THIS madness needs to stop before it plunges the country into turmoil. The nation can no longer afford and watch political hooligans take the law into their hands on the pretext that they are effecting a “citizen’s arrest”.
They are far from carrying out this civic duty for their be[1]haviour borders on criminality. The ordeal that the Patriotic Front youth chairman for Chimwemwe constituency in Kitwe, Mr Bernard Ngoma was subjected to is uncalled for. According to Mr Ngoma, suspected UPND cadres on Monday forcibly took him from his home to Mindolo Police Station.
They claimed he was among those who were pulling down the UPND campaign posters in the runner-up to the August 12 general elections the party won. But some officers at the police station pointed out that they did not have any record about a report made or a docket opened alleging that a PF cadre had pulled down UPND cam[1]paign posters in the constituency.
However, the UPND cadres insisted that a charge be found for Mr Ngoma to sleep in police cells and for the sake of peace, Mr Ngoma spent the night at the police station but was later released on Tuesday.
Just recently, UPND cadres attacked a PF member at the High Court grounds in Lusaka who was a key witness in a petition hearing against the election of the Mandevu member of Parliament, Mr Christopher Shakafuswa. In the fracas in which even police officers were attacked, the UPND cadres claimed they were trying to effect a citizen’s arrest on the PF cadre they accused of being linked to the killing of one their members. The unfortunate victim was arrested when he went to report the High Court assault at a police station where he spent over two weeks before being released for lack of evidence.
It is important that the top UPND leadership put a stop to this type of behaviour which is not building the party but destroying the very foundation on which it stands. The UPND has been very consistent that it respects the rule of law and wants to ensure that there is peace and order in the nation. But what is obtaining on the ground is not in tandem with the statements from the national leadership.
While President Hakainde Hichilema and other senior lead[1]ers have talked of reconciliation and no retribution over the alleged wrongs committed during the PF tenure in govern[1]ment, the cadres have taken a different trajectory. This is why there are still wrangles in markets and bus sta[1]tions because the cadrerism that President Hichilema vowed to end in these public facilities is now being practiced by the UPND cadres.
There are active cases where individuals have sought pro[1]tection from the courts of law by seeking injections to stop the “new commanders” from stopping them operate from the bus stations. And what is surprising is that even though the aggrieved parties have been allowed to return to the bus stations before the determination of the hearing, they have been prevented from doing so.
In Chililabombwe, UPND officials have been playing a “cat and mouse “ game with the courts by defying an injunction granted to 16 mealie meal traders they had barred from trad[1]ing in Konkola Township and Kasumbalesa. The lawlessness simply must not continue. The UPND cadres must not be misled into believing that they are above the law. The new dawn administration must show them it will “walk the talk” when anyone breaks the law – even its own.
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