SISHUWA Sishuwa says it is wrong for police to beat up people instead of just arresting them.
On Thursday, police in Lusaka, led by deputy Inspector General in charge of operations Bonnie Kapeso, beat up PF cadres who went to give solidarity to corruption accused health minister Chitalu Chilufya.
Commenting on the beating of PF cadres by police at the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Dr Sishuwa, a historian and University of Zambia lecturer, said police brutality should be condemned, regardless of who the victim was.
“I note that some people are happy that it is the PF cadres on the receiving end of police violence. No, it is wrong to beat PF cadres much in the same way that it is wrong to beat UPND cadres, or indeed anyone else. But this is what Mr Edgar Lungu and the PF have reduced us to: a people that is so polarised on political lines that we have lost our basic sense of humanity and see each other first as PF or UPND,” he said.
“Why can’t we see those people primarily as human beings or suspects who deserve to be arrested in a humane manner? I fear that we, as a country, are sliding on a very dangerous slope. If this political polarisation, coupled with the loss of public confidence in the vital institutions of government such as the police or the electoral commission, is not stopped before the next general elections, we must prepare for the worst, including possibly civil strife and a bloodbath. Would Mr Lungu consider rising above partisan considerations to provide the required effective leadership? I hope he does.”
Dr Sishuwa said police displayed sheer indiscipline and unprofessionalism in their conduct.
“It is total indiscipline and lawless for the police to act in an unprofessional manner. The lawlessness of cadres will only stop when the police begin to arrest the culprits and prosecute them, as per their professional role. Beating is not the answer,” Dr Sishuwa said further.
“l have previously condemned the police’s beating of UPND supporters. I condemn the police for beating PF cadres or indeed anyone else for that matter. It is also wrong for the police to beat people for expressing their political choices, as long as those concerned are not violent or breaking any law. What the police are doing, beating cadres, is to institutionalise violence. They are giving cadres reasons to attack them in future since they are now equal partners in committing acts of violence.”
He said by beating cadres, police risked losing their legitimacy.
He said police were supposed to be professional in their work.
Dr Sishuwa said police unprofessionalism had in fact justified such actions from cadres.
“It is the body’s lack of professionalism which justifies the cadres’ action to protect themselves from police violence, including by beating up police officers. After all, the police have breached the condition for their monopoly over violence, namely to act in accordance with the law,”Dr Sishuwa said.
“It’s important to remember that the core operational duties of a professional police service are to maintain law and order, protect members of the public and their property, prevent the commission of offences and to bring the offenders to justice. To effectively execute these responsibilities, the police must possess the authority, widely recognised by the public, as the lawful and rightful body to enforce them and to do so in a professional and impartial manner that builds public confidence in the institution and helps improve the quality of life for all citizens.”
Dr Sishuwa said the Zambia Police Service had unfortunately lost legitimate authority by turning themselves into political party cadres.
“It is precisely this authority that has deserted the police in Zambia today. The public, rather than viewing it as an apolitical and professional body that is out to protect individual liberties of all Zambians regardless of their political affiliation, now regards the police as nothing more than hired agents of the party in power,” said Dr Sishuwa.
“This is because the executive branch of government has corrupted the police, as it has done to other state institutions, to primarily function as a sword for the elites in power and their supporters. A fundamental part of corruption is corrupting the system, including the police, the judiciary, and other supposedly independent state institutions in order to legitimise wrong and even illegal actions. This is precisely what the PF has done in order to entrench their grip on power and rule by force or the threat of such force: destroying the instruments of governance in such a way that anybody who stands in the way of their project risks being penalised or disciplined.”