By Kelly Kaunda
THE PUBLIC HAS THE RIGHT TO BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE WHAT THE STATE SAYS
I am exercising my right not to believe the explanation offered by the state to justify its detention of Bishop Trevor Mwamba, Patrick Mwansa, George Chisanga, Simon Phiri, Richard Banda and Francis Mulenga.
For starters, just the fact that the statement is being issued by the Secretary to Cabinet and not the IG under whom matters related to criminal investigations fall is a huge redflag in itself.
In strategic communication, who issues a statement is in itself an important point for consideration. Why was it not issued by the regular authority? Is it a question of credibility? Or was it government’s way of raising the profile of the matter?
Because this is unprecedented, I thought about it so much, it reminded me of Collin Powell arguing for the invasion of Iraq before the UN Security Council.
The Bush administration’s credibility was on the line because the international community didn’t believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the pretext for wanting to go to war.
Of all the administration officials, only Gen. Collin Powell had some level of credibility to present what, even for him, was morally a very difficult argument to make.
So, yes, the choice of Mr. Patrick Kangwa to deliver the message admitting finally that the state was holding citizens who had been missing is instructive.
Secondly, the state has been sending text messages to members of the public regarding abductions. It reads, “Beware of false reports of shootings and abductions. Stay calm and peaceful. Let ECZ verify votes transparently. Respect the people’s will. One Zambia, One Nation”.
Brian Mundubile talked about shootings which the government text message denies but which Kangwa’s statement acknowledges as true.
Mundubile mentioned the persons Kangwa mentions except the latter doesn’t tell us where Mutotwe Kafwaya is. Mundubile says Kafwaya was shot at twice. So, where is he and what is his condition?
The third point I wish to make is about character witnessing. In the statement, the Secretary to Cabinet says military-related stuff was found on the detained individuals which by implication, they were planning to harm the state.
Bishop Trevor Mwamba is a retired Anglican Bishop, an accomplished theologian. I first met him in Berlin where he had moved to from the UK.
His wife was at the time Botswana’s Ambassador to Germany. Ambassador Masire-Mwamba is the daughter of former Botswana President Ketumire Masire.
While in Berlin, the Bishop was a regular visitor at Ambassador Mukwita’s home where I also met and interacted closely with the Nigerian Ambassador, Yusuf Tuggar, the current Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister.
The soft-spoken Bishop Trevor Mwamba is one of those folks you would characterize as not even capable of killing a mosquito.
Kangwa’s statement says the detained individuals have been charged but he doesn’t say the charge. If you have held someone for this long, how do you fail to state their charges, such an important fact?
If your actions are above board, why not allow the standard rights offered worldwide to those arrested to get in touch with their family members and lawyers? No, they couldn’t allow them these basic rights because they knew what they were doing was downright wrong! Period.
On Brian Mundubile who was together with everyone taken, the statement simply glosses over his name without stating why he was not picked. But it’s clear that it was a political decision. You don’t want to pick a leading Presidential candidate when results are being announced! There’s honor even among thieves, a population saying goes.
Over the course of almost two decades of my active journalism, I covered several arrests and prosecutions that had the hallmarks of politics stamped all over them.
They were a chilling reminder of the cruel nature of some of our own people who would abuse their powers by inflicting pain on innocent fellow citizens with no consideration that their actions were downright wrong and that their families would be hurting. Our people can be cruel – very cruel.
The state wants to turn our attention away from itself. It wants to change the narrative. Sensing the fact that it has suffered bad publicity lately (which it rightly deserves), it wants to manufacture bad guys and hope to gain some sympathy. Nice try!
But it won’t work. Over this election period, the state has misconducted itself by blatantly stamping all over the basic political rights of the opposition. Alert citizens have faithfully chronicled and shared every act which has clearly exposed the true character of the ruling party.
Now, standing exposed and naked before the international community, the ruling party is scrambling to pick up the tattered and shuttered pieces of its reputation.
In a classic show of cruelty, it has picked some citizens as a scapegoat for its politically disastrous conduct.
Choose your battles well.