Mon, 25 Dec 2017 12:36:07 +0000
By AARON CHIYANZO
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) cadres should be tamed and stopped from taking the law in their hands as doing so is a total deviation from the principles upon which the party was founded, an irate PF founding member, Royce Argnbright has charged.
Mr Argnbright called on the PF leadership to address the matter of party cadres and their behaviour, which he said was dividing the nation.
He narrated an ordeal to the Daily Nation where some PF cadres had allegedly banned a bus driver from operating from selected bus stops along Great East Road because of some differences.
Mr Argnbright said that a horde of PF cadres on that particular day stopped the driver from loading at University of Zambia (UNZA) bus stop and vowed never to allow him to operate from the area.
He said that it was shocking and unacceptable that a Zambian, despite his party affiliation should be denied his right to conduct business freely. Mr Argnbright said that PF cadres now even had the authority to override the police and break the law with impunity.
“Am a PF member from since the inception of the party, but what our cadres are doing now will damage the party. I boarded a bus, then at UNZA bus stop a horde of PF cadres stopped the driver from loading there with a threat never to load from there. One even swore upon his mother never to allow that driver load from there,” he said.
Mr Argnbright emphasized that cadres should not be allowed to hold the country to ransom by taking the law into their hands.
He pointed out that cadres taking control of markets, bus stations and grabbing land was tantamount to holding the country to ransom.
Mr Argnbright warned that PF risked losing its social standing among the Zambian people if cadres were not quickly kept in check.
He said that the President, PF secretary general and relevant stakeholders should step in and ensure that cadres were tamed into peace loving and law abiding citizens.
