THE PRESIDENT HAS NO POWERS TO JAIL PEOPLE
“… PF’s Emmanuel Mwamba Needs to be Educated on Law Enforcement Matters. He is Contradicting the Law.”
Sunday, September 4, 2022 – Lusaka
PATRIOTIC Front Vice Information and Publicity Chairperson Emmanuel Mwamba’s wild claims that President Hakainde Hichilema may jail more people than any of his predecessors for insults are shocking. A man like Mr Mwamba who has held senior government positions should be well informed about law enforcement matters.
Mr Mwamba ought to know that the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia does not mandate the President to jail people but only allows him to pardon criminals from prison under the exercise of his Prerogative of Mercy which only takes effect after a conviction is done.
The President has no power whatsoever to jail any person. We are aware and it is in public domain that former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu made pronouncements of arresting Mr Hakainde Hichilema if he won the August 12, 2021 general elections. Mr Mwamba is accustomed to the illegal enforcement of laws as perpetrated and perpetuated by his notorious party, the PF when they were in power.
Mr Emmanuel Mwamba should be educated that laws remain laws whether they are deemed as a colonial relic or not, until such a time that they are amended or completely done away with. He should be advocating for the repealing or amendment of such laws and not making baseless accusations.
People like Mr Mwamba who are seeking public office must be modest and endeavour to encourage the use of palatable language especially that the UPND Government has always advocated for freedom of expression. Offensive language which Mr Mwamba is championing is detrimental to the peace and stability of our nation. Moreover, freedom of speech should be exercised with responsibility, it should not be abused.
Defamation of the President is provided for under section 69 of the Penal Code Act, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
Under that provision, it is an offence attracting a sentence of imprisonment of not exceeding three (3) years for any person found guilty of that offence.
It is an offence for any person who, with intent to bring the President into hatred, ridicule or contempt, publishes any defamatory or insulting matter, whether by writing, print, word of mouth or in any other manner.
According to the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act No. 2 of 2021 enacted on 24 March, 2021 by the Parliament of Zambia under the gone PF regime, it is an offence to abuse other people even by way of the cyber space.
In particular, the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act provides, among other things, for:
(1) The establishment of the Zambia Computer Incidence Response Team and the National Cyber Security Advisory and Coordinating Council;
(2) The protection of individuals against cyber crime, including child online protection; and
the facilitation of the identification, declaration, and
(3) Protection of critical information infrastructure.
Let us get it right. Zambia currently has these laws in place. For this reason, they must be enforced. That way, the governance process becomes one of Rule of Law.
The police cannot just sit back and watch someone defame the President when the law that protects him or her from such defamation is in place. Similarly, the police cannot just be watching someone abuse others in the cyber space without taking any action that enforces the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act.
For example, Sean Tembo has clearly been defaming President Hakainde Hichilema for some time now. No wonder he is behind bars today. Otherwise, the police have been quite tolerant of Tembo but he opted to continue abusing his freedom of speech. Those that want to perceive his arrest as persecution are not being honest with themselves, including Mr Mwamba. We think that the law is simply taking its course in this matter.
Mr Mwamba has mentioned people who have been arrested for breaching the above laws and seeks to play politics by complaining about numbers. However, it does not matter how many people are arrested for breaching the law. What matters is that the law is preserved.
Whether this law is good or bad is a debate for another day. The issue now is that this law is in place and those in conflict with it should face it.
The UPND remains committed to promoting co-existence among the general citizenry including all politicians in the country in a bid to quell hate-speech, political violence, injustices and political persecutions that characterised the previous regime.