FEAR THE LAWS OF ZAMBIA NOT HH
The first speech by the president elect Mr. Hakainde Hichilema where he emphasized on the need for forgiveness has been misunderstood by some section of society. Mr. Hakainde Hichilema has a right to forgive any one who wronged him because the pain and humiliation he suffered were inflicted on him by his competitors as an individual and not Zambia as a nation.
However, we should all know that anyone who steals public resources or kill a citizen, that particular individual is not answerable to HH but to the people through the laws of Zambia. So when HH says he has forgiven those that abused him we should differentiate between the two him as an individual and crimes against the state.Those who stole and killed Zambians they committed crimes against our nation and not president Hakainde Hichilema.
Anyone who has committed a crime should not be afraid of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema but, the laws of Zambia. Zambia has institutions such as DEC, ACC, Police and courts that work hand in to bring criminals to book. Mr. HH as an incoming president his job is to ensure that these institutions operate independently and without any political interference as they were in the past and anyone found wanting cannot claim HH has sent him/ her to prison no. HH is not DEC, ACC, police or a court.
We fought to kill a culture of Presidents having to choose who has to be investigated and prosecuted. The people through their institutions of governance are responsible for that. Never again shall a President determine who gets arrested and convicted. The courts of law must be responsible for that, through the justice system.
Mr HH can only forgive individuals who offend personally and not those that broke the people’s laws. If he does so then, that’s dictatorship.
May I take this opportunity to thank some PF youths such as Mr. Binoculars who has called on these public institutions such as DEC, ACC, police and courts to ask all PF leaders to account for their wealth they have accumulated the last ten years. Mr. Binoculars has further asked the law enforcement agencies to follow up on those who sponsored political violence.
Fellow country men and women, following the intelligence information I have received from the time ECZ declared the winner of this year’s election, I can assure the nation that there is a serious need for a clean up in these public institutions if we are to see this nation progressing. Our economy died due to the mess in these institutions.
There’s alot of mess surrounding our public institutions. Zambians voted for a new government so that these main questions can be answered.Therefore, it is not HH who is going to arrest those found wanting but the laws of Zambia which HH is also answerable to. We have a Supreme law of the land which is the constitution. So fear not HH but the constitution of Zambia. HH cannot forgive criminal activities, his only power provided for in the constitution is, prerogative of mercy (pardon criminals after convictions). If he does it before they’re investigated, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned, then he would have abrogated the constitution.
Sikaile C Sikaile
Good Governance and Human Rights Activist for Africa and Amnesty International