By Senior Chief Mukuni
The decision by the Government of the Republic of Zambia to prematurely terminate the issuance of National Registration Cards in Southern Province is shocking and disgraceful, and has never happened in the history of this country since independence. This decision by government should be called out by its rightful term; a criminal act that attempts to deny people their basic rights to be documented citizens of an established sovereign state.
The NRC is not only a facilitator to voting, it is also a document that allows millions of citizens to enter the job markets, for others to access credit for their small businesses, while for cross border entrepreneurs and ordinary marketeers, it enables them obtain a passport to go abroad to import goods to grow their businesses and feed their families. All this has been stopped by a government that appears to be terrified by its own shadow. This is unacceptable!
The Home Affairs Minister must not perpetuate this criminal act, because he is a direct custodian of law and order and will do well to play that role for the interest of peace in this country.
If the purpose of stopping the issuance of the NRCS by the government of the Republic of Zambia is to deny citizens their right to vote, then let them be counseled that they are courting possible disaster for the nation. A responsible government will recognise that other than being a human right, voting is a relief valve for citizens who have all form of grievances that they want addressed. And when you shut this constitutional means by which the people want to communicate their plight with, you create a dangerous condition of ‘bottled up anger’ in populations, that sooner or later explodes. Government must not set this country on fire.
The Government must understand that the battle for change doesn’t lie in denying citizens certain instruments to effect change, it lies in the power of persuasion. If the desire of any people is to change, then that battle is beyond any government including one with nuclear power or Police armoured vehicles.
I therefore wish to appeal to the donor and diplomatic community especially the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), civil society organisations, the Labour movement, student bodies and most importantly the Church, to mount pressure on the Government of the Republic of Zambia to do the right thing and let its people obtain NRCs. This is a constitutional threshold to becoming a fully documented citizen, and it must not be denied for political purposes. It’s a crime against humanity for which someone will have to be answerable to, sometime in the future.
Senior Chief Mukuni of the Leya people of Kazungula, Livingstone and Zimba all the Bene Mukuni