By Walusungu Lundu
BREBNER Changala says PF is being haunted by the defamation of the President law, which they abused to its fullest when they were in power.
The governance activist told The Mast in an interview that nobody should feel pity for the members of the PF.
Changala indicated that the PF who had an opportunity to amend the law gave it a blind eye because it then suited them.
He said the current administration, who suffered the same law have woken up from slumber and were equally abusing it since it was still on the statute books.
Changala’s comments come in the wake of the charge of the defamation of the president slapped on PF chairperson for information and publicity Raphael Nakacinda.
“Unfortunately, this is a law that the Patriotic Front abused to its fullest. And today the same law which we are being told to repeal is haunting them and nobody must feel pity for the Patriotic Front. They had the opportunity to readjust, reorganise and amend the law. But because it suited them at that moment in time, they kept it in the statutes,” he said. “And as time moved on, they were removed from power. And the current administration, who suffered the same law have woken up from slumber saying ‘it’s still on the statutes’ and they are equally abusing it.”
Meanwhile, Changala said the law was in conflict with freedom of speech.
He stressed the need for it to be removed from the statutes.
“This is a law that is supposed to be removed from our statutes. That should have been done many years ago but every successive government, just like the public order Act, they find solace in its abuse,” he said. “Zambians must refine the Constitution and make peace with the citizenry. We cannot allow the lawfare where you use the law to disadvantage others, lock up people to abuse your own offices. It’s not acceptable.”
Changala detested the detention of suspects by the police without charge.
He explained that the trend of locking up people without charge was abuse of office.
“Detention of suspects without charge is out of this world. Before someone is locked up, there must be some investigations. And after some investigations a case must be established and the concerned individual must be charged. And from there you proceed to another step. The trend of locking up people without a charge is abuse of office. Whoever is doing it is breaking the law and at some point the same law can visit them. There is nothing that be taken for granted and for too long,” said Changala. “I know there is some excitement here and there but excitement does not mean abusing the law. Nobody must be detained without a charge. And those who have been detained with a charge must be given an option of a bond or indeed bail. It is not correct to just arrest people and throw them behind bars without a charge.”