A WASTED PRESIDENCY: THE CASE OF HAKAINDE HICHILEMA
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
Good morning fellow citizens ✌️✌️
1. When Hakainde Hichilema first announced that his Government will follow up all cases of corruption and political violence dating as far back as 2015, we gave him one warning; that his pursuit for justice should be done in a fair and equitable manner and that it should be devoid of malice and vengeance.
2. We further warned Hichilema that if his pursuit for justice is laced with malice and vengeance, it will lose credibility and support in the eyes of the people of Zambia. Apart from a few loudmouths on both sides of the political divide, the majority of Zambians are not affiliated to any political party and just want the best for their country. These majority non-partisan citizens also have a strong sense of fairness and justice. They definitely cannot support a President who authorizes the torture of suspects in the name of pursuing delayed justice. It is these majority non-partisan and often quiet citizens which Hakainde Hichilema should be worried about.
3. So far we have seen cases of people who have had their property and bank accounts seized by law enforcement agencies for months, including Findley and Maxwell Chongu and yet they have not been charged with any crime or taken to court. We have seen cases such as that of Malanji who was arrested and not taken to court and then blackmailed to give the police certain documents as a precondition for police bond!! When you charge a suspect, you either give them police bond or you take them to court so that they can have the opportunity of applying for bail. You do not indefinitely detain them and them blackmail them to give you certain self-incriminating information or documents. Such Gestapo tactics have no room in a democratic nation such as Zambia.
4. And now we have the cases of Chisanga Chanda and Shabby Chilekwa; former President Lungu’s ADC and Barberman, who were evidently tortured and denied medical attention. It took a High Court order to compel the police to take Chilekwa to UTH in the presence of his lawyers, for medical attention. And even then, the entire Attorney General was opposing the application before court on the basis of a technicality that there was a typographical error in Chilekwa’s affidavit presented before court!! Such conduct reflects the AG as a lowlife. Just a word of advice to the AG, some of these messy cases, try not to attend to them personally. Just send one of your boys. As a senior Government official you need to exude respectability and integrity. That is how your predecessors managed to leave that office with their integrity intact, such that some of them could even be considered for the position of Chief Justice.
5. With the recent clear cases of torture of suspects, Hichilema’s otherwise genuine pursuit for delayed justice has suffered a serious credibility problem and is now perceived as a Spanish Inquisition. It is laced with too much malice and vengeance. This is exactly what we warned him against, a few months ago. Instead of pursuing justice, he is settling personal vendettas. Indeed, Hichilema’s presidency is slowly but surely turning out to be a wasted presidency. What a shame for mother Zambia.
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SET 12.02.2022