Laura Miti, etc. There are no new faces. Why?? One commentator said leadership in Africa is failing not just at political level, but at corporate, public and many levels.
The oasis is a better representation of Zambia as compared to the current cabinet which is exclusively north eastern Rhodesian.
@Divide: Cabinet is picked from parliament which is voted by Zambians by a president voted by Zambians. Tell us, who funds the Oasis and who choses its leaders????
In short you are agreeing with me that pf is 98 made up of people from north eastern rhodesia and that makes it a regional party and saying that he had no choice but to appoint people from the same region which is OK ,but if this is the case why do call people from south Western part of the country abusive names the voting for a party of their choice, when it comes to funding do you know that even political parties are organizations just like any , do they give us names of their financiers?
This is a dictatorship and not a democracy, you cant even mention the wrong things happening in the govt you will find your self locked up, even poor pastors are locked for mentioning hunger or talking about a budget that wont work, you just have to go with the flow like a cadre and agree to all the stup!d decisions the sh!t hole govt is making………. PF democracy
Thanks OASIS FORUM for the on point article. This is a non-political reminder to the primary target of this message. You have been served.
Democracy is just a word spoken in Zambia, it is not practicesed. It is like in Animal farm.
If Zambians start fighting for their independence, they will attain it. The opposition will start having meetings without the calculated hindrance that is there now.
This is what happens when you have opposition and so called NGOs who have no direction. Insteady of focussing on one root caus, they just talk about a wrong narative coined by disgrantled opposition leaders. A referundum was proposed to concide with the 2016 general election voting to ammend the PA, the disgrantlese opposition shot it down and won. The so called NGO were mute then. In effect the public order act is a baby of UPND and the mute NGO’s who remained mute only to resurface now (two years later). An now they call Lungu autocratic, it is absurd.
The writer is a Tonga and writing like a Tonga and not as Chairperson of the once respectable Oasis Forum.
Please don,t hide your bitterness in an innocent organization
We come in peace.
We don’t debate issues affecting our country based on anyone’s tribe.
Our brains are big and fully developed there’ no need for us to keep chanting stone age tribal tantrums and spear throwing.
I think like China, we should just change the constitution to allow President Edgar Lungu to rule for life. He is the most humble and able Great Leader we have in the whole of Africa. He has a vision, he does not tolerate corruption as can be seen from the sacking of the civil servants and most importantly he is a God-fearing man chosen by God to lead this country.
It is debatable whether in the Zambia an autocratic system of Government is perpetuating the same misrule that typified the discredited colonial states. The colonial State was not run by a democratically elected Government as is the case in postcolonial Zambia. The colonial State was therefore an illegitimate Government. That is the reason why patriotic brave countrymen and countrywomen fought the colonial State in order to usher a popularly elected legitimate democratic Government. The postcolonial State has many shortcomings, some of them a direct result of the colonial State. It is more accurate to compare postcolonial regimes between themselves. There is a lot of construction and reconstruction work to do and time is on our side.
Happy 54 years of progress and development now unhappy 54 years of retrogression andpoverty
Almost all the most active opposition political leaders are either from one region or the same language group . Why? isn’t this a likely threat to democracy?
You mean Nevers ,mulongoti,hh,Shawn Tembo,
A Fearing God Person Can’t Command Police To Arest Pastors Who Are Taking Part On Budget Discousions Are U Sure This Is Real Democray U Are Proud Of How Fearing Of God U Are Say I Think God Will Punirh U People
Just from the name, you can tell tell that his opinion is already clouded based on his tribe. If the US Government through the Ambassador says yes, who is this chap to say opposite?