SOCIALIST PARTY WOMEN’S LEAGUE CALLS UPON LAURA MITI TO RESIGN AS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER
By Barbra Maramwidze, Socialist Party Member of the Central Committee
We join the many growing voices in the country calling for Laura Miti’s resignation as Human Rights Commissioner. She should instead assume her rightful place as a UPND cadre.
She is no Human Rights Commissioner, at all.
Today, we have a Human Rights Commissioner who thinks she’s at liberty to attack both female and male opposition party presidents, our esteemed leaders, as and when she wishes and pleases. And when they respond, she wants to play the victim card and bring the women question into play. It won’t do. It won’t work.
These are the people who are reducing our important institutions to nothing. These are the people who are using the government machinery to attack the opposition, and later to cry foul.
We have noted with great concern how Miti consistently forgets what her role is. And tracing her write-ups since UPND won, there is no doubt Mr Hakainde Hichilema made a wrong appointment. It is clear to us that Miti is a UPND cadre. They should deploy her as such.
She is a cadre and should stop wasting taxpayers’ money attacking opposition party leaders.
The name “Amai Doti” was coined by Comrade Saboi Imboela, President of the NDC in response to Laura Miti’s attacks on her. Why would a fellow woman call Laura Miti “Amai Doti?”
Our only conclusion is that it is because of her cadreism role. Since she was appointed as commissioner, it is clear she has become drunk with power and thinks she can tarnish people’s images as and when she wants to.
She should know that as the women’s movement, it is women such as Miti who have let us down in terms of our fight for justice, equity and peace.
We can see through her that patriarchy truly equally resides in women. She attacked Comrade Saboi, and in response, President Saboi labelled her “Amai Doti”! Was this a women’s issue?
As the Socialist Party Women’s League, we will no longer sit back and watch while Laura Miti attacks President Dr Fred M’membe. Unprovoked, she has persistently gone after Dr M’membe.
And we will not continue to watch Miti bring our institutions of governance into disrepute. She can’t continue to use taxpayers’ money to destroy the reputation of our institutions.
We understand that she dislikes the late President Sata and our leader Dr M’membe, but what she should know is that there are people who also don’t like her; that she will get back what she throws at others.
Dr M’membe has offered women within and outside the party massive support, and we thank him for the unwavering support and contribution to the visibility of women in our party and multiparty dispensation.
In a highly patriarchal society dominated by male chauvinism, it hasn’t been easy to advance the Socialist Party National Congress’s resolution of fielding not less than 50 percent women at both local and parliamentary levels for the August 2021 elections.
Dr M’membe has, however, demonstrated leadership, saying the resolutions of the congress must be implemented in every province and at every level.
Today as a party, we can proudly reveal that the adoption of women so far is the result of proposals pushed by Dr M’membe to the Central Committee and adopted by it. He has closely guided the implementation of the National Congress’s resolution on gender equity. And today, the Central Committee is composed of 50 percent women.
We are also aware that Dr M’membe has a long history of championing and defending women and their causes.
In the early days of the Post newspaper, he worked very closely with Laura Harrison to defend and champion women’s causes.
He also worked very closely with Lucy Sichone, promoting and defending her at every turn. He worked very closely with Emily Sikazwe at Women for Change, developing very strong bonds of friendship that extended to family ties, where today the two are as brother and sister.
Dr M’membe is also a friend to many Catholic nuns in Zambia and has supported their work in various ways.
There are also many chieftaincies in this country that count on Dr M’membe as a reliable friend and ally.
When he was editing The Post, Dr M’membe supported and defended women’s rights and their struggles in so many ways. Women dominated the last Post management.
The deputy managing director was a woman, the managing editor was a woman, the general manager of finance was a woman, and the marketing manager was a woman. Nearly all key positions at The Post were held by women.
The former Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia, Madam Inonge Wina, at some point in her life received support in all sorts of ways from Dr M’membe. He worked closely with Maureen Mwanawasa and earned her great confidence. He has also been a great friend and supporter of Dr Christine Kaseba.
Many, many women in our politics have enjoyed Dr M’membe’s help.
In the Socialist Party, we women have enjoyed great support, solidarity and encouragement from Dr M’membe, helping us to be where we are, both in the party and in national politics.
Most of us are the product of his promotion and defence of women’s rights.
In addition, Dr M’membe’s writing on women’s issues – as well as their backing and defence – are well documented.
We have no doubt that with him as president of the Republic of Zambia, the position of women will certainly change for the better.
We, the women in the Socialist Party, believe that Zambia has no better supporter of women’s rights than Dr M’membe.
With a leader like Dr Fred M’membe we have no doubt that we will make progress as women on many fronts, including producing a female president, and breaking the chains of patriarchy that are embedded in our society.
Issued by Barbra Maramwidze
Member of the Central Committee
On behalf of the Socialist Party Women’s League