12 MOST POISONOUS SNAKES THAT WILL BITE & DUMP HH IN 2026 AFTER HIS SHAMEFUL DEFEAT: PART THREE

12 MOST POISONOUS SNAKES THAT WILL BITE & DUMP HH IN 2026 AFTER HIS SHAMEFUL DEFEAT: PART THREE – Chris Zumani

By Dr. Chris Zumani Zimba

……..Mr Nicholas Woolley, Her Majesty, the British Queen sent him as a respected High Commissioner to Zambia in 2019 but he has proven to be a risky white python ‘hule’ ever laying toxic eggs of divide and rule at State House by kissing HH’s authoritarian rule as a beacon of democracy…..

The month is July and the year is 2019 when Mr Nicholas Woolley was appointed British High Commissioner to Zambia to succeed Mr Fergus Cochrane-Dyet. Since then, he has been with us and among us. Today, we focus to review Woolley’s remarks on his last media engagement on ZNBC TV specifically on “democracy in Zambia under President HH”.

Speaking on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview on 5th May, 2024, Mr. Nicholas Woolley said “Zambia is a beacon of democracy and the civic space has not shrunk”. The British High Commissioner said “Zambia under UPND is rated highly on democracy”. Mr. Woolley’s utterances have sent a whirlwind of political anger, shocks and condemnations among many stakeholders including some of us. Let us factually demonstrate and expose his false claims!

1. Zambia’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) Chairperson, Dr Pamela Sambo has consistently revealed that “cases of police extra-judicial killings, alleged torture, cruel, inhuman treatment or degrading punishment of suspects, as well as other violations of human rights are now alarmingly high in Zambia under the UPND government”. So, who should stakeholders take serious between Woolley and Dr. Sambo? Of course, Sambo is not HH’s praise singer! Even Laura Miti, HH’s praise singer agrees with Dr. Sambo and not with Mr Nicholas Woolley.

2. The British High Commissioner said “under President HH’s leadership, Zambia’s democracy is flourishing as the asset recovery program is progressing is very impressive”. His views are opposite of what the US human rights Watch, Human Rights Commission, LAZ, Catholic Council of Bishops, UKA, civil society organizations, credible Zambian scholars and media outlets have observed about democracy in Zambia today. The Swedish Ambassador told the media this year that corruption in Zambia is too high now that investors from her country are refusing to visit. How can kleptocracy be ‘a beacon of democracy’?

3. That is why, Citizen First President, Harry Kalaba was correct when he pointed that Woolley is mocking and insulting the Zambian people by praising HH as the model of democracy in Africa in the face of increasing arbitrary arrests, extra judicial killings, detention without trial and other political injustices.

4. Mr. Woolley is fully aware that US based Freedom House’s 2024 report accounts that “in 2023, Zambia police regularly withheld permits for opposition rallies, and opposition protesters faced arbitrary arrest both during and after demonstrations—including those that had been permitted by police…Journalists continued to face harassment and intimidation by police”. So, how can Zambia be a beacon of democracy with such a questionable political background of heavy authoritarianism?

5. According to the April, 2024 report from a visiting European Union Chief Mission Observer, Maria Arena and her expert team conducted from October, 15 to October, 28, 2023 and from January, 22 to February, 4, 2024, ECZ is behind in “ensuring a level playing field for all contestants in line with Zambia’s international and regional commitments for 2026”. The EU is saddened by the happenings at ECZ including the appointments of known UPND cadres as commissioners and thereby increasing their worries and fears for free and fair elections in 2026.

6. Unfortunately, although Mr. Woolley is pampering Zambia’s King Nebuchadnezzar that he is a shining democrat, the British High Commissioner is fully aware that since August 2021, HH has never allowed public rallies of opposition leaders, rivals have faced police threats, harassments, arrests and detention due to their peaceful political activities. These facts are right on the nose of Woolley!

7. On 18th April, 2024, the EU Ambassador to Zambia, Karolina Stasiak, told acting Foreign Affairs Minister, Mulambo Haimbe that “Zambia’s reforms on the electoral process, rule of law, civil liberties and media freedom, have reportedly slowed down under President Hakainde Hichilema administration”. The US-based Carter Center, which monitored the 2021 polls, has criticized ECZ for managing the electoral process “without proper consultation with stakeholders” for failing to independently select commissioners. This Woolley knows all these facts!

8. According to the “Zambia 2023” report by Amnesty International, ‘the UPND government committed to reforming the Public Order Act. But the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association continued to be violated by the same government’. Amnesty International is a UK based global movement committed to creating a future where human rights are enjoyed by everyone. So, why is Woolley fooling HH that Zambia is a beacon of democracy in Africa and thereby contradicting this reputable global organization from his own country?

9. The “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zambia” from the U.S. State Department indicated that “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence and threats of violence against journalists, censorship, or enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression; substantial interference with the rights of freedom of assembly and association; serious government corruption; etc”. These are factual reports on the table of Mr. Woolley!

10. In July 2023, Mr. Woolley once again angered many Zambians when he disputed that democracy was not threatened and shrinking under President HH. Through Diggers Newspaper, PF members of the central committee Dr Canisius Banda and Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba fumed at the British High Commissioner by calling him President HH’s praise singer and guided him to ‘shut up’ as a diplomat. Therefore, the political warning on Woolley from Hon. Harry Kalaba and many stakeholders today is not the first or the last. He seen to have been running on this politically biased agenda for some time now.

11. Once again, the last ZNBC Sunday Interview exposed Mr. Woolley further as a partisan praise singer for Community House and HH as opposed to being an objective, neutral and professional diplomat of a respected UN Security Council member, the UK. It is rumored and gossiped that this Woolley has plans to permanently settle in Zambia and HH has promised to secure him land. Overtly, this could explain Woolley’s consistent statements that are politically partisan, divisive, dangerous and contradictory to what most stakeholders see and say about democracy in Zambia today.

12. HH must be warned that Mr Nicholas Woolley has politically charged himself. He came as a respected High Commissioner to Zambia in 2019 for Her Majesty, the British Queen. But since 2021 to date, this Woolley has proven to be a risky white python, a political HULE among us who is ever laying toxic eggs of divide and rule at State House by kissing HH’s authoritarian rule at State House. Trust me, most of us are angry with this Woolley-HULE and call upon his people to speedily call and take him back to UK!

And once Zambians succeed to remove HH from power by the lightening thunder of the ballot, this Whooley will officially send congratulation messages to the new president and will start avoiding phone calls from HH. In 2026, this British High Commissioner will throw a VIP banquet dinner at his residence to toast victory of the new president and team while openly red carding HH to his political grave. Trust me, once Bally falls politically in two years time, this Whooley will dump him and will start dancing with the 2026 new president.

Dr Chris ZUMANI Zimba is a Political Scientist, Researcher, Author & Consultant specialized in Comparative Global Governance and Democratic Theories. He holds a PhD, MA, BA and Cert in Political Science. Zimba was President Lungu’s Political Advisor from December 2019 to August 2021. By philosophical approach, Dr. Zimba is a Pan Africanist as well as Afro-Christian by religion.
Email:chriszumaniZimba.cz@gmail.com