By Thompson K Luzendi
WHEN THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE FALLS , THE REPUBLIC FALLS.
With a heavy heart, and tears in my eyes, I write these words.
Today, we witnessed something that should trouble every citizen who believes in the idea of a republic. The courts, the institution that is supposed to stand as the last line of defence for the Constitution, the law, and the rights of citizens were effectively shut down and surrounded by security forces at a moment when the country needed them most.
The judiciary is not supposed to belong to a political party. It does not belong to a president, a government, or an opposition. It belongs to the Republic.
When citizens have nowhere else to turn, they turn to the courts. When political power becomes overwhelming, the courts are supposed to provide a check. When citizens believe that their rights have been violated, the courts are supposed to hear them. When there is a dispute over an election, the courts provide the constitutional avenue through which that dispute can be tested.
That is why what happened today is so deeply painful.
When the doors of the courts are closed and the courts are surrounded by security forces, what message are we sending about the rule of law?
I fear that we have reached a point where we must ask a painful question: What institution remains that can stand between the citizen and unchecked political power?
This is not about whether one supports one political party or another. It is not about whether one agrees with an election petition or disagrees with it. It is about something much bigger than any candidate, political party, or election.
It is about whether the Constitution still means what it says.
An election petition is not a declaration that one side has already won. It is a constitutional process through which electoral disputes can be examined. If an election was free, fair, and transparent, there should be confidence in allowing the courts to examine the evidence and make their determination.
The answer to an election dispute should never be the closure of the doors of justice.
Today, I am not writing this with anger. I am writing with profound sadness.
Because a republic is not simply a geographical territory. It is not a flag. It is not government buildings. It is not the people who occupy positions of authority.
A republic is an idea.
It is the idea that no one is above the law.
It is the idea that institutions matter more than individuals.
It is the idea that power must have limits.
It is the idea that when citizens seek justice, the doors of justice must remain open.
When we interfere with the institutions designed to protect those principles, we do not merely damage an institution. We damage the Republic itself.
Today, I feel that we have reached the very bottom.
The Republic as we knew it has broken down.
And perhaps that is the hardest thing to accept: that the institutions we once believed would protect the citizen may no longer be able or permitted to do so.
But even as I write these words with a heavy heart, I refuse to believe that the people have lost their power because people power is greater than the people in power.
Today, I mourn what we have become as a country.
The republic as we know it is dead and gone.