THE PF government’s silence on the gassing attacks that rocked the nation early this year goes to show that Zambians are on their own, says human rights activist Gregory Chifire.
He asked the government to tell the nation the people or organisations that were behind the terror.
On Sunday, Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops president Bishop George Lungu asked Zambians to demand the truth about the gassing which terrified the nation early this year.
Bishop Lungu said people should demand the truth about the origins of the gassing incidents.
He said people should not fear but ask relevant questions about those terrifying experiences.
“Fear to demand the truth about the gassing rampage that tormented our people. You remember, it’s not long ago, basi zii (it’s quiet), as if nothing happened. Who cares? But sometimes it’s fear to challenge the situation. What happened? Who was behind it?” asked Bishop Lungu. “We want to know. Otherwise, it is going to repeat itself. You can imagine an evil scheme that turned peace-loving Zambians into mob killers; dragging people into the streets, stone them, kill them, burn them. Suddenly, what has happened?”
Adding his voice on the matter, Chifire said there was no one to protect Zambians or their property because President Edgar Lungu and his cronies were busy making deals at the expense of the nation.
Chifire, in exile, said the PF government’s silence on the gassing matter, a matter that affected lives of citizens, showed that lives and property of Zambians don’t matter to the government.
He said for the PF, citizens only become important during elections.
“Like many Zambians, I have been waiting for government to give us the report on the gassing that wreaked havoc in our nation recently but nothing. Now that Bishop George Lungu has asked the question which many Zambians would want to ask, I think it is high time the PF government gave us answers,” Chifire demanded.
The Southern Africa Network Against Corruption (SANAC) director said it was shocking that the government had gone quiet on a serious matter where lives were lost.
He recalled that the government even correctly described the gassing incidents as an act of terrorism.
“But as opposed to giving Zambians answers on these acts of extremism, they have gone mute. Something is really not adding up. Lungu does not have respect for the very people who put him in office, neither does he regard their lives as important. That is why he can keep quiet on such an important issue that touches our lives,” Chifire said.
He said it was irresponsible for President Lungu and his government to keep quiet on the issue when people lost their brothers and sisters who could have still been alive today.
Chifire said the government must tell the nation the people or organisations that were behind the terror.
“Otherwise it leaves citizens with nothing but room to speculate that this PF government is protecting the people behind. I personally don’t believe that this government doesn’t know those behind this terror. If it is true that the government is not aware, then we don’t have a government in place. Because a government worth its salt must be in charge of the country and its security. If Lungu and his people don’t know what was happening, then the lives of the people are more in danger than what we initially thought. Then it means this PF must leave government to other people,” Chifire said. “Truth be told, it has become increasingly difficult for Zambians to trust this government because it’s a government of desperate people who can do anything to retain power. Lungu and his government can go to any length for that purpose. Desperate people do desperate things.”
He warned that while Zambians may be humble and meek, that must not be misconstrued for weakness and dullness.
Chifire reminded the government that people are talking in their homes about the ritual killings and felt that the government was hiding something.
He said the government could not just keep quiet in the wake of the forty lives that were lost during the period of the gassing attacks.
He said the silence had left room for speculation and that people were now concluding that it was the PF that was behind “this act of terrorism”.
“Now imagine how citizens are viewing this government. It is therefore important for Lungu and his people to come clean on this. For as long as this government is quiet on this matter, they are in every way possible becoming complicit to the murders that took place because it has failed to perform its duty. It will be difficult for this government to buy back the trust of the people who have concluded otherwise,” said Chifire.