JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
Kitwe. 22.05.2018.
The National Democratic Congress NDC is concerned with the escalation of political violence in the country.
As a party, we are deeply concerned and shocked at the barbaric killing of the pf youth Siavonga District Chairman Panodit Chinsesi yesterday.
We urge police to thoroughly investigate this matter and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book.
We are reliably told this killing might be political and we urge police to expedite their investigations into this matter.
Political violence has no room in Zambian politics and should be condemned with the contempt it deserves.
Any loss of human life regardless of political affiliation is regrettable.
As NDC, our stance on violence has been very clear. We espouse clean and violent free politicking.
This is the message we have always preached from our inception to all our party functionaries.
However, we are concerned with the casual approach in which the pf Government has been handling cases of political violence.
We have observed with deep regret that cases of political violence involving opposition Political groupings seldom receive particular attention.
In most instances, police have lamentably failed to implement the law fairly and impartially when opposition political members are killed, mimed or attacked.
The police command and indeed the Commander in Chief President Edgar Lungu has never condemned violence instigated by pf criminal gangs.
The country is aware of the existence of several pf militia wings at the intercity bus terminus.
These gangs have caused havoc in the country but the Lungu regime has never called for the disbandment of such groups.
These gangs are even funded and armed with weapons and pangas.
It is not only lusaka. Talk of the black Delta and other criminals on the copper belt. PresidentLungu knows them.
These are the gangs Mr. Lungu and his pf have always used for political violence.
These gangs are now very powerful and can even give instructions to trained and well-established security wings.
Last month in Chinsali district, for instance, our carders were shot at and stabled by pf carders. The police have elected to stay mute.
During campaigns for the Kansuswa local government elections last month, pf thugs were clad in military fatigue and were displaying pangas and other weapons. We never saw any one from the pf rebuking these acts.
In all these political skirmishes against the opposition, not even the Religious Affairs Minister nor some state inclined church mother bodies have dared condemned these acts. Where is morality and fairness here?
As NDC, we fear that the 2021 general elections will be a bloodbath if such violent acts are left unchecked.
Morality demands that those in public office excise impartially.
However, the Lungu regime has not come out clearly on political violence.
The conspicuous silence on political killings and attacks simply means that these criminal gangs have the blessings of their paymasters – the pf regime.
The people of Zambia are more agitated than ever before. If pf does not take decisive steps in arresting perpetrators and disarming its carder’s, the situation will degenerate.
Already, we have heard sentiments such as, ” panga for panga and punch for punch”.
If citizens resolve to take the law into their own hands, it simply means that they have lost confidence in the very institutions that are mandated to maintain law and order.
Mr. Lungu and indeed the Minister of Home Affairs have reports in their offices on pf members funning violence. Why not cage them?
Further, we as NDC are extremely disappointed in the police command led by Inspector General Kakoma Kanganja.
The police IG and his team are failing the people of Zambia.
It is sad that the police who are supposed to protect its citizens are not impartial.
We demand that police stop playing double standards and immediately arrest perpetrators of political violence.
The police have failed to act reasonably and professionally even in instances where full details of culprits involved in criminality have been availed to them.
Not so long ago, the NDC Copper belt Provincial Chairman Chipoka Mulenga was knifed by pf carders led by a criminal called commando in Lusaka just outside the central police.
Police witnessed the whole episode but no arrest have been made to this day despite the attackers being known and identified by police.
Therefore, the loss of the pf youth chairman in Siavonga district is sad and a lesson to those in the corridors of power. Time to act professionally is now.
In this regard, the NDC is calling for the immediate dismissal of the Police Inspector General for condoning and tolerating this violence. It is clear that the IG has failed to control all forms of political violence in the country.
Issued by: Mwenya Musenge. Secretary-General NDC.
