STATEMENT BY HON. CHUSHI KASANDA, MP, MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA AND CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON ON SUSPECTS SEEKING PUBLIC SYMPATHY
Government wishes to express its utmost disappointment with the emerging trend where individuals commit crimes and, when confronted by the law, swiftly cry persecution by implicating His Excellency the Republican President, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, as the cause of their legal predicaments.
Government wishes to make it clear to the Zambian citizens that implicating the Republican President, in self-induced conflict with the law, is an attempt to gain public sympathy.
All well-meaning Zambians by now know that the Republican President is not responsible for the criminality of any individual, whether a politician or an ordinary citizen. The position of His Excellency the President is that every individual who engages in criminality of any sort is on their own.
The collective position of the new dawn administration is that, while we uphold citizens’ freedom of expression, those who break the law will not escape the dragnet of the law enforcement agencies by using factors such as race, gender, political affiliation, tribe or any other considerations. Under this government the law shall be applied uniformly, firmly and fairly.
This government will not tolerate a situation where individuals with criminal intent will establish political parties to facilitate illegal activities and think they will use public sympathy to escape liability.
Government wishes to urge politicians, and their supporters, to desist from holding a misguided proposition, common in the political sphere, that one must continuously violate the law and face law enforcement encounters to aspire to the position of Republican President. The law is blind to such misplaced prepositions.
Government further wishes to appeal to Zambians to condemn criminality. The trend of praising suspected criminals, without considering the impact of the alleged crimes on society, is very worrying. We should all endeavour to put ourselves in the position of those affected by the actions of the suspects, before we demonise law enforcement agencies.
Hon. Chushi Kasanda, MP
MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA AND
CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON
23rd August, 2023