The detention of protestors is a new law for the Government. It confirms intolerance and oppression.
And in a country where the rule of law is supreme, those in leadrship are expeted move and immediately release from detention GenZ national coordinator Jason Mwanza, support staff Chanda Chikwanka, and former Kafue Council Chairperson Thomas Zulu.
Their continued incarceration without taking them to court amounts to abuse of their constitutional rights of protection under the law.
Government cannot claim that it is for the rule of law when some of its citizens are locked up in police cells merely for exercising what the constitution guarantees them – freedom of speech and expression, let alone assembly.
It is unacceptable that trio has been detained at Lusaka Central Police Station for 12 days without being brought to court.
Their long stay in police cells clearly goes against President Hakainde Hichilema’s policy directive to the Zambia Police to only make an arrest when they are ready to prosecute.
What is obvious is that President Hichilema’s directives are merely rhetorical statements to make people believe that he abhors what the police are doing – abusing citizens’ rights.
Free speech is one of the cardinal freedoms of an individual in any democracy and Zambia cannot claim to be a democratic nation when citizens face the risk of being locked up for doing so.
We agree with Forum for Democracy and Development leader Edith Nawakwi and governance activist Brebner Changala who have called for the immediate release of the trio.
Ms Nawakwi has rightly questioned what President Hichilema would present at the upcoming United Nations General Conference if his government continues to infringe on the rights and freedoms of Zambians through unlawful detentions.
“My plea to President Hichilema is, what will he tell the UN? Why is Zambia gaining a dark spot in the community of nations? We are a democracy, a peace-loving country.
The rules are clear, as he himself says: the police should not arrest anyone before investigations. It’s supposed to be 24 hours, 48 hours maximum, but here we are, it’s beyond 48 hours, and the children are still in detention,” she lamented.
Ms Nawakwi urged the government to stop detaining citizens without cause, warning that such actions tarnish Zambia’s image globally.
Mr Changala expressed disappointment that the United Party for National Development that came to power promising change, was now abusing its citizens with impunity.
Government ought to be reminded that Zambians will not stop speaking out against the wrong policies in the country even at the risk of being locked up.
As Ms Nawakwi has noted, it is such incidents that damage the country’s reputation and not its political opponents.
It should be noted that the United Nations Human Rights Commission has recently raised concerns about an array of governance issues in the nation, including arbitrary arrests, detentions on charges of unlawful assembly, espionage, hate speech and seditious practices against opposition political party leaders being perpetrated by the UPND government.
Democracy is certainly at risk in Zambia and in this vein, we agree with a recent statement made by Pope Francis that “in today’s world, democracy…let’s be honest..is not in good health” as he addressed some 1, 200 participants at an event during the Italian Catholic Social Week in Trieste, Italy.
He called on all Catholics to be active participants in political life and be a force against the decline of democracy worldwide. That should be the rallying cry for all Zambians to rise and speak against any injustice in the nation across the political divide.
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