THE UPND MUST STOP USING THE RULE OF LAW EXCUSE TO PERSECUTE AND SUPPRESS CITIZENS- New Heritage Party

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THE UPND  MUST STOP USING THE RULE OF LAW EXCUSE TO PERSECUTE AND SUPPRESS CITIZENS

8th December 2024

The New Heritage Party (NHP) is deeply concerned about the seeming financial persecution and suppression of citizens, particularly Zambian owned businesses, by the UPND led government. Apparently,  this government is favoring non-Zambian owned businesses, offering them tax holidays and other incentives, while subjecting local owned businesses to harsh treatments such as multiple taxing, and high tax rates.

The UPND led government’s modus operandi is to abuse any available state institution to persecute citizens. If it is not the ZRA they are abusing, it is the police, the councils, the Public Order Act (POA), the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), or any other vague and ambiguous laws like the Cybercrime Act or criminal libel. The laws are being abused to silence citizens’ voices and stifle the voters.

This government requires local owned businesses to pay all royalties, duties, rates, and taxes without exception. Failure to comply results in severe penalties, while foreign owned businesses are on exemptions called tax holidays.

Seemingly, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is being abused to savagely squeeze and suffocate life out of Zambian owned businesses, leading to families languishing in abject poverty.

UPND, abusing law, have fixed Spax Mining, a Zambian-owned company, and  taken it to court using the ZRA over tax evasion and was made to pay about five million Kwacha upon admission of guilty, while Zambia is losing billions of dollars through the tax holidays given to foreign run mining firms. It seems law in Zambia is only enforceable on Zambians and law is being abused to cripple Zambians, while foreign owned mining businesses are exempted and exalted. This is selective justice.

Heartlessly, the UPND led government is milking small businesses such as mobile money operators with exorbitant fees. The government has imposed numerous levies on marketeers and mobile money businesses through council levies, such as  daily market stand fees, toilet user fees, fire and health, certificate issuance fees;  garbage disposal and collection fees.

Mobile money operators pay K1,500 to councils for space, K275 as an annual levy, and a K100 monthly, while foreign-run mines are exploiting our national resources almost for free.

In a move that has left many reeling, the UPND led government razed down booths for mobile money agents in Central Business Districts (CBDs) across the country, such as in Lusaka, Livingstone, on the Copperbelt, and in Solwezi, under the pretext of cleaning CBDs. Market traders and street vendors have  been forced to vacate their trading places; chased away from ideal trading places without providing alternatives, help, viable solutions, or considering the negative effects of such actions on these poor people. This has effectively killed many Zambian owned businesses, leaving owners with no recourse.

It is wrong for the UPND led government, its cadres and praise singers to believe that arresting people and abusing the law to silence Zambians is the hallmark of a government that respects the rule of law.

Abusing the law to crackdown on citizens, under the guise of maintaining law and order is nothing short of lawfare and dictatorship. Only a government and party with misguided and dangerous notions about the rule of law, believes that arresting its own citizens is synonymous with upholding the rule of law.

On the contrary, the rule of law is about ensuring that all citizens and residents in Zambia are treated fairly and equally under the law. The law must not be used as a tool to persecute and intimidate citizens as these cause fear and nightmares in Citizens and takes away their rights and freedoms.. The UPND led government must stop using the rule of law as an excuse to persecute and suppress citizens and residents.

When in opposition, the UPND opposed and denounced such persecution and suppression as a phenomena from Colonial days. In total hypocrisy, today UPND in government consistently uses the same laws, they previously denounced and condemned, to persecution and suppression citizen.

The NHP, therefore, demands that this seeming financial persecution and suppression stops immediately.  In place of persecution and suppression, Government must provide a level playing field for all businesses and citizens. We call upon the UPND led government to treat all citizens and residents equally, regardless of their business or social status.

Additionally we demand that all tax holidays and exemptions  be abolished immediately without further delay as they are robbing Zambia of its much needed revenue.  Furthermore, we demand that the UPND led government must provide viable alternatives, solutions and incentives to problems faced by Zambian owned businesses and ensure that the law is applied equally, fairly and justly.

Join us in our fight for a fair and just Zambia.

Aggephrey Brill
Chief Spokesperson,
New Heritage Party

2 COMMENTS

  1. So the law should be set aside for Politicians? Rather absurd preposition by a group of people that want to vantage themselves without any serious plan on how they will serve Zambians other than remove HH.

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