FEARS OF DICTATORSHIP RISE OVER REJECTED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS….UPND IS NOT ABOVE SCRUTINY- KBN TV EDITORIAL

FEARS OF DICTATORSHIP RISE OVER REJECTED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS….UPND IS NOT ABOVE SCRUTINY

A KBN TV EDITORIAL

It has been said that there are several sentiments suggesting and describing Mr. Hakainde Hichilema as a two-faced leader who may be pushing the nation into fears of a dictatorship.

At times, one may wish to dismiss such claims as being merely political, but when one pays attention to recent happenings in the nation, the claims might not be too far from the truth.

Firstly, Mr. Hichilema promised to abolish the Cybercrimes law when he forms government, but today, he has weaponised that same law to crash every dissenting voice. Citizens can no longer speak and express themselves freely without worrying about a Police force that’s serving the interests of those in power.

Then came the highly contentious proposed constitutional amendments which have been widely rejected, but in his singular wisdom, Mr. Hichilema and his administration are unrelenting about pushing through with what many are now describing as an unchristian agenda,  a transgression against the nation.

Citizens may begin to ask where they went wrong that all their well intended pleas for the government to halt the frivolous proposed constitutional amendments are continously falling on deaf ears?
In a country where poverty reigns supreme while seeking political favours is the order of the day, many people have sold their birthright; they have opted to survive while the nation’s future is being squandered by those who have elected to betray the wishes and trust of majority Zambians.

One wonders, whatever happened to men and women of patriotic convictions who once believed that national cause is bigger and greater than our collective ego-driven ambitions?

There are many things that are troublesome in our nation today such as poverty, but there is nothing more troubling than a subdued and fearful nation that is scared to speakout when their very human and democratic rights are being trampled upon by a few individuals abusing our delegated state authority.

When did Zambians get so delusional as not to distinguish between having respect for political leaders and holding them accountable?
How did we get to this place where belonging to the ruling party, means throwing away your independence of thought, and only to wear the hat of a sycophant to applause even ridiculous decisions?

When did we get to this point where we discard our consciousness in exchange for the love of money and political favours?
How did we end up with a government that disrespects the views and wishes of the very citizens who voted and put them in power?

How possible is it that a government can be so cold and only fixated on getting away with its unpopular wishes that impute millions of Zambians to be naive and brainless fools, that should only listen to those in power, the super intelligent, the ones endowed with the monopoly of wisdom?

How can Mr. Hichilema who promised so much hope suddenly become a distant dictatorial figure that doesn’t care about the views of the people who gave him the mandate to rule through a sympathy vote even after rejecting him 5 times?
How can any well meaning government propose to change the constitution only to suit their interests and ignore the plight of the suffering masses? Shouldn’t we be talking about amending the constitution to empower Zambians through the expanded Bill of Rights?

Rather than enacting oppressive cybercrime laws, shouldn’t we be amending the constitution to reduce on the excessive executive powers that Mr. Hichilema is now abusing willy nilly?
Today, nearly all the proposed amendment clauses are a dubious scheme to entrench the UPND in power.

We miss the days of democracy in Zambia when the Post newspaper could call a sitting President a thief! Events of today in Zambia, ironically, have forced us not to be ashamed or scared to call Mr. Hichilema as a man exhibiting signs of dictatorship by refusing to listen to the electorate.
Yesterday, we wrote on our page that given the glaring gaps and lack of consensus, if the UPND wants to go ahead with these obnoxious amendments,  citizens must summon their civic duty and right to defend their constitution through peaceful protests.

Typical of the UPND, we were not surprised that Kalani  Muchima, a cadre serving in the civil service at ZANIS, posted in one of the UPND blogs and we quote, “It’s sad that a media house is the one promoting anarchy. When action is taken ati shrinking media space.”

Our question to the UPND is when did peaceful protests become anarchy? When Mr. Hichilema staged a lone peaceful protest wearing black and lifting a placard at the Freedom statue, which anarchy did his peaceful protest cause? You can’t silence the entire nation with dictatorial tendencies and threaten them with sanctions. That’s dictatorship in itself!
We know Mr. Hichilema has all the money, resources and state machinery at his disposal,  but he is not above scrutiny. At least he should have a conscious to be mindful about the sentiments of the millions of Zambians, even if it means faking it.

We can’t be proud of a President who runs away from everything he promised. We can’t be proud of a President who is always right and the rest of the citizens are wrong.
We can’t have a leader who accuses the media of falsehoods yet the very next morning, he is handing over the KCM he accused innocent people of lying about.
Sincerely speaking, if Zambia is a democracy, then Mr. Hichilema got his job description wrong.

Should he force his luck to pass these contested constitutional amendments, let it be the last act of deceit he performs, every well meaning Zambian should get their voter’s card and send Mr. Hichilema back into opposition where he clearly belongs!
For the record, we don’t habour any hate for those in power, but we speak with much love for the nation. In our books, Zambia is bigger than the mightiest man, and as long they are offending the national fabric and values, they must be called to order!