Saturday, April 20, 2024

No politician is worth dying for

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While addressing a political rally in July, 2018, Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu said “there is no position in politics which is worth shedding blood for.” This has been a consistent message from the Republican President, especially as Zambia head to the 2021 General Elections.

The hearts of most peace-loving Zambians will remain heavy after the happenings of yesterday when two people were shot dead in unknown circumstances around Cabinet Office when a commotion ensued between unruly cadres of United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Zambia Police Service.

One of them is the State Prosecutor from the National Prosecution Authority while nothing much is known about the second victim.
A few days ago, the Zambia Police Service and the Minister of Home Affairs, appealed to the conscience of the UPND leaders not to bring along their supporters, commonly referred to as cadres, when their leader Hakainde Hichilema was to appear at the Zambia Police Service headquarters for an interview in a matter which in which the Economic Equity Party leader Chilufya Tayali, reported Mr. Hichilema for various alleged offences.

While many politicians will be shedding crocodile tears over the death of innocent citizens and members of the diplomatic service have already started issuing statements on the deaths that could have been avoidable.

As a matter of fact, none among these entities, especially diplomats whose countries have maimed tens of thousands of Palestinians, Iraqis has a fair understanding what the families to those deceased Zambians are going through.

For diplomats, the deaths are nothing more than an opportunity for expressing shock or diplomatic rhetoric in the name of citizens’ constitutional rights while for politicians, this is a political campaign issue.

People have been killed like chickens in Palestine, Syria and the rest of the Arab world, and none of these diplomats have taken any responsibility at all. Only British and Americans lives matter.

The actual people feeling the pain of these tragic losses Zambia suffered yesterday are the children and families to the deceased who saw their loved ones leave home only to receive the news later their loved ones are no more.

For our part, we need to say this loud and clear: the mysterious assassinations of innocent citizens which happened this morning appear to have been carefully premeditated by those who contributed to the deaths.

We begin by taking note of the insistence by UPND leaders to accompany Mr Hichilema to his police interview.

These UPND leaders knew that their supporters, who have the shameful record of disrespecting our courts and actually disrupting court proceedings, would do their utmost to force the police to use force. As we saw, the UPND leaders had their intended results, sacrificing a few innocent souls in whatever manner possible.

If these diplomats were honest with themselves, they would have advised Mr Hichilema to avoid going to the police in the company of his cadres – unruly or otherwise, and the tragic losses of life would have been avoided.

These diplomatic statements will not reverse this heartbreaking history, but their words of restraint to Mr. Hichilema, would have prevented it. These diplomats are the only people that Mr. Hichilema listens to, for well-known reasons.
What has happened today appears to have been well-calculated move to achieve the result which the UPND have gotten: the deaths of two innocent Zambians.

Mr Hichilema is not the first person to be summoned by the Police, but no politician such as Mr. Kambwili, the late Mr. Sata or many before them, were ready to sacrifice the souls of their members, as does Mr Hichilema.

We wish Mr. Hichilema was like Kambwili who faces his alleged misdeeds alone and does not sacrifice other people’s souls for his own sake. But that is expecting too much of Mr Hichilema.

We in fact doubt that the two victims were shot by the Police. We think those killings of innocent citizens were premeditated for political reasons.

If the police had intended to cause the death of unruly UPND members, they knew exactly where those members were gathered. They would have shot straight into them. In this case, none of the cadres were targeted.
Surely, who killed those two victims in such a targeted manner? The killings are very highly suspicious to us and they need to be investigated thoroughly.

We are given to understand that both victims died of shots to the head. We cannot help but wonder how a man inside a restaurant, would have been shot in the head just like the other unfortunate victim on Independence Avenue.

These killings seem to have been well calculated and targeted and call for a deep and detailed investigation. In the meantime, our hearts are with the families of the deceased persons who have lost their loved ones.

Author Unknown

68 COMMENTS

    • Why has the author of this article hidden himself? He is not entitled to anonymity like us bloggers who have run away from Zambian politics

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    • Ati Author Unknown but they know him. Ba LT do you know that it is not ethical to publish an article from an unknown source? In some countries it is illegal.

