More cane GBM

THE Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) has joined other individuals and organisations in condemning United Party for National Development (UPND) vice-president for administration Geoffrey Mwamba for fanning violence.
Mr Mwamba has urged UPND members to fight back in an event that they are provoked.

EFZ executive director Pukuta Mwanza said the calls by Mr Mwamba on his party cadres to engage in brutality when dealing with some issues were retrogressive, especially during this time when it was known that peace was cardinal in the promotion of smooth elections.

Mr Mwamba, who is commonlly known as GBM, is on record in a video in which he sanctioned violence by urging UPND cadres to be vigilant so that they could swiftly retaliate if attacked.
He vowed to camp in town each time he was in Kitwe so that he could have fertile ground for marshalling a counter-attack on the party opponents.

But Reverend Mwanza said it was illogical for anybody, including Mr Mwamba, to think that the best way to respond to violence was by engaging in brutality.
“You can’t use two wrongs to make a right, and so for Mr Mwamba to want to use that concept is very retrogressive at a time when we know that peace is a cardinal promotion of smooth elections,” Rev Mwanza said.

He said Mr Mwamba, as former Defence minister, should know that the country had relevant systems, including law enforcement agencies that were best-suited to deal with any issues that bordered on law and order.
Rev Mwanza said the call by Mr Mwamba on his cadres to fight back could only be viewed as a sign of weakness.
“Retaliation is a weakness because one’s strength can be gauged by how they manage to withhold retaliation,” Rev Mwanza said.

The clergyman advised Mr Mwamba to realise that if people engaged in violence, it was difficult to guarantee who the victim would be.
Rev Mwanza said he was shocked by Mr Mwamba’s call for retaliation among UPND cadres because that was coming at a time when the Church was doing everything possible to promote mediation among political players.

Times of Zambia