POLICE REFUSE TO ACCEPT HATE SPEECH COMPLAINT AGAINST DOUGLAS SYAKALIMA
Woodlands Police Station has turned away a citizen, Patson Kasongo Chalwe, who went to submit a formal complaint against Education Minister Douglas SYAKALIMA for hate speech.
Kasongo, a member of the Citizens First Central Committee, said Police officers refused to admit his formal complaint saying they would lose their jobs.
In his letter of complaint, Kasongo said he was reporting SYAKALIMA, a member of the UPND Government for hate speech contrary to section 70 of the Penal Code of the laws of Zambia.
Kasongo reported that in the first count, the said SYAKALIMA uttered words that the people of Luapula were suffering from the poverty of the mind, while in count two, SYAKALIMA uttered words where he called members of a political grouping as Monkeys.
In a related development, Central Police in Lusaka also refused to accept a complaint in which another Citizens First Member of Central Committee, Genesis Tembo, wanted the Police to summon Political Advisor to the President, Levy Ngoma, to explain the source of money for the motor bikes he has been distributing in Petauke, Eastern Province.
However Tembo hit a snag with Central Police officers who referred him to Police Force Headquarters where the complaint was received after 1hr:30 minutes of waiting.
Hate speech is only a crime in Zambia if it is committed by opposition.
Our UPND friends have blanket immunity to commit this crime at will.
This is another issue that will get revisited after 2026.
Vote wisely in 2026.
It is only dullness that makes nonsense from sense.
*Is poverty of the mind a hate speech or because it is a Tonga?
* How does figurative language; A group of monkeys ….a hate speech?
Of course they were. The UKWA bags, 69 cars, hectors of land, safe keeping of Dollars ku pillow, buy choppers like vitz…
That CF complaint straight to Rubbish bin for sure!
Zambia is badly in need of citizens such as this Patson guy. People must stand up for laws meant to protect them otherwise they are garbage for the archives. This isn’t the end. Free citizens of Zambia should stand up for their rights
This complaint will only be looked at after upnd is out of power. Just like all the complaints against PF were never looked at whilst they were in power but the same complaints are now putting them in problems.
If calling thieves monkeys (which by their nature are notorious thieves) is hate speech then all of us who hate thieving (with the exception of those who benefit from the thieving) are guilty of hate speech and we must be reported to police by the beneficiaries of thieving.
Shut your yap!
The complaint lacks credibility. And if you checked the complainant gives a fake reason why the Police refused to open a docket for him citing that they were will lose their jobs…that’s so lame and totally ridiculous. The good news for the majority of Zambians however, is that the opposition are all in disarray not knowing what to do next. They are doing IMINGALATO unto themselves. HH forward to 2031.
The Police must do their part and that is to open a docket. As to whether to prosecute or not, it is for the DPP to decide.
The Police seem to have been left behind. They are still behaving the same way they did under PF, timid.
Hate speech cases shall always cause confusion to judge.When you describe the way one is applying his thinking poorly, it may sound like hate speech yet it could be just plain talk.For example if some one tells you “ubu chenjeshi bwa nkoko” after you dribled him or you don’t share some thing equally, he may go and report you that you have likened him to a chicken,a bird when he is a human being.But in Zambian languages like Bemba and Lozi or Kaonde it simply means one day he will not share with you equally he will just do exactly the way you have done, a chicken is known to be forgetful.A simple understanding is a Lozi one “nja ya mwa Haye” meaning a dog of the village, this one is an expression indicating you can run way but you will come back since this is home and the only home.Some one was taken to court for saying “imbwa ya ku chawama” on some body but the court ruled no case to answer because it was a figurative talk
And I wish it was possible to gazette some animals or birds as non offensive living creatures for purpose of reference to human behaviour or actions.