  1. And who is killing ?
    Who will kill those who will “die ” for politicians?
    What kind cold hearted people are these kanshi?
    You mean yours is to kill and Zambians is to run away?
    Instead of saying whoever will shoot any unarmed citizen will be face the law akambace vinangu!
    What a curse!

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  2. So imwe ba Lusaka times, ba mbuli imwe, you think your PF president is innocent of these latest killings of the two? Don’t You think your PF president Mr Lungu is the one to blame for all these shootings? Sometimes you should just keep quiet than exposing your support for evil. Just keep quiet imwe ba kembo

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  3. Some of these insensitive articles could have waited for the family to accept the tragedy loss of their loved ones. Equally for the media these deaths are all about writing useless articles. First was it even necessary to disperse people who were just charting slogans? When will Negros learn that people can assemble and express their displeasure even if it is another person’s pleasure? Politics of backwardness should really just come to an end. So from 2004 the so called owners of the kalomo farm have just discovered in 2020 that they did not authorise the sale of their farm??????

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    • Rt Hon Hanjalika Hamoonga Crime files or records are kept for future references.Why do you secure your important documents?

      From UK,US,Russia,Israel to Africa it is important to do a background check for any person seeking for a public office.

      Late Sata was arrested by late Levy in 2005 for giving false declaration of assets,and that wasn’t his first and last arrest made.
      Levy shielded HH and opted for Chiluba,Chungu for reasons known to himself.

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  4. This repoter is a f0000l
    p…f carder. Look also at the side of police using live ammunition to disperse harmless people..it was an authorisation from somewhere..
    In fact you f0000l,tell us who the gasers was???

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  5. Pf is the one killing zambians , let the people go, give the people freedom. showing solidarity to a leader is a human right. so you wanted HH to appear there alone so that you could eliminate him? you have criminal minds.How can you allow the police to discharge live ammunition on innocent an armed people?

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  6. If we had such characters before 1964, Zambia would still be a British protectorate, the fact that the author his name shows us how much of a coward he is, and does this media get an article from unknown sources? Thats some media institutions need checking, felicien kabuga in Rwanda used his radio station to advance his cause.

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  7. No politician is worth killing for. As far as I know no one in Zambia has ever committed suicide for any politician. People are being killed simply for expressing the political preference and their right to peacefully assemble. It is only evil people who mock victims. Such are the ones who can write the above article. Coward politicians are the ones who delight in violence to stifle political competition. Let the people enjoy their freedoms. Stop repression.

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  8. That’s why investigations were instituted.
    Personally, I don’t trust kleptoh².
    Why just why is it that whereever kleptoh² goes people die.

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  9. 2 headshots seems not to be random or stray bullets. They could have been sacrificed to paint government black.
    After the two deaths, who does it benefits? Hh I guess, because it will indicate that the police were killing people when in actual sense it’s planned by the upnd.

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    • Sydney Mweetwa Every leader should be held accountable for his/her people’s actions.

      UNPD leader HH should have openly told his supporters to stay home,perhaps,the sad event could have been avoided.He has never urged his overzealous cadres to stay home whenever he’s been summoned by either police or court,he always anticipates bad thing to happen so as to gain public sympathy.

      Govt should also be blamed for failure by police to control the crowd which resulted into two lives being lost.
      MTSRIP.

  10. Its unimaginable that in a country like Zambia, a police officer can pick up a gun, shoot and kill INNOCENT citizens, for WHATEVER reason. There has been 4 different ‘rulers’ of this country b4 the current one, some of them very dictatorial, but none of the previous ones where some much innocent blood has been shed at the hands of those that are meant to be protecting the public. What does this about the current status of the country??

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  11. Sorry, where there is DEATH there iis grief.But let Us Wait for the invisgation to this shooting.To me,1. The dead prostuter was shot in the head amongst many people.HOW? Which side of the head ? leaving the lady who was with

  12. This is exactly what happened to those killings the two where not shot by police but by UPND thugs ,what zambians must know is that a number of people belonging to UPND are former security officers both from the defence forces and the security agences such as the zambia police and the intelligence service.
    some where hounded out of the civil service because of the love of UPND.
    MY take agrees hundred percent with the article. the zambia police did not gun down especially that state prosecutor,
    His fate came from the UPND who has a number of former civil servants dissidents, easpecially former police officers who where fired because of politics they practiced and the love for thier trible mate leader HH. the killers knew nsama very well, as a prosecutor who worked in the zambia…

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  13. Where is this Edgar Lungu? In matters like this, he must call off the paid up leave and address the nation.

