KIDNAPPING THE KIDNAPPED GIRLS FOR THE SECOND TIME
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. Yesterday’s statement from the Minister of Community Development; Hon Doreen Mwamba that the UPND Government had decided to maintain custody of the 13 kidnapped girls after their release from hospital, and that the Ministry had since put them in a shelter, makes very sad reading.
2. These rescued girls are not orphans but belong to families and should be reunited with their respective relatives so that they can begin the process of psychological and physical healing from the sexual abuse that they were subjected to by their kidnappers.
3. If the UPND Government was sincere in this matter, why didn’t they give each of the 13 girls an option of whether to go home to their families or being kept in a Government shelter like orphans? Why did the UPND decide to railroad all the 13 girls into a shelter against their wishes? Why has the UPND Government decided to cut all communication between the 13 girls and the outside world?
4. The definition of kidnapping is holding someone against their will, and in this instance we can safely say that the UPND Government has kidnapped the 13 girls for the second time. Why is the UPND Government afraid of allowing these 13 girls to go home and tell their stories? Are they afraid that the girls might implicate someone important in Government, hence their second kidnapping? Where are the civil society organizations which are supposed to fight for the rights of the vulnerable in our community?
5. My message to President Hakainde Hichilema is; please Mr. President, do not kidnap these girls for the second time. Let them go home to their families. From a psychological point of view, the shelter you have put these girls in will soon start resembling the kidnappers house in which they lived in for more than 6 months. Before you realize it, you might find cases of suicide among the girls due to a psychological breakdown. Please sir, release the girls from this unlawful detention by Government. They have already gone through enough. Stop it now sir !!!
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10.10.2022