HICHILEMA’S HYPOCRISY AND SELECTIVE JUSTICE
Mr Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND’s continued selective regulation of digital and social media platforms reeks of tyranny and hypocrisy.
Today, the intimidation, arrests and imprisonment of Mr Hichilema critics is a daily occurrence in Zambia. The courts, police and other law enforcement agencies are all fully occupied with cases involving Mr Hichilema’s critics. Presently, the majority of his critics that are aligned before the courts are either facing sedition, espionage, tribal hate-speech or other ridiculous cyber-crimes charges, this spiteful government can think of. Definitely, they are abusing the police and the court system without restraint or shame.
It is evident that Mr Hichilema wants to suppress free political expression to prevent political opponents and private citizens from holding him accountable. They want to suppress public discourse, which they undeniably know is against them. Things are not up to scratch and Zambians are beginning to fearlessly voice out their frustration and anger. But Mr Hichilema thinks he can dodge responsibility by silencing citizens through draconian laws and persistent arrests and imprisonment of critics. We are not shocked because Mr Hichilema is on record admitting how he personally spies on citizens, who engage in political expression through various social media channels such as the WhatsApp messaging application.
Mr Hichilema and the UPND’s hypocrisy is actually scandalous. How can people who rode on the back of rogue media like Zambian Watchdog and Koswe, which operated on Facebook and other digital platforms to malign and maliciously defame private citizens as a way to put the UPND in power be this ruthless and declare war against free political expression on digital and social media platforms? Why do they think they have a reserved seat to act as they wish towards others but the same should not be done to counter them? What is so special about them?
They want to arrest and imprison critics so that they gain control of people’s opinions or political expression by controlling social media. Mr Hichilema doesn’t want anyone to offer contrary views. He only wants people to be reading and following what is published by his State House media team through the Koswe and Zambian Watchdog. That hate and malice is what he wants to be feeding people with daily? He wants to arrest and imprison almost all active online criticizers, except his media team at State House, which manages Koswe and Zambian Watchdog.
It is obvious that Mr Hichilema is resolved to blatantly apply the law selectively. We have seen how the political affiliation of accused persons has made many UPND members and sympathizers less vulnerable to arrests and prosecution. The police can’t arrest them. They are above the law.
But this is a huge mistake because selective justice is no justice at all. It is nothing but injustice, and when the law is applied selectively, it weakens the competence of the criminal justice system. A society where the rich and politically connected evade justice through the interference and facilitation of the executive, degenerates into lawlessness and unconstitutionalism.
The dysfunctionality of the criminal justice system becomes an inevitable reality because the practice and institutionalization of selective justice paves way for the politically connected to get away with crime. It also erodes public trust and confidence in the criminal justice system.
SOLUTION
Mr Hichilema must know that throughout history, societies that applied justice selectively never survived because access to justice or equal application of the law is essential to the rule of law, democracy and constitutional order. Therefore, this government must guarantee citizens equality before law without preferential treatment of the selected few or else, their endless desire of applying the law selectively as a means of political survival and control will boomerang soon.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party
Again empty rethotic Mmembe. That is all this is. The law was cited in jailed convicts. If they have just cause as you did or at least thought you did; in the Post case. You appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Knowing that they were guilty, why have you or any of your supporters paid for the legal bill so that these convicts appeal?
You know deep down in your heart that the noise that most of these degenerates make, is wrong. You exmplify this behaviour by clapping in the background yet, teether around the law so that you will not be found wanting.
Stop trying to make the country ungovernable. Stop encouraging young people to waste their time on things and causes that are unproductive. You failed at being productive Mmembe when given the chance, stop dragging young people down the same rabbit hole that you passed. ACCA eluded you, but for the goodwill of well meaning indivduals the Post would have never ended up in your hands. But that too you messed up. InvestTrust and the Airline….need I say more? Do some introspect….
He is high on chicken shit, already
Strangely and uncharacteristic of him, he is vele vele quiet on the performance of his SP on the recent Petauke and Pambashe, including natu ma two Ward and Council By Elections, is he not?
M’membe Fred, you visited Venezuela recently for the inauguration of your hero, Nicholas Maduro.
Did you bother to check on inmates in Venezuelan prisons to familiarise yourself with the numbers in those prisons and the charges against that populace?
If you did, you will realise that whilst here we joke whole day, those socialist dictatorships dont.
Be advised