A DESPERATE PRESIDENT CAN DO ANYTHING FOR VOTES
Our President has just signed a law that allows prisoners to have two weeks leave from their custodial sentences to visit families. What our head of state does, makes me wonder if this president is in Zambia or not. I say so because if he was in Zambia he would have faced reality.
What is ironic about this decision is, it has been made by a man who has ordered the detention of innocent people for more than a stipulated 48hours for longer than that and pardoning condemned individuals into our streets.
Yesterday I was watching ZNBC news thinking the killing of nine females by two hardcore criminals ( inmates) will be on main top stories nothing. It was just PF! PF! PF! and it was ignored because it would have exposed the president and his new law. The church wake up please. Something is wrong here. The constitution is gone and now our security.
Today we have a trial going on in Choma with no victims so long as the suspects are perceived members and are members of the opposition UPND. What is more worrying about the decision is, the commissioner General cadre of the correctional service has come out in full support of the Head of state and the PF party. The commission cadre Mr Chileshe concealed information about inmates killing citizens for a month and one wonders why we got gassed and the President is hiding gassers.
First and most, we must all admit that this correctional service commander has no obligation to applaud a law but, just to see to it that, that law is followed.Anyway, I understand the challenge of appointing officers with zero field experience to such high positions in the law enforcement as long as they’re puppets who can follow any thing even if it doesn’t make sense. Dr Chileshe has no experience in the law enforcement. He is a medical doctor who spent most of his career life in school. After he graduated, who was deployed at Sikanze Police Hospital where he worked all these years.
He spearheaded the HIV fight in the police until he was transfered to correctional service. Even then, he was to be put in charge of the medical wing of the correctional service and help fight HIV/AIDS among inmates. Miraculously he was appointed to lead a department he had zeeeeero experience for, no wonder the excitement and now coming up with ambiguous laws in an election year. The man was a police officer who never investigated any case. In fact, he was the man treating field officers who got injured in the line of duty.
Why do I say may be the President does not leave in Zambia to know this is a security risk.
First as Zambians, we have no capacity to operationalize such a law not even some well developed countries have such a law. Look at our residential locations, most of our houses are unmarked. So how do the president going to track these prisoners who would be going out on recreation.Mr president, if you were serious you would have known that parole implementation is a disaster. It could be the reason why criminal activities have heightened in our country.
We follow the statics your police releases. Developed countries that have a parole provision, have enough resources to track the released prisoners.This is the reason why we have been pathetic in tracking recidivist. Recidivist is a word used to describe the prisoners who re offend. I really hope you have statics of that. Nevers Kapenda, a notorious criminal of the eighties was released I guess by Banda on presidential pardon and taken in by the roman Catholic for support. Where did he end up? He was shot by the police, because he returned to his old habits.I would have had no problem if the President allowed our prisoners access to their spouses while in custody and not allowing them in society before knowing whether or not they have reformed and not bitter with people who helped put them behind bars.
Talking as a privately trained professional as well as a human rights activist, fellow citizens of this republic of Zambia, this is a security risk we all must oppose or we see something more than gassing.We know the President knows that he has lost the good will of the people. Hence the reason for unleashing prisoners on them. How long did it take the country to gun down the likes of the Milon Brothers? Some of these individuals behind bars left some colleagues outside who are still committing crimes. We already have a security threat were PF cadres puts on military uniforms and carry guns.Give them two weeks and they will go for years and terrorise the people. Mr President please, have a better way of canvassing for votes unlike compromising national security. Since you are great at lying, you should have lied to them as you have been lying to all of us all these years Sir as well as you lied to goats that you would take them to Saudi Arabia.
Maybe you just want another loan from China for tracking devices to mount of the holidaying prisoners. Because, that will be the only way to monitor them and their movements or they will be gone for good. Who would want to come back to that lice infested jail cell. Stop it please.
Sikaile C Sikaile
Good Governance and Human Rights Activist for Zambia and Amnesty International