THE SECURITY OF THE REPUBLIC MUST NEVER BE COMPROMISED
The reports now emerging concerning suspected militia activity and the alleged recovery of military grade weapons must concern every Zambian. This is no longer a matter for ordinary partisan exchanges. The security of the Republic belongs to all of us.
Zambia has just conducted a general election. Political parties were entitled to campaign, mobilise their supporters and deploy election monitors. Where their monitors identified anything they considered irregular, they were entitled to challenge it through the institutions and procedures established by law. Nobody, however, is entitled to acquire State power outside the Constitution.
Mr. Brian Mundubile publicly stated that he had won the presidential election and said that his conclusion was based on what he described as his Parallel Vote Tabulation. That declaration came before the Electoral Commission of Zambia had completed its constitutional responsibility of receiving, verifying and declaring the national result.
One of the most striking features of the political formation behind Mr. Mundubile throughout this period was the extraordinary confidence with which its leaders spoke and acted. I have participated in Zambian politics for many years, and I cannot recall a presidential candidate displaying this degree of certainty before the competent authority had declared the result. That confidence manifested itself in other troubling ways.
Public servants were being warned about what would happen to them. Members of our defence and security services were addressed in language suggesting that a change of government was already a settled matter. In one particularly disturbing instance, a senior public servant in Northern Province was publicly named and warned on the basis of what was described as intelligence in the possession of political actors. That raises very serious questions.
Where was this intelligence coming from? Who was collecting it? Through what structures was information concerning serving public officers being obtained? Who authorised its collection? What other information was in their possession? Naming a serving public officer publicly on the basis of purported intelligence was also extraordinarily reckless. It potentially exposed that individual to danger.
These are no longer questions of political rhetoric alone. Where political actors claim possession of intelligence concerning State personnel, the competent authorities must establish the source, nature and means by which that information was acquired. If protected State information was unlawfully obtained, communicated or handled, the appropriate national security laws must take their course.
This becomes particularly important against reports concerning suspected militia activity, military grade weapons, ammunition and persons now under investigation. Each allegation must be established through evidence, but the totality of what is emerging warrants the most serious investigation by all security wings.
The Zambia Police Service and the other competent security and intelligence institutions must therefore investigate these matters thoroughly. The country needs to know whether the incidents being uncovered are isolated occurrences or whether there was a wider organised structure behind them. The raiding of some polling stations in the entire northern corridor by Tonse groups must be investigated. The culprits may have been operating on the instructions of an extended network of the suspected militia leaders some of whom are currently in lawful detention. Where evidence establishes that offences have been committed, the law must equally take its course without fear or favour.
Zambia cannot permit political competition to cross the boundary between democratic contestation and threats to national security. Elections are won through ballots. Governments are formed through the Constitution. Disagreements are resolved through institutions established by law. There can never be another route to State power.
I therefore appeal to our people across the country to remain peaceful. Do not be provoked. Do not spread unverified information. Do not interfere with lawful security operations. Allow our constitutional institutions to discharge their respective responsibilities.
Whatever investigations are presently taking place must follow the evidence wherever it leads. Our Republic is greater than every political party, every candidate and every individual ambition. Zambia must remain peaceful, constitutional and secure.
Zambia Forward, TOGETHER in UNITY. 🇿🇲
Saviour Chishimba
President
United Progressive People (UPP)
UPND Alliance Partner