TIN- POT DICTATOR: WHY IS U.S.A, EU SILENT ON HICHILEMA’S TYRANNY?- Fred M’membe

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TIN- POT DICTATOR: WHY IS U.S, EU SILENT ON HICHILEMA’S TYRANNY?

Mr Hakainde Hichilema’s reign has so far been widely engulfed in rapidly shrinking civic and political space, criminalisation of dissent and other forms of human rights violations.

The sad reality is that in the two years Mr Hichilema has been at the helm of the country’s leadership, the country has seen a rise in the curtailing of freedom of expression, freedom of association as well as peaceful assembly or protests.

The rights and freedoms highlighted above and many others, which are guaranteed in the Constitution and in other international instruments, are increasingly being threatened or violated by Mr Hichilema and his government with impunity.

For instance, in the two years, Mr Hichilema has been in office, he has not allowed the opposition political parties to hold any public meetings or rallies. All attempts to hold public meetings have failed with organisers either arrested or threatened with arrests by the police. Yet, Mr Hichilema and the UPND have been going round the country holding political rallies and protests against whatever cause they deem necessary.

Worse still Mr Hichilema and his league have gone further to disrupt religious or Church meetings too. Their argument has been that even the Church needs to obtain permission from the police to hold meetings, which claim is illegal.

Dissent or criticism of Mr Hichilema has also been heavily criminalised with opposition party members and ordinary online bloggers harassed and tortured by the police and in some instances, arrested or put in prolonged and illegal pre- trial detentions.

There is no doubt that so many rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution are being violated and undermined by Mr Hichilema and his government. It is also clear that they’re determined not give clearance for any opposition gathering or peaceful protests.

And any attempts by the opposition to go against their orders are likely to be met with unnecessary and excessive use of force by the police.

This here is the summary of Mr Hichilema’s human rights and rule of law credentials in the last two years of his rule. This is who he has shown us that he is, and that he’s not going de-escalate these excesses and violations of the people’s rights and freedoms.

However, what is of special interest to us, is the silence from Mr Hichilema’s friends, the United States government and governments of the EU, who pride themselves to promote, protect and uphold the rights and freedoms of all global citizens irrespective of their nationality, religion, ethnicity, race or color, among others. The US government has always guaranteed to keep its promises in defending the rights and freedoms of the people globally.

But we ask the following questions to the US government: Are Mr Hichilema’s human rights violations any different from what they condemn elsewhere? Why are they paying a blind eye to Mr Hichilema’s disastrous governance style? For how long will they pretend before they call one of their own to order? Are they waiting for Zambia to implode before they can be serious about what is going on? Is Mr Hichilema’s conduct reflective of what they believe in or espouse?

The truth remains that if what we are seeing in Zambia today is the type of democracy the US has been preaching and promoting then Zambia is in trouble.

And by paying a blind eye, the US is helping create a tin-pot dictator, a Mobutu for Zambia in Mr Hichilema. If they’re not careful about what they are doing and tolerating with Mr Hichilema, they will be so humiliated and resented by the Zambian people because history has shown that Zambians hate dictators and anyone seen to be propping them up.

We say this, not out of fear of Mr Hichilema and his evil deeds but out of genuine concern for the future of this country and its people. Like we always say, this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in if it’s not a good place for all of us to live in.

Let Mr Hichilema take heed. Time for tin-pot dictators is long gone and he will not be able to remain on top, the way he got there, by using force and brutality.

This nonsense must stop!

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party

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