Sumaili attackers condemned

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 09:16:36 +0000

By BENNIE MUNDANDO

POLICE should immediately hunt down and arrest UPND cadres who attacked Minister of Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili at court on Monday as there is no justification for their barbaric and hooligan display because it is their party that dragged her to court and she committed no offence by turning up to defend herself, Kennedy Kamba has charged.

And ZDDM president Edwin Sakala said Ms. Sumaili’s attack by UPND cadres was a continuation of the Armageddon that the party promised Zambians before elections last year.

On Monday, UPND cadres heckled, insulted and almost physically manhandled Ms. Sumaili at the Lusaka Magistrate Court where she was summoned for contempt of court.

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema’s special advisor William Banda tried to restrain the cadres who, however, continued their verbal assault as they ignored him, trailing Ms. Sumaili to her vehicle while hurling insults at her.

Speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr. Kamba said the UPND should not take the PF’s silence over its continued harassment of innocent citizens as a weakness as it had the numbers to foil their violence but that the party was only restraining itself from retaliating because it respected the law.

He said Ms. Sumaili was not only a national leader but an accused person who should be respected as she remained innocent until proven guilty by the courts of law and that waylaying and insulting her right within the court premises was barbaric and will not be condoned.

He also blasted Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu for keeping quiet over the violence, yet he was quick to brand Government as having dictatorial tendencies not long ago.

He challenged Archbishop Mpundu to come out of “his shell” and condemn UPND cadres or forever remain quiet since he had decided to play double standards and had clearly become a UPND sympathiser who only found it fit to attack Government when it served his interests better.

“Ms. Sumaili went there to defend herself as an accused person. What was the essence of attacking her? Did they expect her to abscond from the case when she was summoned? UPND has taken things too far and think that our silence is a sign of weakness but let me warn them that we have the numbers to manhandle all of them. We are only restrained because we are law-abiding.

“Special assistant to the president for press and public relations Amos Chanda is due to appear in court this month. Does it mean they will also attack him because he is in Government? We ask the police to identify and arrest the cadres who attacked Ms. Sumaili so that this unruly behaviour can come to an end. Where is Archbishop Mpundu? Why is he silent? If these cadres are arrested today, will he say that there is dictatorship in Zambia? Let the church leaders be serious with what they are doing,” Mr. Kamba said.

And Mr. Sakala said the ‘‘hegemony’’ by the UPND cadres was not surprising and that it was bound to continue as it was part of the Armageddon promised to Zambians if it lost an election.

“Wherever there is a problem, you know that it is the UPND and what we witnessed at Magistrate court against Ms. Sumaili is a continuation of the Armageddon which we were promised long before we even went to the polls. The UPND has been attacking people with impunity and the church is watching and only sees it fit to attack Government when it is perceived to have erred.

“If UPND did not want Ms. Sumaili to attend the court session, why did they sue her? How do they expect her to be attending court sessions if they will line up cadres to abuse her each time she appears? We cannot continue ignoring the wrong things being perpetuated by some political parties. We need a level-playing field,” Mr. Sakala said.