The Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) says the sacking of Ikeleng’i MMD Member of Parliament, Elijah Muchima, as Deputy Minister of Lands by President Michael Sata should serve as a great lesson to other opposition parliamentarians.

FODEP Executive Director, MacDonald Chipenzi, says opposition parliamentarians should not betray the trust and confidence of their electorate and political parties for their appetite for ministerial positions and self-enrichment.

Mr Chipenzi said circumstances surrounding Mr Muchima’s removal from his ministerial position should also serve as a lesson to opposition parliamentarians still serving in government to brace themselves of an uncertain future stay in those positions.

He further added that the ruling party’s attempt to infuse members of the opposition in government without a thorough consideration of the true position of their loyalty to government should act as a reflection point.

The FODEP Executive Director said the alleged current witch-hunt obtaining in the Patriotic Front (PF) can be attributed to the ruling party’s indiscriminate infusion of opposition Parliamentarians without gauging their true loyalty to the party in power vis-a-vis its values and manifesto.

Mr Chipenzi said divided loyalties, at most times, can lead to leakages of confidential government information to the public.

He appealed to all advocates of democracy in this country to reflect seriously on how best multiparty politics in Zambia can be protected and defended from being decimated.

Mr Chipenzi said his organisation’s earnest appeal to all opposition Parliamentarians, especially those still suffering from the syndrome of indecision, was to remain loyal to the values and ideologies of their political parties regardless of how appetizing and lucrative the temptation to serve in Government.

He said it would be wise for opposition Parliamentarians to wait for 2016 during which they may join other political parties of their choice rather than contribute to the creation of unnecessary confusion and divisions in their own parties by joining and consequently causing costly by-elections when and if expelled.

ZANIS

Police in Kitwe today arrested and charged MMD president Nevers Mumba for conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

Earlier at around 05:00 hours in the morning, police in full riot gear surrounded Bella Lova Apartments in Kitwe’s Parklands area where Dr. Mumba had lodged and asked him to accompany them to the police station.

Dr. Mumba complied with the police’s directive and reported at Kitwe Central Police around 07:00 hours and was detained until 12:40 hours when he was released on police bond.

Dr. Mumba will appear in court on January 4, 2013.

Police spokesperson, Elizabeth Kanjela, Copperbelt Commissioner of Police Mary Tembo and Dr. Mumba’s lawyer Jonas Mukumbi of Mukumbi and Company all confirmed the arrest of Dr. Mumba in an interview.

Ms. Tembo said Dr. Mumba was arrested for allegedly issuing an alarming statement on Monday that the Patriotic Front (PF) government had paid some people K1.4 billion to destabilize the MMD.

Ms. Tembo said the statement that Dr. Mumba issued was likely to cause confusion in the Copperbelt province.

She said the police arrested Dr. Mumba so that he can produce evidence concerning the utterances he made.

She said police in the Copperbelt province were not happy with Dr. Mumba’s behaviour and warned him against issuing statements that are likely to cause confusion in the nation.

[pullquote]“It is our responsibility to defend democracy. When Mr Sata was in the opposition, he said Rupiah Banda recruited policemen from Zimbabwe to come rig the elections. We never arrested them,” he said.[/pullquote]

She said Dr. Mumba has since been released on police bond and that he will appear in court on January, 4, 2013.

Ms. Tembo however said the police will not hesitate to re-arrest Dr. Mumba if he continues to issue alarming statements in the Copperbelt province.

And Mr. Mukumbi wondered why police officers had detained Dr. Mumba for more than five hours at Kitwe Central Police.

He said his client reported at Central Police around 07:00 hours and was only charged around 12:00 hours.

And speaking in an interview after being released from Kitwe Central Police, Dr. Mumba maintained that the statement he made about the PF government having given some people K1.4 billion to destabilize the MMD was true.

Dr. Mumba said as a leader of the opposition political party, he has access to intelligence information.

Dr. Mumba said he has the responsibility to defend democracy and that he had reliable intelligence information on anything that destroys the future of the country.

“It is our responsibility to defend democracy. When Mr Sata was in the opposition, he said Rupiah Banda recruited policemen from Zimbabwe to come rig the elections. We never arrested them,” he said.

He said democracy should be enjoyed by people from both the ruling class and the opposition for it to be meaningful to the country.

He was represented by Jonas Mukumbi from Mukumbi and Company, Douglas Mazumba from Douglas and Partners and Victor Michelo from Michelo and Company.

Mr Mukumbi confirmed in an interview the charge and said that it was surprising that his client was detained around 07.00 hrs and only charged at 12.00hrs.

“The police have taken unnecessary delay in charging him. Our client is denying the charge,” he said.

A fortnight ago, Dr. Mumba and some senior party officials were arrested for unlawful assembly in Kitwe in the Copperbelt province and he is still appearing in court on that charge.

ZANIS

Police have detained MMD leader Nevers Mumba at Kitwe Central Police for unspecified reasons.

Dr. Mumba’s special assistant Raphael Nakachinda confirmed in an interview that the MMD President is still detained at the police station.

“We are not sure why we are here (police station), the officers followed Dr. Mumba and surrounded the place where we were lodging in Kitwe and asked us to accompany them to the police. No questioning has taken place here and the officers who picked us up have since disappeared,” Nakachinda said.