    He is a coward and he went for a paid up leave knowing that there would be police shooting to kill.

    What a shame on him and not even to offer condolences to the deceased families.

    Edgar Lungu is a quack. He must go stupid and half.

    PF must go!

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  14. UPND knew the result they wanted and they got it. I blame this on UPND. They could have come with assassins

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  15. UPND knew the result they wanted and they got it. I blame this on UPND. They could have come with assassins.

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  16. former police officers who worked in the service are behind these evil things in UPND some worked as CIDs some as prosecutors and there is a possibility they are behind informing assassins to harm their former workmates who still working in government
    the bullet must have come from the upnd assasins

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  17. This rude boy h² has had many people killed to date from students, through his own cadres to now state prosecutor.
    This stray nigga is a merciless mischievous pimp working round the clock to discredit Government’s established Service institutions.
    That’s why police have to professionally carry out investigations on this.
    We the elites don’t buy cooked up online media story titles.

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  18. The author of the article is surely a UPND cadre because you can surely not provoke the citizens with such reading even when your knowledge on people’s rights in Zero. PF has too many enemies including the writers of certain very annoying articles. If I was PF I would keep quiet and just bring the evidence of the findings and publish the arrest and verdict of the culprit even though it meant arresting an innocent police officer.

  19. The unknown author has got his article upside down. I anticipated this to happen and gave an example of Sharpe Ville killings in South Africa during white rule. I can imagine what is going on the Nsama and Kaunda families, my heart goes to them during this tragic time. May their souls not rest in peace so that those who pulled the trigger go into depression and commit suicide or struck by lightening. Imagine, all these late men they name sounds like from Liverpool (Luapula Province). Evil action knows no good.

  20. c***ment change at ni UPND, gassing at ni UPND, Shooting at ni UPND what about u uwawa tabulakabepesho finish what u started but u will see at the end

  21. The author of this article is just a useless moron who can’t even demonstrate any level of understanding of things, really stupid people of Zambia. The Police have made an error under the unable leadership of Edgar Lungu and many !diots can’t see that.

  22. A lot of truth in this article. ZP warned upnd not to come with their hooligans and bantustan savages Let me not say too much and wait for the official statement from ZP and GRZ officials.

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  23. When your leaders a hungry for power,they won’t n don’t care if u die or not,so long as they are in power, Zambia let’s learn something from how Nigerians got United in stopping such no sense ,pipo are dying like dogs,fun part is u will see Zambians nor Africans protesting for Americans e.g the death of George y can’t we do tht in fyting for our very own

  24. You know the author.
    Since when did you not verify the sources of your news?

    Whoever is behind the murders of the two in the week of Christmas cannot have their conscience and hands cleansed by this nonsense of rambling. God will demand the blood of the two free souls whose lives have been taken.

    As God has said, there will be no peace to the wicked. Not anyone but the Lord has said it.

  25. Those bullets could possibly have been shot from guns in the hands of misguided and disgruntled and trigger-happy UPND operatives who were dismissed from the army or police for being involved in partisan politics. For why does UPND cadres insist on escorting HH to the police station? HH is a coward of a heartless and blood-thirsty leader who should not be allowed anywhere near the corridors of power.

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  26. Truly no politician is worth dying for and in the same vein no politician is worth killing for. But it seems there’s a POLITICIAN WORTH KILLING for in Zambia!! What is the purpose of paying for all that anti riot equipment if you are still going to resort to live armo?

    And people still have the breath to defend this action!! Where is our decency, our conscience, our buntu as a people? Now I know that Rwanda 1994 was not an accident!!

    Cry my beloved country!!

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  27. Wether UNPD likes or not it’s them who killed these two people for political milage.PF please wake up HH is even kiliing Zambians to turnish the image of the party.Ba Lungu can you fire IG for failing to mange the situation.Somebody is becoming poppular by killing people.

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  28. @Fake Zambian Citizen-get your own Id, maggot. I don’t use colonial adages like “cry my beloved country”. Useless twit!!

