SADC lawyers insincere over LAZ-Musoma

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 11:23:33 +0000

By BENNIE MUNDANDO

IT IS illogical for SADC lawyers to allege that there is a breakdown in the rule of law in Zambia following the PF youths’ peaceful protest at LAZ over its incompetence, the Zambia Republican Party (ZRP) has charged.

ZRP president Wright Musoma charged that it was wrong for Southern African Development Community Lawyers Association (SADC-LA) to criticise the Zambian government over LAZ’s incompetence when the same body has continually turned a blind eye to the situation in other countries where the rule of law did not even exist.

Commenting on SADC-LA’s statement on Zambia’s rule of law which was signed by association chief executive officer Stanley Nyamanhindi, Mr. Musoma described the statement as being blank, devoid of truth, and an assault on the justice system in Zambia.

He charged that SADC-LA was either feasting on misinformation or was purposefully ignoring the truth to propagate its hidden agenda on the matter with the aim of swaying public opinion.

He said it was unfortunate that a group of learned counsel who were expected to act professionally and impartially had joined the bandwagon of individuals who were championing illegality without taking time to understand the operations of LAZ.

He said SADC-LA should be ashamed of itself that it has accepted to be used as cat’s pawn by targeting the Zambain government while neglecting countries within the region where the abrogation of citizens’ constitutional rights was the order of the day, yet remaining silent to such evils but saw it fit to demonise the Zambian government.

He wondered how SADC-LA failed to distinguish between a peaceful protest that the youths conducted and a siege it was projecting to have taken place at LAZ, adding that the bias that the regional body was exhibiting had the potential to create international discourse among member states.

“Do they even understand what a siege is? Where did they get the information that there was a siege at LAZ? It is either SADC-LA is purposefully trying to mislead the international community on what is happening in Zambia or is inadvertently doing so because it has no evidence but relying on lies from the same LAZ which is compromised.

“Zambia is a country of laws and carrying a peaceful demonstration is not a crime in this country and you cannot equate a peaceful protest to a siege as they are trying to alarm the region.

“Instead of diverting their energies to things they do not understand, let them be logical for once by advocating for real change in countries within the region where the rule of law does not even exist,” Mr. Musoma said.

He called on SADC to investigate the matter thoroughly and reprimand the association for its misleading statement.

A fortnight ago, PF youths in Lusaka district conducted peaceful protest at LAZ against its alleged biasness on legal matters bordering on politics but SADC-LA issued a statement condemning the protest, saying there was breakdown in the rule of law in Zambia following what they termed as a siege at the LAZ offices.