UPND WARNED

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 10:35:05 +0000

… don’t provoke police with illegal rallies

By Bennie Mundando

DO not blame the police command when it unleashes its battalion on you for daring it by defying its advice and insisting that you will go ahead with your planned countrywide rallies, the Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) has warned the UPND.

On Wednesday, UPND secretary-general Steven Katuka said the party will hold rallies across the country even without police permits, saying it was not expecting police to object because the PF did the same and were not stopped.

Mr. Katuka said peaceful and lawful assemblies, demonstrations, meetings and rallies were part of the democratic tenets that must be allowed like the PF members have been doing against Finance Minister Felix Mutati of late.

“We intend to hold several thanksgiving rallies across the country without a police permit and we expect the police to allow us like they have allowed anti-Finance Minister Felix Mutati protests during this threatened state of emergency,” Mr Katuka said.

But speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, ZDDM leader Edwin Sakala said it was wrong for the UPND to drag the police in its political mantra by putting its command under undue pressure by fanning illegality so that the opposition party can consolidate its claim that Zambia had become a dictator, in an event that its leaders were arrested.

Mr. Sakala said it was wrong for UPND to look for every opportunity that presents itself to provoke police into  running battles by agitating for chaos and acrimony and that should they be brutalised in the process of pushing for rallies without notification, they should not cry foul because they will have themselves to blame.

“UPND has always wanted to make this country ungovernable and will go to every length just to provoke the situation so that when its members are brutalised and leaders arrested, they can now claim that we have become a dictator nation because all they want is to make this country ungovernable.

However, they should not blame anyone when the police sets its battalion against them because they have purposefully dared them.

“Zambians are not interested in anarchy but peace. After Mr Hakainde Hichilema’s release from prison, what Zambians are waiting to see is how the dialogue and peace process will go so that the country can heal from the violence after the 2016 elections which has left us more divided than before,” Mr. Sakala said.

He said it would be unfortunate for the UPND to continually agitate for battle with the police and its political opponents instead of preaching peace and unity in the country.

“We want peace, unity and reconciliation. This way of politicking of taking each other an eye-for-an-eye will not help in healing this country. UPND will win our support if they become reasonable for once and start practicing issue-based politics,” Mr Sakala said.