“The officers say they are waiting for further instructions from their superiors in Lusaka.”

Nakachinda said the detention could be connected to yesterday’s move by Dr. Mumba and some senior MMD officials to donate food items to Kamfisa State Prison.

“We took some food items valued at K5.5 million to Kamfisa because Dr. Mumba saw how the prisoners desperately need help when he was recently detained there and he wanted to celebrate Christmas with the inmates there but he was blocked.”

“We proceeded and made donations to the newly born babies at Kitwe Central Hospital and Chimwemwe Clinic but it appears the government is not happy with that kind gesture by Dr. Mumba,” he said.

By mid morning , Dr. Mumba was still locked up at Kitwe Central Police Station.

Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani says investigations into the whereabouts of former President Rupiah Banda’s son Henry have not been closed.

Mrs. Libongani said Henry is still on a wanted person’s list and that the case is being handled the joint government investigations team.

She said the team is using all possible channels to see to it that Mr. Banda is brought back home to answer to some corruption related charges.

“Yes we are still pursuing Mr. Henry Banda, we have not abandoned the search,” Mrs. Libongani told Reporters Tuesday morning.

Henry Banda, a self-styled businessman was a key figure in his father’s failed bid for reelection and is believed to be living in South Africa.

Some local and regional newspapers speculated early in the year that Mr. Banda had been hiding at Kenya’s State House as a guest of President Mwai Kibaki.

He was placed on the Interpol wanted list after the PF government sought to have him return to answer questions about his alleged involvement in some corruption tainted government contracts.

His International lawyers however successfully pushed that his name be struck off the Interpol list.

By Chitapankwa

Recent events demonstrate that Zambia is emerging into an authoritarian regime under PF. This does not only pose a challenge for our young democracy but it puts democracy at cross roads in Zambia.

I write with a heavy heart to observe that the PF government is quickly sliding back on the very democratic tents that brought them in power in the first place. I wish to underline here that democracy provides an environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights. These values are embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further developed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which enshrines a host of political rights and civil liberties underpinning meaningful democracies.

The strong message I want to send to the PF government, make no mistake, we the people of Zambia chose democracy as a model of governance, we fought for it and we shall defend it. Democracy is about our own individual liberties and freedoms as enshrined in our constitutions; freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly. The current authoritative tendencies exhibited by Sata and his minion cannot be allowed to continue.

Political opposition under authoritarian rule

In politics, an authoritarian government is one in which political authority is concentrated in a small group of politicians. I have observed political intolerance since PF came into power. Mahatma Gandhi famously argued, “intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit”. Sata should realise that opposition political parties as much as civil society and the media are the bedrock of democracy. This is so, because opposition political parties play an increasingly important role in shaping policy agendas, conducting civic education, and fighting corruption. Opposition parties are free to criticize the ruling party’s policies, ideas and programs and offer alternatives.

[pullquote]“intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit”[/pullquote]

However, whenever, the PF government is criticised, they turn to use outdated laws left behind by the colonial British government, whose objective then, was to stop the locals to express their view through peaceful demonstration and assembly. We know authoritarianism emphasizes arbitrary law rather than the rule of law. The public Order Act and Statutory Instrument No.33 simply put are outdated laws. The continued harassment of key political figures in the name of maintaining peace and order is tantamount to abuse of state power and authority.

Political tolerance is a key critical ingredient to good governance and democracy. The police and our legal systems should act in a more professional and sane manner as they discharge their duties and not to be used as tools of oppression. It follows, therefore, that the culture of democracy rests on the principle of majority rule, coupled with tolerance of dissenting views. Democracy also calls for the zealous protection of the fundamental rights of individuals, disadvantaged groups and minorities, even when they disagree with the ideology, policies and programs of the ruling party.

Political Governance: Corruption and by-elections

How else can one explain Sata’s demand of Anti-Corruption Commission of Zambia that every time they want to investigate senior government and party officials they have to get permission from him? What has happened to accountability? Wynter is accountable to the Zambia people, because political accountability is the accountability of the government, civil servants and politicians to the public and to legislative bodies such as a ACC or parliament.

[pullquote]Democracy also calls for the zealous protection of the fundamental rights of individuals, disadvantaged groups and minorities, even when they disagree with the ideology, policies and programs of the ruling party.[/pullquote]

Obviously authoritarians support their rule by a mixture of instilling fear and granting rewards to loyal collaborators. Corruption is corruption regardless of who commits it, whether it is committed by a poor person or senior person. When did Sata rewrite the rule book? This is the government that won the election on the promise of stamping out corruption and ensuring zero tolerance to corruption.

Political rhetoric on the fight against corruption should come to an end if Sata is genuine about it. The two PF ministers under investigation ought to step down on moral grounds and pave way for thorough and smooth investigation and not the nonsense exhibited by Wynter Kabimba.

Finally, whose interest is Gabriel Namulambe serving? Only few months ago, this country spent colossal sums of money on one by-election and the PF government have allowed another selfish disgruntled politician to rob the people of Mpongwe development. The budget allocation towards holding by-election of one selfish person should have gone towards providing farmers of Mpongwe access to finance or better still improve the schools and health posts in rural Mpongwe. This is very retrogressive!

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Merry Christmas and a Sucessful New Year.

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God richly bless you.