By Tuesday Bwalya
The announcement made by the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Mr Lemmy Kajoba that the Zambia Police Service (ZP) under the new dawn government was actively investigating many atrocities committed by the Patriotic Front (PF) party cadres and officials from 2015 is pleasing.
This is what it should be in a country that seeks many answers to crimes committed by the former ruling party members. The police chief and the new dawn government should be commended for answering many Zambians’’ request to have the PF killers, thieves, thugs, tribalists, and the corrupt investigated.
During Mr Edgar Lungu’s PF government, many crimes were committed and the Zambia Police was unable to investigate and bring to book the culprits. This was because the perpetrators of such crimes were in power, and the police were powerless. The Zambia Police through former Inspector General Kakoma Kanganja was told to look elsewhere. During this period, I had several conversations with colleagues in the Police Service who indicated to me that they could bring law and order to Zambia but Mr Lungu and the PF did not allow them to work independently. The new police chief and the new dawn government should be commended for beginning to look into these cases now. In Bemba we say umulandu taubola; meaning that no matter how long it takes, the time to answer for a crime certainly comes.
Under the PF government, cadres killed many people. A lot of political opponents’ cadres were killed in cold blood by PF thugs and the Police did not arrest the killers because the Service under Mr Kanganja was captured by the PF. The opposition political cadres killed by PF criminals include Grazier Matapa, Lawrance Banda, Mapenzi Chibuulo, and Obed Kasongo, among many others. It is just fair that the Police under the new dawn government investigate all those cases and bring to book the PF thugs who were behind such killings. This will bring closure to these cases and help in healing this country.
Corruption was also rife in the PF government. Public financial resources were stolen through various schemes which include inflated contracts in the construction of roads, airports, and supply of goods and services. Many senior government officials and some ordinary PF cadres accumulated wealth which they cannot now account for. This is because president Lungu and his government paid lip service to the fight against corruption. In the new dawn government, we expect that all those corruption cases that were reported to the law enforcement agencies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), and Zambia Police Service should be revisited by the security agencies so that people who stole from Zambians should face the law.
Under the PF government, Zambians witnessed tribalism of the highest degree in all sectors of society. The PF and its members shamelessly launched tribal attacks on President Hakahinde Hichilema (HH) and his fellow Tonga speaking people when he was the opposition. In this regard, low and high-ranking PF officials championed tribalism. They campaigned in black and white on tribal lines. They were sure that the tribal card would save them as it saved them in 2016. PF members such as Mr Chishimba Kambwili, Professor Nkandu Luo, Mr Chanda Nyela, and Mr Bizwell Mutale went to length in painting HH and his tribesmen as bad people who should not be given a chance to run this country. Even after losing the August 12, 2021, General Election, PF members have continued to preach tribalism. For example, in October 2021, during the Kaumbwe parliamentary by-election, Mr Kambwili and his newly found friend, Mr Rapheal Nakachinda campaigned on tribal lines.
It is an offense in this country for one to issue tribal remarks. According to Section 70 (1) of the Penal Code, “any person who utters any words or publishes any writing expressing or showing hatred, ridicule or contempt for any person or group of persons wholly or mainly because of his or their race, tribe, place of origin or colour is guilty of an offense and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.” This implies that all those who issued tribal remarks should be investigated and brought to book. The Police and the new dawn government are on the right side of history by revisiting such crimes.
Many civilised Zambians want all these crimes committed by PF cadres, ministers and their sympathisers investigated. Zambians, including the writer of this article, want to see the killings, corruption, thuggery, and tribalism witnessed during the tenure of president Lungu invesitigted. It will set a bad precedence if these cases are swept under the carpet by the new dawn government in the name of national unity.
Some media outlets have reported stories where PF criminal elements and their sympathisers have complained that they were being investigated by the new dawn government because they are Bemba-speaking people. They are claiming that the war against corruption, tribalism, and thuggery waged by the new dawn government is a tribal fight. This is an act of desperation by PF criminal elements and meant to win public sympathy, especially from the Bemba-speaking people. But Zambians and the Bemba-speaking people will not buy into this idea because they know that Mr Lungu’s tribal government committed so many crimes, which have crippled the economy and destroyed national unity. Further, Zambians know that a crime is a crime, and perpetrators; whether Bemba speaking people or not have to face the law. No person should claim that he or she was being targeted in this fight because of his/her tribe. If some Bemba-speaking people who served in Mr Lungu’s PF government dipped their hands into government coffers, they should be arrested. No one should hide under the veil of a tribe. Therefore, the tribal voices by PF members accusing the new dawn government of waging a tribal war are misplaced and will not succeed. The PF criminals and tribalists should man up and face the law.
There is nothing tribal in fighting criminality in the manner the new dawn government is doing. The fight is meant to bring law and order to the country. It is also meant to stamp out corruption and stop the culture of impunity; therefore, this fight should not be deliberately misunderstood. It is time the law enforcement agencies under the new dawn government swiftly investigated all those who committed crimes against Zambians under Mr Lungu’s PF regime.
In conclusion, I wish to urge president HH and his new dawn government not to be destructed by those who have started accusing him of starting a tribal war. The new dawn government should vigorously pursue all those who committed crimes in the past, present, and future as many Zambians are behind this fight. To the Zambia Police and the IG, I wish to urge them not to be intimidated by PF tribalists and criminals with their unsubstantiated accusations. The Police should proceed to investigate them because many Zambians want to see the investigation concluded as soon as possible.
The author is a lecturer in Library and Information Science at the University of Zambia. Views expressed in this article do not represent those of the institution or its union, but the author’s opinion on the fight against PF criminality waged by the new dawn government.
Email: tuesdaybwalya1@gmail.com.