By Sean Tembo Pep President
1. As Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) we are disappointed with the failure by the New Dawn administration to allocate adequate police officers to manage the nomination process for the just-ended Kabwata by-election. As a result of inadequate police manpower, UPND cadres went on rampage harassing and beating people up as well as damaging property at the Nomination Center at St. Patrick’s Primary School in Kabwata.
2. During the ensuing fracas, three of our members who are women and members of the PeP Choir group were assaulted for no apparent reason, a PeP branded bus was damaged and music equipment stolen from it during the filing in of nomination for our Kabwata Parliamentary Candidate Mr Henry Muleya. This matter was immediately reported to Kabwata Police Station. We also witnessed a police officer being assaulted by the UPND cadres, his uniform torn into pieces and blood oozing from his nose and mouth, on accusations that the said officer supported the previous regime.
3. As Patriots for Economic Progress our considered view is that as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, it is the duty and obligation of Hakainde Hichilema to protect all citizens and property from harm. The starting point to achieving that objective is to appoint men and women into the police service command who are capable of properly assessing security threats and allocating police manpower and resources accordingly, to avert identified security threats. With regard to the matter at hand, a competent police command would have known that a by-election nomination day is a major security threat and would have therefore allocated adequate police officers and resources to police the event, as opposed to the five or so police officers who were at St. Patrick’s School during Tuesday’s nomination. What is the point of Mr Hichilema taking selfies with new police recruits if those police officers cannot be deployed to important events such as a by-election nomination day?
4. As Patriots for Economic Progress we believe that the failure by the police command is because Mr Hichilema appointed a tired old man in the name of Lemmy Kajoba, as Inspector General of Police. It is self-evident that Hichilema’s Kajoba lacks the energy, zeal and competence needed to inspire the police command to high levels of performance and professionalism. It is clear that the only reason HH appointed Kajoba as IG is because Kajoba can easily be manipulated to use the police service to perform illegalities at the beck and call of Hichilema. Other than that, there is no other qualification that Lemmy Kajoba has to be the Inspector General of the Zambia Police Service.
5. As Patriots for Economic Progress we strongly believe that Hakainde Hichilema in collaboration with Lemmy Kajoba deliberately allocated skeleton police manpower to the nomination day for the Kabwata by-election so as to give adequate room to UPND thugs led by William Banda to flex their muscles during nomination day, by harassing, assaulting and damaging the property of political opponents. This use of a state institution by Hakainde Hichilema to achieve his petty political goals in Kabwata is extremely regrettable, especially given the fact that the Zambian people voted out the previous PF regime largely because of the unruly behavior of their cadres.
6. In the premises above Hakainde Hichilema is hereby put on notice that his failure to protect citizens and their property from harm by his UPND party cadres amounts to dereliction of his duty as President of the Republic of Zambia and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Indeed, it is self-evident that HH only wants to enjoy the privileges that come with being a President but not the responsibilities. He is happy to fly around the globe like Vasco Da Gama, using taxpayers’ money but does not want to protect Zambians and their property from the unruly behavior of his UPND cadres. Being a President is a total package. You need to enjoy the privileges with the same zeal and passion with which you execute the responsibilities. Zambians are tired of half-baked Presidents.
7. As Patriots for Economic Progress we shall soon by submitting a claim to the UPND Secretariat for compensation for the damage to our party bus and property which was stolen from it as well as the assault on the three women members of the PeP Choir group. The claim will be submitted to the UPND Secretary General as soon as we finalize assessing the monetary value of each of the items in question. We shall expect the ruling UPND Party and its leader Hakainde Hichilema to take responsibility and settle our claim without excuse, once it is submitted.