MAKEBI ZULU CONDEMNS ARMY CHIEF’S REMARKS ON ILLEGAL MINERS
Patriotic Front (PF) Presidential Aspirant Makebi Zulu has strongly condemned recent remarks made by Army Commander Lieutenant General Geoffrey Zyeele regarding illegal miners.
Mr Zulu, a renowned constitutional lawyer, described the Commander’s statement as deeply unfortunate, irresponsible, and unbecoming of a professional military institution.
In a statement issued, Saturday, Mr Zulu criticised the use of terms such as “exterminate and fumigate” in reference to citizens, calling the language dehumanising and dangerous.
He warned that such rhetoric evokes memories of atrocities like the Holocaust in Germany and the genocide in Rwanda.
Mr Zulu stressed that Zambia, as a nation that upholds human rights and the rule of law, must never normalise such expressions.
He argued that the Zambia Army’s constitutional role is to defend territorial integrity, not to enforce civilian law.
Deploying the army against citizens, he noted, raises serious concerns about the erosion of professionalism within the defence forces.
Mr Zulu questioned whether the government’s move suggests a lack of confidence in the police’s capacity to handle illegal mining.
He emphasised that illegal mining is a governance issue that should be addressed through law enforcement and regulatory institutions.
Mr Zulu urged the Ministry of Mines to engage, formalise, and license small-scale miners to ensure safety and environmental compliance.
He also called for simplified tax systems tailored to small-scale miners to promote inclusive and sustainable development.
Mr Zulu appealed to the President, as Commander-in-Chief, to withdraw the directive involving the army and instead empower civilian agencies to manage the situation lawfully.
We’re past that Zulu, we know you thrive on illegality. Tell your people to go back to illegal mines if you want and see if the army is playing.
Mr. Zulu aspires to be President of Zambia and yet he doesn’t underdtand the threat these illegal miners pose to the nation. Matters of national security should not be the subject of our unending and sometimes meaningless political debates.
Zambia army, please do the needful. People will appreciate later. There is a Bemba saying “Uwa kwenshya ubushiku, ba mutasha ilyo bwacha” (he who guides you through the night is appreciated when the day breaks. Presumably because during the day, you can clearly see the danger you were exposed to).
Clearly most of our opposition party leaders donot appreciate the gravity of the matter. They have never had any dealings with illegal miners in any way and therefore have a romantic view of this scourge. They think it is politics as usual. When bullets start flying, their will be no talk of rights.
Amazing. This political presidential aspirant is failing to differentiate between stewardship and illegality.
What type of a leader is this. He is ok with illegality and looks down to an official protecting everyone else from being abused by those failing to follow rules.
So what plan do you have instead. Allow the illegal miners carrying guns to cause havock to innocent citizens? This is stupidity.
Some of these outburst border on stupidity. What is so good about illegality. You guys are crazy. It seems you like chaos. Just see what is happening to yourselves right now.
Don’t you even think for minute that some of these so called people doing these are illegal foreigners who have the potential of bringing chaos in our country. With stupidity some people are blind to this fact and want to play with our rights
There is no Zambian denied the right to participate in mining. We have been requested to form co-operatives. These are the ones legally constituted and allowed to mine. Any other illegal team should be removed from these areas. Other nations today are in trouble because of this type of bad politicians who do think properly.
*who don’t think *
This is not congo or goma or kivu or Haiti where laws are not followed.