Today's letters to the editor

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 15:34:19 +0000

UPND’s zero tolerance of the police

Dear Editor,

The people in Luanshya do not need telling that they would soon live in insecure situation due to UPND cadres’ violent behaviour , after Ndola Magistrate John Mbuzi ordered that uniformed police officers should leave Luanshya Magistrate’s Court premises where the UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and his deputy Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba appeared to allow court proceedings run freely.

But the order inadvertently served as a reminder to the rest of the country of the conduct of the solidarity offering UPND cadres who recently rioted at Supreme and High Court grounds in Lusaka where they caused mayhem, smashing doors and windows of the court building as well as windscreens of motor vehicles for lawyers and judicial officers (“HH, GBM drop lawyers in seditious practices case”, Daily Nation, January 18, 2017).

The Ndola Magistrate’s decision followed an application made before court by defence lawyer Jack Mwiimbu who argued that whenever there was an adjournment in the matter, his clients had been made or moved out of Luanshya by armed police officers by force.

Strange as it may appear, in Jack Mwiimbu’s view, the police officers’ actions were detrimental to the rights of his clients as citizens.

What about the wrongs of UPND cadres who offer them unacceptable solidarity at the court premises?

Nonetheless, the Magistrate John Mbuzi incident was quite notable as it was carried out by a Copperbelt-based judicial officer.

In sharp contrast, as a result of the recent unacceptable behaviour by UPND cadres at the Supreme and High Court grounds in Lusaka, the Judiciary banned UPND cadres from gaining access to the court premises.

The Judiciary in Lusaka expressed a zero tolerance approach to the UPND cadres’ uncouth behaviour.

Perhaps that excluded Luanshya’s Judiciary. The order against the police presence at the court premises during the two UPND top honchos’ appearance in court is a sign that UPND die-hard supporters’ impunity would continue to be tolerated, but the police command on the Copperbelt still has a humongous

anti-riot challenge on its hands each time the duo appear in court.

Compounding these fears is the potential for fresh riots at court

premises in Luanshya led by the UPND die-hard supporters. Copperbelt’s peace and security would soon seem to be severely compromised by the UPND’s zero tolerance of the police at court premises and hardly an inviting prospect for potential agricultural, manufacturing and mining investors in the region.

Mubanga Luchembe, LUSAKA

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Lungu has no opposition in Zambia

Dear Editor,

Frankly speaking President Edgar Lungu has no opposition in Zambia looking at the proficiency of some of our politicians chasing after State House.

Apart from Elias Chipimo of NAREP, who in my humble opinion, often speaks sagacity and is of sober character, the rest can just jump in the nearest ocean and I would not waste a single tear on them.

Take this you know who, who is full of tribal politics and chest full of rage such that when he opens his mouth, insults just keep on dripping like a modern Nebuchadnezzar.

But thankfully God has already written on his forehead ‘mene mene tekel upharsin’. He is simply malevolent. Given the chance to be in State House, many other tribes would agonise at his hands.

His lieutenant is untainted egocentric material and kinked manufacturer, a cruel bully who would promote vehemence in the nation. Again God has already disqualified him.

The rest of our opposition political leaders, in my humble thinking, are just frames of their own, speaking in allegories and always hoping for wonders to come their way.

You will now agree with me that those fighting President Lungu are just wasting their time because Lungu is truly God-chosen leader.

Just look at the amount of panic that President Lungu has thrown in the faces of our opposition leaders when he merely stated his intentions to contest the 2021 presidential elections.

None went to bed. There were serious consternations and innuendos in the opposition camps with others calling it third term bid. My foot!

All this goes to show that President Lungu is a force to reckon with and should he stand in 2021, he will beat the opposition hands down again because they do not seem to have an apposite agenda to appeal to voters.

All they know better is invectives and hate speeches against those in power.

They rarely listen to what it going on in their lives and always exploring the general hopelessness of life. That will not benefit them.

For now let them yell their lungs out, but God will not hear them. And boy, they can be stubborn too.

Admittedly, we all have the latent for stubborn predispositions, but in some people with a strong fear of change, stubbornness can become a dominant pattern.

Zambians have already seen this in some of our opposition political leaders. They loathe conventions for to remain in power perpetually. But that is not democracy.

Let me conclude by saying that in the event President Lungu is allowed to stand in 2021, the opposition can forget their day.

Josiah Soko,Salima Road, Matero

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UPND, a party of tyrants and dictators

Dear Editor,

The UPND in totality is a party of tyrants and dictators.

They are a pack of cowards who fear their own shadows.

Open up your wardrobes so that your dirty skeletons are left for all to see.

Party conventions are equal to democratic dispensations in any given organisation or party.

Therefore, there is need to change long time failures to pave way for noble men and women with fresh ideas, civilised, hate-free, love, meek and generous to take over from the tyrants and dictators who never smile but just grin.

A convention is an opportunity for the grassroots to choose a preferred leaders. Don’t dictate!

Concerned senior citizen, Lusaka