  29. we saw some helicopters hoovering around, whoever was in those helicopters had a birds eye view of the situation and since when did we start to have helicopters all over lusaka when a opposition leader is called to the police? I think think this was a first. WHAT WERE THE HELICOPTERS FOR AND WHO WAS IN THOSE HELICOPTERS?

  30. You tried this tactic already during the gassing. Trying to confuse people by blaming it on HH. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. You have gone too far this time. You want us to believe that HH: colluded with Police to summon him for an old case that was already before court; colluded with Kampyongo, Lusambo, Kanganja and Katanga to issue provocatory statements leading up to the Police interview ; colluded with the Police thugs in that Land Cruiser to attack a calm, peaceful crowd just so he could create an opportunity for an assassin to shoot two unarmed citizens to boost his popularity? Yeah right! We need answers like who was in that Land Cruiser that pulled up and immediately started firing into a calm, controlled crowd? Who gave them the order to do that and for what…

  31. Please I am appealing to our members in PF not to engage in acts of violence but if you are caught by the Police the parte will not support you. These are the words of the late wise President Michael Chilufya Sata, MHSRIP. It always troubles my heart why some politicians always keep quiet even when their overzealous cadres are provoking the Police. Yes we ‘re all entitled to freedom of assembly but our politicians must know that within any given crowd, there will be some overzealous cadres and radicals that have the propensity to ignore and even provoke the Police. These cadres should have been instructed to stay home, That is leadership and the sad event of losing these precious souls, MTSRIP, could have been avoided. If your cadres say they are ready to die for you as a leader and you…

  32. Ask yourselves this question. If hh is so passionate and invested in leading this nation,why doesn’t his children and wife ever accompany him? He has full security while you his blind followers are told to go support him illegally and in risk for your lives. No man is worth dying for. Hh is now home enjoying breakfast with his kids while the families of the deceased are mourning. This is the type of monster hh is

  33. Ask yourselves this question. If hh is so passionate and invested in leading this nation,why doesn’t his children and wlfe ever accompany him? He has full security while you his blind followers are told to go support him illegally and in risk for your lives. No man is worth dying for. Hh is now home enjoying breakfast with his kids while the families of the deceased are mourning. This is the type of monster hh is

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  34. Ati
    “….People have been killed like chickens in Palestine, Syria and the rest of the Arab world….”

    Sunday chanda,

    have those regions ever been becons of democracy like Zambia once was before lungu came on the scene ????

    The PF police killed those innocents , they were the only ones with guns …

    How many people have now been murdered under lungus rule ?? It must be close to 100…..

  35. So the assertion here is that the police had 2 live bullets. Shot two people in the head. Not one was shot in the leg. No one glazed by a billed. Only two accurate head shots. I would not be so quick to point fingers at the police. Besides , there was clear instructions to keep crowds away. We have a resegence of coronavirus in Lusaka right now and someone went ahead and mobilised mobs to take to the police with him over a matter he claims is straight forward and has nothing to hide. Lastly and more importantly… Who benefits the most from the killing?

  36. Saying “there’s no politician worth dying for” is hypocrisy if one can’t say “there’s no politician worth killing for” in the same sentence.

  37. This Article was written by Sunday Chanda. He has already realised that PF went too far on this one and decided to hide under Arthur not known. I even wonder why LT published an article from an unknown author!
    This doesn’t matter and changes nothing. You cant be threatening people with death and yet don’t want to catch the killer. The killer is Lungu and his militias in the Police!

  38. The number is fast approaching 100,

    That is the number of people murdered under political circumstances under lungus watch …

    And still you want to blame others ?

  39. World over it cannot be an offence to go and give solidarity to some ones leader, the PF are the ones who disrupted the court case for Minister of Health and not UPND. The most UPND cadres would have done was just to make some noise outside the premises where HH was but even that would never deserve a live bullet on any given day whether it is in the Christian or Hebrew calendar. The Police must be held accountable with some officers fired by the President.

  40. @”Real Zambian Citizen”

    The last I checked there are more than 17million Zambian Citizens. I am sorry you don’t think I am one too. But get used to the thought, and that there are >17m authentic Zambian Citizens!!

  41. There are 18,000,000 Zambians today in Zambia, no one is worth dying for as we hear from some cadres who say they will die for him, what will profit your family if you give your life for a corrupt politician what will you give to your children to remember you.

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