Police should cage unruly party cadres-NGOCC

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 10:52:01 +0000

By SANDRA MACHIMA

The Non-Governmental Organizations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has demanded that police should take action against cadres that insult and physically assault women to serve as a lesson to others, who are in the habit of attacking female leaders.

NGOCC board chairperson Sarah Longwe said she was saddened by the conduct exhibited by United Party for National Development (UPND) cadres who poked and hailed insults at Religious Affairs Minister Reverend Godfridah Sumaili at Lusaka Magistrate Court on 19th June 2017, when she went to attend a court case in which she was cited for contempt.

“As an organization we condemn the misogynistic attack by the UPND cadres on Rev. Sumaili by calling her names for exercising her constitutional rights of attending the court case,” she said.

Ms Longwe said the attack on Rev. Sumaili was a gender based violence (GBV) which was meant to intimidate and silence her as a woman.

She said Rev. Sumaili as a human being had a right of association and freedom of movement as she deems fit and no other person should intimidate, insult and assault her for doing so.

“The effects of such attacks are that women in similar situations who aspire for higher positions of leadership will shy away from participating for fear of being attacked by cadres,” she said.

Ms Longwe called upon all political parties to take responsibility for their cadres’ actions because an attack on one woman was an attack on all.

Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili was on Monday insulted and almost physically manhandled at the Magistrate Court where she was summoned for contempt of court by unruly UPND cadres, and it had to take Mr Hakainde Hichilema’s special advisor William Banda commonly known as “Tekere’ to restrain the cadres who however, continued their verbal assault against the minister.