NEVERS Mumba says many Zambians are very angry with the police and the PF government for allowing a minister to interfere in the democratic process.
Mumba told the media after police in Lusaka were unleashed on Bonanza Resort to disrupt the MMD convention that was simultaneously virtually being conducted in provincial centres that police had abrogated the democratic process.
He said the police were aware of the constitutional provision in Article number 60 which directs all political parties to hold conventions.
He said when police went to Bonanza Resort, the venue of the MMD convention that started on Friday; they had no “paper” in their hands.
“They came there with hearsay. We would have been more comfortable if they came with the injunction in their hands. So possibly somebody called them and said go but that’s not how it works,” Mumba said. “Point number two, we are not disturbed in our hearts because their interruption came too late. We had already dealt with a number of procedures. The moment at 09:30 the national secretary convoked the gathering and declared it the 7th Extraordinary national convention, everything that happened in that framework of time is purely legal.”
Mumba said it was even erroneous for the police to take the injunction to stop something that was already taking place.
“This process begun on Friday. They are aware the dates were on 19th and 20th. So this morning (Saturday, March 20, at 12 O’clock, they tried to enforce an injunction, which we call bogus. We call it bogus only because Saturday, we had no way of verifying the authenticity of that document; there was no seal from the judge, it could have been anybody on the street who signed and when the police came to disturb us, they didn’t have any document in their hands, except helmets,” Mumba said. “The reason we left is not that because we are not ready for a fight, we could have challenged them as they had no court order themselves.”
Mumba said what police did was unfortunate because the convention was widely watched worldwide.
He said the police interference was in the face of the international community watching.
“The international community believes now, after watching that that we are being mistreated and democracy is being abrogated by the police and that that was going to be police brutality,” he said. “We left because I wanted to protect my members. We could have stayed there but I wanted to protect our members because the police said they were going to use force to remove us from there and of course it was going to cost quite a lot in terms of people’s lives; people could have been injured.”
Mumba said it was his leadership responsibility to oblige to resolve the matter through other means.
He recalled that in 2016, “these same rebels had a convention, we went and did an injunction and they stopped them not to proceed but the police never moved there. In fact, the police were there in Kabwe but they never stopped them; the same police, the same law.”
He said the injunction was only discharged at 21:00 hours when the rebels had concluded their business.
Mumba wondered why police use double standards.
He said the development was painting the government very badly because the perpetuator was a minister in President Edgar Lungu’s government.
“We expect President Lungu to be extremely angry with his minister for interfering with the process of democracy in this country. We are actually shocked that he could do what he is doing; calling the police, calling his fellow ministers to help him to stop a legally constituted convention. For the record, there is nothing illegal in the process that we used to call this convention; we took into account every little legal provision because we have a history of being in court,” Mumba said.
He felt many Zambians were angry with the police and the PF government.
He said what was done was an abuse of the court system.
“They know very well that they are not members of our party. Mr Webster Chipili (the applicant) is not a member of our party. The last time I heard of him was in 2002, 2003. We have always thought he was PF or something and to hear him go to put an injunction and the same court that knows who the president is, who the NEC is, giving an injunction ex-parte! To give an injunction ex-parte means you are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that if you don’t give that injunction the problems will be unrepairable, that these people will be so injured,” said Mumba. “But what would be unrepairable for a person who is not a member of our party? He has never been interested in our party, where has he come from? We still hold the view that this injunction could be bogus and we will find out.”