By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
About Fred Mmembe’s arrest
I come in peace on the day Jesus rose from the dead.
It’s common sense that Mmembe 64 and his co accused 61 cannot go about attacking Upnd camps.
Violence we have never seen from uncle Fred since 1991 when we started reading his then weekly post. If you want to paint anyone violent then it should not be Fred Mmembe.
It’s very common that carders of the ruling party attack opposition political leaders. We are not kids and have witnessed this from UNIP and now UPND.
In 1990 when opposition activists were passing near the school I went to, we started chanting “I love Multiparty” that time MMD’s name was not even created. It was just activists for multiparty democracy who were there. When we were chanting slogans and cheering for them, the Governor’s son (there were no Mayors then), saw us and called his unip people and we were beaten in full view of the police who could not do anything about it! So maybe the young generation can be fooled but not us.
My advise is that those of us accepting various positions should do actions that will make our leaders democratic and good in general. The arrest of Mmembe in this case dents the imagine of government and promotes Mmembe as a politician. Every time Mmembe will appear in court, it will be a campaign rally.
When President HH negotiated his way into Chipata during the 2021 elections, he definitely won the hearts of the electorate who became sympathetic to him.
With no money in circulation and mealie meal shortages, we need now to be careful which actions we take and what message we give to the people. Somethings look like mocking citizens.
This is a time of critical thinking. Just like politicians, citizens are selfish. Citizens always want to benefit something from their government and as such, government’s priority should be communicating what good things are being done for citizens and what other things will be done. A message of hope is very important if citizens’ hearts are to be won.
The praise singers at this moment cause more harm than good. They even shoot down sensible discussions that can otherwise benefit those in government.
My advise to those in government is not to allow the Mumbi Phiri Noelle embarrassment by proceeding with Mmembe’s case. Citizens have seen pictures of wounded socialist party members. They also saw PF carders clobbered in Kitwe. To sustain the peaceful people tag, it’s very important that common sense dwells.
A Good gesture is when the Green Economy Minister went to visit Uncle Fred. That is maturity. He won more points than he lost. What should have followed was Uncle’s Fred’s release but….
Hope you are enjoying the holidays