The Lowest Levels of State Desperation: A Shameless Attempt to Destroy
Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba wrote:
Today, Sunday, November 10, 2024, is an extremely sad day for our democracy and the rule of law.
We may have said this before, but the events and depravity of lawlessness displayed today have reached a new low, marked by illegalities and absurdities now unfolding across the country.
We may not like Miles Sampa or approve of his ways. We recognize that he was a beneficiary of past lawlessness in State House’s attempts to dismantle the Patriotic Front. However, Sampa obtained a valid court order, signed by Lusaka High Court Judge, Hon. Mrs. Justice Conceptor Chinyanwa Zulu, to restrain Mafinga Member of Parliament Robert Chabinga from purporting or acting as Patriotic Front President.
But with utter impunity and backed by heavily armed police officers, Chabinga defied the court order, proceeded to act as PF President, and made various illegal pronouncements.
In tow were state agents, police, and the media, like a team invited to a crime scene, abetting this breach of law and capturing every detail to ensure that the sordid act was on full display for the country.
At the height of his waning power, Zambia’s founding father, Kenneth Kaunda, refused to interfere with justice even when his own son was arrested for murder. The Lusaka High Court proceeded to find Kambarange Mpundu Kaunda guilty and sentenced him to death.
The day we abandon respect for the judiciary is the day our democracy dies. That day is today.
In our case, we have a President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, who does not defend the rule of law but allows the Zambia Police to promote and perpetrate lawlessness.
The police detain suspects for days and months, prolonging detentions, torturing, and sometimes killing suspects in extra-judicial incidents. They protect lawbreakers, as they did for Robert Chabinga and his charade.
Chabinga will be celebrated on ZNBC today, and the Zambia Police have granted him additional protection for his lawlessness, potentially even escorting him to the Patriotic Front Secretariat.
Chabinga also informed us of further illegalities perpetrated by certain officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs, where recorded office bearers at the Registrar of Societies for the Patriotic Front have been illegally changed yet again.
Thus, Chabinga’s illegal pronouncements, such as the expulsion of MPs, may be enacted by yet another set of lawbreakers, including the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
Where is the Law Association of Zambia? Where is the Chief Justice, to ensure that the court orders mandated by the Constitution are respected?
In September 2024, Kenya’s acting Inspector General of Police was sentenced to six months in prison after repeatedly defying orders to testify on the whereabouts of three men detained by the police who could not be presented in court for a Habeas Corpus hearing.
Chief Justice Martha Koome supported Justice Lawrence Mugambi’s orders and reprimanded the police when they attempted to withdraw security from the judge.
In our country, from State House to the UPND Secretariat, they are gleefully celebrating the destruction of the largest opposition party in the country.