Human Rights Activists Nsama Musonda Kearns on 20th August 2021 writes;
The Patriotic Front Party abused the clinched fist which represents power of the oppressed to overcome injustices by adopting it as their own symbol of power to rule. Their rule has been oppressive and unjust, indicating that they grabbed the power of the people and used it to their own benefit. Initially the Patriotic Fronts symbol is a boat, that is what they put on the ballot and it’s what they should have been carrying on their heads, because yes it is not easy to carry a boat in the hands, which is why they chose to use the clinched fist.
Historically the clinched fist was used in 1848 Revolution against King Loise Phillipe of France by the citizens who felt oppressed. It was used around 1936/1975 as a symbol of power to fight fascism during the Spanish war. It was also used in 1968 as a symbol of protest against black racism following the death of Martin Luther King, and it was here that the Black Lives Matter movement started, and the clinched fist remains their symbol to date. In 1990, Nelson Mandela used the clinched fist as a symbol of overcoming apartheid in South Africa and celebrating his walk to freedom after 27 years in prison. Barrack Obama used the clinched fist in 2009 when he became the first African-American President of the United States as a symbol to show that even black people can rule America.
In short the clinched fist is a very significant, highly respected international symbol which deserves to be protected at all costs. It is a symbol for the oppressed but because the Patriotic Fronts government has been characterized by injustice and oppression of the citizen, it can no longer be attached to them, the people vested their power of the clinched fist in them and they abused it, that power needs to return to the citizens. We witnessed on National Television the President Elect Hakainde Hichilema refusing to embrace the clinched fist, a symbol which he should have raised when he finally overcame the injustices that the Patriotic Front put him through, once again being robbed of an opportunity to raise a symbol which other Great Presidents around the world use to celebrate their well-used power of the people.
Unless we liberate the clinched fist from the PF, those who have suffered oppression in Zambia will never embrace it, and symbolically they have been robbed of their right to celebrate their strength. Given that this is also a symbol of human rights, I am demanding that the Human Rights Commission quickly steps in to protect this symbol by using their power of autonomy to decree that this symbol should never again be used by any political party, as their own, but by anyone who feels the power to celebrate their strength of overcoming injustices.
I submit and I thank you all.
