Mon, 31 Jul 2017 11:33:12 +0000
IT is apparent that malicious tricksters have continued in their pursuit to interfere with the autonomous operations of the Judiciary.
Now that the High Court has set the trial date in a treason case involving UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema, and five others, his sympathisers are changing their gimmicks by appealing to the Judiciary to give him a speedy trial. Is the UPND leader a special prisoner?
It is importantl to underscore that a treason trial is not compared to a presidential petition which has a prescribed timeframe within which it must be heard. The two are quite different.
The charge Mr Hichilema and five others are facing is criminal in nature and the Penal Code in its current form does not provide for a specific period for its trial. Thus, it is unfathomable to suggest a speedy trial. The Judiciary, let alone the presiding judges should not be pressured to conduct a hurried trial.
Being a leader of the largest opposition political party in Zambia does not give Mr Hichilema immunity to be given preferential treatment. Ordinarily, he is like any other citizen facing criminal charges before our courts of law. He is not above the law.
It is rather cynical to suggest that according Mr Hichilema a speedy trial will help build the frail image of the Judiciary. Is Mr Hichilema the only criminal suspect seeking justice before our courts of law?
Mr Hichilema is on record to have described the Judiciary inept, corrupt and that its judges are morons. It is paradoxical that the UPND leadership and its sympathisers can now be appealing to the same institution they painted black. What has changed?
It is not a hidden secret that the UPND honchos have employed all imaginable tactics to short circuit the due legal process surrounding the treason charge their leader faces.
For instance, UPND members of Parliament politicised the incarceration of Mr Hichilema in Parliament to an extent of absconding President Edgar Lungu’s state of the nation address early this year.
This ridiculous and disgraceful conduct compelled the Speaker of the National Assembly to slap a 30 day-suspension on its 46 members of Parliament during the last sitting.
The “Free HH” campaign was promulgated both locally and regionally where UPND sympathisers have been paraded not only to discredit the Patriotic Front government but also tarnish Zambia’s image to the international community. These loose cannons have deceptively labelled Zambia a dictatorship due to Mr Hichilema’s arrest and detention.
Foreign political organisations like the Southern African Platform for Democratic Change (SAPDC), whose chairperson is South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane as well as hypocritical Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema have been leading a relentless dirty campaign vilifying the government of Zambia on the pretext of advancing democracy within the Southern African Development Community region.
It is certain that the SAPDC, a political organisation whose membership comprises leaders of opposition political parties, is merely being used as a vehicle to advance an agenda which is not only misguided and orchestrated to fan anarchy but also deliberately intended to mislead the international community
Should the arrest of Mr Hichilema be a yardstick to measure Zambia’s democracy?
Shamefully, some prelates are co-opted into this uncivil campaign championing the unconditional release of criminal suspects. Why should the Church sink so low as to join a group of disgruntled politicians advocating for entrenchment of undemocratic governance where the rule of law is disregarded? Where is respect for separation of powers?
There is no doubt that all those on this campaign trail have one paymaster and they are nothing but puppets of those who seek to control Zambia’s mineral rights through their stooges.
Misguided charlatans should not shepherd the Judiciary on how it should preside over the treason trial. Let the Judiciary preside over the case involving Mr Hichilema and five others without undue interference.
