STATEMENT OF RECOGNITION OF GOOD POLICE CONDUCT OVER CITIZENS FIRST RALLY
23rd June 2024
The United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), wishes to encourage the Zambia Police command to continue on the path of recognising that multi-partsism in Zambia is a creature of the Constitution and embedded in it are citizens’ rights of association and assembly.
The rally of the Citizen First’s political party in Kitwe on Saturday the 22nd of June 2024 was not hindered by the Police command. Fears of ‘security concerns’ that the police use to stop opposition rallies were not raised this time around.
Zambians, are generally very peaceful people, as it was demonstrated at the Citizens First very peaceful Kwacha rally.
The Sunday following the Kwacha rally saw the police not interfere or storm any church where several UKA Presidents went to congregate in Ndola and Kitwe. The UKA Presidents were also not tailed as happened the week before.
The Zambia Police seem to have opened a new page which departs from the repugnance of the recent past where citizens, wishing to congregate and assemble peacefully, were being denied the right to do so by the heavily politically infltrated Police command operating in cohorts with political cadre misfits of the UPND party leadership.
We hope and demand that Zambians will, henceforth, be allowed to congregate and associate to enrich their discourse as they participate in governance to choose their desired leaders to take our country into a positive direction.
The police and it’s command must realise that they are part of society and whatever challenges that citizens bring to the fore, through assembly and association in their chosen political parties, are meant to assist everybody who lives in Zambia.
UKA therefore wishes to commend the police command for the reasonable switch back to the Zambia we want; a Zambia in which freedom of association and assembly is not denied to the citizens whose participation
in governance is through prescribed association amongst themselves in whatever formation before, after, in between and during elections.
The United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) commends the Kitwe Police Command for having acted professionally in terms of not interfering in the Cotizens First rally.
The commendations are deserved in view of threats that were being made by Copperbelt Minister, Elisha Matambo regarding the opposition going to Copperbelt.
Matambo stated that the ruling party will not give a chance to the opposition to come to the Copperbelt and bounce back. He urged officials to block all attempts by the opposition to regain power.
This is a slow reversal of the decree by the Indpector Genersl of Police Graphel Musamba that the opposition would not be allowed to hold any rallies countrywide.
It is UKA’s hope that the toxic UPND electoral governance practices of the recent past has now been done away with as good outcomes of good governance benefits everyone, the police included.
It is important to constantly remind ourselves, whether we are private citizens or we are security service providers, that our being is a product and desire to be who we are, as enshrined and protected in our Constitution.
We urge the UPND to come down to the reality of constitutionally guided governance practices.
The police practice on the Copperbelt this weekend should, whilst being commended, not be seen as an aberation or strange one offset, but must henceforth become the norm.
This is the Zambia that citizens are demanding for.
Thank you,
SAKWIBA SIKOTA SC.,
UKA CHAIRMAN