Today's letters to the editor

Sat, 17 Jun 2017 11:04:19 +0000

Church mother bodies should unite and not entrench anger and division

Dear Editor,

The statement that is ostensibly coming from three named Church bodies led by the arch Bishop of Lusaka, the reverend Telesphore Mpundu on the state of the nation raises various emotions.

We are cognizant of the fact that the last time a similar statement was issued under the ZCCB, other clergy that had been said to have co-signed the statement categorically refused to be associated to it.

They said the statement was a handy-work of one clergy acting alone without consensus from the alleged co-signed.

Given the doubt of the last statement and this current statement however, we would nevertheless to move forward and address some of the matters the statement raises.

It is with maximum restraint that we indeed even speak to the statement because the matter is in court. This statement, however, bears the church name it cannot be ignored.

For the record, however, we would like to point out the following from the statement:

• The arrest of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema is not as a direct single result of his defiance and deep contempt of President Edgar Lungu that led him to disobey a simple security rule on April 8 in Mongu.
• Police say, it is a culmination of a series of factors and suspected crimes that have piled up since he lost the election in August for the second time.
• This includes his encouragement of his MPs to boycott presidential appearances in the national assembly (in breach of parliamentary rules and regulations) and henceforth various insults he personally directed on President Lungu after his second bitter loss.
• We cannot put it much better and succinct as the Honorourable Speaker of the House Dr Patrick Matibini, a learned Constitutional lawyer put it when he suspended 48 UPND MPs last week for breaching parliamentary privileges.
• Mr. Hichilema’s cheap grand standing and dangerous stance on April 8 was but part of a build up to a much larger case.
• Mr. Hichilema made his bed of nails he must wait for the court process to prevail

We are of the belief that if Mr. Hichilema is found with no case to answer for his wanton alleged crimes, deep disrespect of an elected President and sheer arrogance of a bitter losing candidate, he will be acquitted as others in the past have.

We find it extremely confusing and strange that Bishop Mpundu is saying Hichilema is not an ‘ordinary’ citizen but a ‘special political prisoner’ who must be granted bail or simply freed even in the face of criminal proceedings. We feel this statement opens a dark page in the history of our country where an honorable reverend of the church calls one person (Hichilema) special and calls for favorable exclusive treatment before the eyes of the law for him at the expense of thousands in custody for various crimes or allegations?

What message is Bishop Mpundu sending out there to the flocks, ‘all are equal in the eyes of the lord but others such as Hichilema are more equal than the other?  The fact of the matter is that an allegation has been levelled against Hichilema and others, an arrest has been executed and a court process has commenced.

Therefore, there must be no short cuts to securing his release because the precedent that will be set will have consequences we will fail to undo in future were the ‘special’ citizens will break the law, get away with it and the poor and ordinary will bear the brunt of the law just because they are poor.

Is this the new era Bishop Mpundu and his advisors are introducing, a law for the ordinary and poor and another for the privileged and rich and special people? Is this going to be contained in the next pastoral letter?

We also find it disturbing that Bishop Mpundu today finds it fit and prudent to support a newspaper that refused a payment plan drawn for it, went to the Supreme Court and lost a case of tax avoidance of up to $36 million which translates into billions of kwacha’s.

The last we checked the Levy Mwanawasa hospital cost about $1million to construct and now it’s a tool for savings lives of Zambians that do not have the privilege or clout or connections to be flown to South Africa for Medicare.

President Lungu respects the law and fears God as he has demonstrated on various occasions his commitment to both.

Hichilema who is being rooted for now has in the past laughed and scoffed at President Lungu’s devotion. Without appearing to be moving off tangent, we appeal to those calling for the executive arm of the law to disturb in the operations of the Judiciary t give justice a chance.

We repeat, if Hichilema is innocent, if the state fails to make a strong case for his conviction, he will walk as a free man and we can all go back to business.

Fellow citizens let us not bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the unprecedented defiance on the road in Mongu in April was but a traffic obstruction because it was not.

Think for a moment if President Lungu or Hichilema had died during that obtuse stance by Hichilema? This peaceful country known as the last bastion of peace on the continent was could have deeped into uncharted deep waters of violence and blood.

Let us not take peace and tolerance for granted and let us not take passiveness to clear crimes as weakness on the part of President Lungu.

Hichilema is in court, let the judiciary do their job without insulting them.

Also let us restrain again from classing some people as Special and others ordinary because that is a recipe for deep divisions, especially if that call comes from the church.

All are equal in the eyes of the lord and the bible also tells us that leadership comes from the good great God through his son Jesus Christ.

Freedom fighter

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Politicking won’t build Zambia

Dear Editor,

I was excited to come across this advert in your paper dated June 15, 2017.  It is high time people started talking about real issues that affect everyone and not just politicking in every situation.

I have been very concerned about a lot of issues in our country and continent at large.  I am bothered by the fact that we have a tendency as a people not to look at the good but only the bad side of issues.  It is so appalling to read in most tabloids about so much hate speech, traumatizing stories of defilement whose perpetrators are biological family members, stories on divorce cases are unbelievable the list is scary and endless it’s as if the world is coming to an end.

The question that comes to my mind is who is responsible for all this? Surely, it’s not the government! The problem is beyond what any credible government can handle.  Issues of body hygiene and general cleanliness of our homes and communities we live in will cause you nausea.

So, to cut the long story short in a Christian nation like Zambia our speech and actions towards one another should surely be exemplary, I know we as a people are friendly but I think we need to do better than this.

Congratulations for this brilliant idea and I hope it will not end up being just another political debate platform but an avenue to bring hope, sanity and possible change to the minds of many who might not just be well informed.  That is my contribution

Margaret

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Lake Petroleum scandal too important to ignore

Dear Editor,

Your reports on the Lake Petroleum company which has been smuggling petrol into Zambia made very compelling reading. It is evident that not all is well in the oil marketing industry. Something must be done to cleanup and eliminate the scourge.

The fact that 12 tankers  of fuel were smuggled into the country says everything because such a scheme could not have been achieved with  conspiracies along the long processing route starting from Dar-es Salaam all the way to the final destination of the product.

It is not feasible that a company without supply connections could smuggle so many tankers into the country.

A fuller investigation is called for.  Thomas Mofya.