Free Andsen Zulu, a great injustice has been committed in our land!
” It is a perfectly legitimate and fair comment to say that Hakainde Hichilema is an antiChrist, in Zambia, a country which has declared itself a Christian nation.”
By Azwell Banda
It is impossible for Jesus Christ to be happy with magistrate Chrispine Hampungani for jailing Andsen Zulu for 12 months, for saying that Hakainde Hichilema is an antichrist, a non-believer in Christ.
Such an assertion is perfectly logical, especially in a country that has declared itself to be a Christian nation. In the Holy Bible Jesus Christ categorically says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person, such as Hakainde Hichilema, to enter the kingdom of God.
Therefore, it is a perfectly rational belief to assert that Hakainde Hichilema is an antichrist, an unbeliever in Jesus Christ.
Intimidated by being arrested and detained by the police, bullied and overcome with fear by finding himself in court accused of having defamed a popular president, representing himself, Andsen Zulu foolishly perhaps, hoped that not wasting the court’s time and quickly admitting to the charge would see him reprimanded at the most, and lightly punished, for his comments.
It is in such cases where magistrates and judges and all judicial officers are expected to be extremely careful, they do not permit a suspect to unwittingly incriminate themselves, when in fact the facts before the court do not amount to a crime! But magistrate Chrispine Hampungani was having none of this caution: the poor man was swiftly jailed for an incredible 12 months!
Perched right on top of the preamble of our Constitution, is the declaration that Zambia is a Christian nation: “WE, THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA: ACKNOWLEDGE the supremacy of God Almighty; DECLARE the Republic a Christian Nation while upholding a person’s right to freedom of conscience, belief or religion.”
It is God Almighty, and not money, we acknowledge to be supreme. And yet Andsen Zulu, precisely because he has no money, could not buy an experienced and clever lawyer to argue his case against Hakainde Hichilema, who is a rich man and the President of Zambia, has been swiftly dispatched to prison, obviously to also frighten all poor people without money not to say anything presumed negative or defamatory, against Hakainde Hichilema.
Leviticus 19:15, clearly says “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbour.”
Magistrate Chrispine Hampungani has gone down in our history books as a magistrate who sent a poor worker to jail for saying something perfectly rational and defensible, against Hakainde Hichilema.
This magistrate has sent shivers down the spines of all those who may wish to express, on any platform including social media and newspapers, any criticism against Hakainde Hichilema.
By this one totally unchristian treatment and judgement of Andsen Zulu, magistrate Chrispine Hampungani has struck a lethal blow upon a most sacred of all rights, the right to free expression, a corollary of the right to free conscience and free thought; the very essence of the right to life.
We are alive because we think. We prove that we think by expressing our thoughts. To murder free speech is therefore to threaten human life itself. Why did the magistrate ignore the Bible by which our laws and dispensation of justice must also be tempered?
For the avoidance of doubt, the Holy Bible is rich with evidence which supports the assertion that it is impossible to be a Christian and a rich person at the same time.
Other systems of faith, morality and humane ideologies have also come to the same conclusion – that it is impossible to serve two masters at the same time, for either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. The Holy Bible is more explicit and it bluntly says: “You cannot serve God and money”.
Andsen Zulu was not only well within his constitutional rights in a self-declared Christian nation to assert that Hakainde Hichilema who is rich, is an antichrist, but, as I must assume he himself is a Christian, it is also his duty to alert others to this fact, the fact of a rich president who certainly is headed for hell, unless he sells all that he has, and gives it all to the poor, because only then shall he have wealth in heaven; and then of course he can follow Jesus!
The law of defamation of the President is an ugly piece of our colonial legacy which every opposition leader since Kenneth Kaunda has promised to repeal when in opposition and quickly ignored this promise when in power; for it is a great lethal law to shield the President from criticism and exposure of weaknesses.
It also helps perpetuate our backward attitude to politicians who only yesterday were begging for votes and upon being elected, suddenly become removed from their origins as vote beggars and thence must be treated like loyalty in a republican democracy.
This obnoxious law facilitates the perpetuation of ignorance, fear and impotence (taken together mistaken for respect of the President) among the public of a person they have made President of the country through the ballot. It promotes sycophancy, fawning and ingratiating fake adulation of the President by his followers who are usually parasitic on this person, and it is clearly unconstitutional as it is not a law of general application and it kills democracy. It stunts the development of a vibrant democratic culture of a freely thinking and talking citizenry. In this day and age of social media, it is a useless piece of legislation incapable of consistent enforcement. It must be removed from our statutes.
This law itself, reads, “Any person who, with intent to bring the President into hatred, ridicule or contempt, publishes any defamatory or insulting matter, whether by writing, print, word of mouth or in any other manner, is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years.” That is all. There are no definitions of the key words: intent, hatred, ridicule, contempt, defamatory or insulting. Obviously, there are English judgements a clever defence lawyer can use to argue in court; Andsen Zulu, a mere driver, had absolutely no way of knowing this.
This law is a powerful weapon for any president against real and imaginary opponents and critics, for the choirs of a reigning president, and for the police and magistrates and judges wanting to catch the eye of a reigning president: any criticism of the president can be presumed to have been uttered or published with the intent to bring the President into hatred, ridicule or contempt.
Has magistrate Chrispine Hampungani opened wide prison doors for any expression of negative thoughts about Hakainde Hichilema? Maybe not. Has Hampungani emboldened Hakainde’s zealots and choirs in and outside the police to harass anyone expressing a negative opinion against Hakainde Hichilema? Yes. Andsen Zulu could not have been a more perfect gift to these enemies of free speech and democracy.
Barely a year in office, Hakainde Hichilema and his UPND choir are fast resurrecting and inventing new ways of protecting and shielding Hakainde Hichilema from negative commentary and perfectly well-earned criticism.
The police have already defended the practice of being summoned in some remote part of Zambia, away from one’s location, to answer charges and attend court sessions. Almost a year in office, Hakainde Hichilema and his government have not produced a road map to deliver on their promises to deal with aspects of the Constitution and laws abhorrent to our Republic and its fledgling democracy. Hakainde’s government though, has not wasted time signing a Staff Level Agreement with the IMF (a very complex epoch defining matter which should have been transparent and involved the whole country, and whose full details are still a secret), amending tax for rich miners, removing VAT exemptions from newspapers and cooking oil, removing fuel and electricity subsidies, removing export duty from several food stuffs, removing import duty from agricultural equipment and machinery and creating conditions for the re-entry into Zambia by Anglo American Corporation, among other things favourable to himself and his friends both in Zambia and abroad.
It is a perfectly legitimate and fair comment to say that Hakainde Hichilema is an antiChrist, in Zambia, a country which has declared itself a Christian nation. Zambia has fast slid into a country whose future now begins to look darker than the Patriotic Front days. It is time to defend our human and constitutional rights, from the fast-creeping anti-democratic, prefeudal practices, now on full display every day.
Free Andsen Zulu from jail, he is an innocent worker! He is blessed because he is poor and his is the true kingdom of God, so says the Bible.
Comments and unrighteous insults welcome at: banda.azwell@gmail.com.