Tuesday, June 28, 2016

They want to win at any cost

All our thoughts are with Fred M'membe of The Post, his wife and editor. What this PF government is doing is disgraceful. More here.

TODAY'S EDITORIAL COMMENT: They want to win at any cost By Editor |
Updated: 27 Jun,2016
14:57:51

THE International Press Institute (IPI) has revealed that there is a strategic plan by the PF government to shut down The Post and other private media in order for the ruling party to rig the August 11 general elections.

In a statement, IPI director of advocacy and communications Steven Ellis revealed that PF’s strategy to rig election results and brutalise the opposition were clearly outlined in a leaked document.

“Among other efforts, the document indicated that ‘No form of media should be given to the UPND in the form of news or campaign advertisements’ and that a ‘massive media character assassination’ campaign should be launched against UPND presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema,” read the IPI statement. “The document also said that ‘prime efforts’ would be made to eliminate coverage by The Post .”

With or without the IPI revelations, it has always been clear to many Zambians that Edgar Lungu and his crooked, corrupt friends in the Patriotic Front want to retain power and continue to enrich themselves at any cost.

This is not only the most corrupt government in the history of this country but also the most intolerant and unrestrained regime. Edgar is all the time reminding Zambians about how much power he sits on. He has openly threatened to crush his political opponents, real or perceived, like a tonne of bricks. Edgar has issued open threats to the editor of The Post , telling him “alefwaya ukwakufwila”. He has also openly told The Post editor that he is the Head of State and there is no way anyone can fight with him and win.

The agenda to manipulate the electoral process and keep themselves in power has been on the cards for a long time. And The Post has consistently been warning the Zambian people about the high possibility of this year’s elections being rigged. It was The Post that exposed Edgar’s dealings with Timor Consulting, an Israeli firm of election ‘experts’. They denied this. But why should one deny a firm they are dealing with? Clearly, there was something wrong, something unacceptable they had been doing with Timor Consulting.

Then came the issue of the Ugandans who managed Yoweri Museveni’s last rigged election. It is these same characters Edgar has brought in to assist him in ‘winning’ this year’s elections. It is these same characters that worked with the Dubai printing company, Al Ghurair, that the Electoral Commission of Zambia has been forced to contract against dissent from the opposition. There are problems in Uganda. And there will be similar problems here. In Uganda, Museveni has resorted to tyranny, repression to silence anyone questioning or challenging the election results.

Edgar is doing the same.

Last week, he was threatening to sort out Hakainde Hichilema if he refuses to accept the election results, telling him “akamona efyo nkamuchita”. It is clear that as things stand today, we are highly unlikely to have free and fair elections whose results will be accepted by all participants – the winners and the losers. Edgar knows that with The Post around, it will be difficult for him to crush or sort out those who will refuse to accept the rigged results. Hence, his haste to get The Post closed before the elections.

We have stated it several times that it is not tax collection they are after from The Post; it is The Post, as a publication, they do not want to appear on the streets and expose their corrupt and crooked schemes. This explains why Edgar last week was very annoyed with the intelligence for failing to find out where The Post was being printed and stop it from coming out. What they don’t want is The Post hitting the streets. It’s not about taxes.

What is happening here is exactly what happened and is happening in Uganda. In Uganda, foreign nationals were registered to vote and they voted. Here, we have citizens of our neighbouring countries having been registered to vote. Zambia Police Service officers have been sent to Malawi to find out about the registration of foreign voters. They found it to be true.

But there had been a foolish scheme of trying to admit that indeed foreigners have registered as voters, but this was the work of the opposition. How stupid can one be to take such a line! What would this mean? This would mean that Edgar and his friends have not been working. If they have been working, how can the opposition issue National Registration Cards to Malawians and other foreign nationals?

The truth of the matter is that this is part of their own rigging scheme in the Ugandan style and fashion. Edgar’s threats to sort out Hakainde are similar to those of Museveni. We all know what has happened or is happening to Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kigya Besigye. He has been beaten, humiliated and locked up on trumped up criminal charges. Edgar is preparing himself for that type of brutality, repression.

And the first enemy of tyrants is always the free press. Wherever there is tyranny, the first to be hit, harassed or even annihilated is the free press. They know that without a free press, the protests, demonstrations, statements of those affected by their tyranny will not be heard. Where there is tyranny, there is no free speech and press. What we have in Zambia today is a highly corrupt and intolerant regime that has no scruples or restraint. They do not in any way realise that the exercise of power must be a constant practice of self-limitation and modesty.

With politicians like Edgar and his friends in power, Zambians must brace themselves for the worst. The bells tolling on The Post today will tomorrow toll on many other Zambians, and eventually on the whole country. The signs, the warnings of this are there. What remains is whether or not we heed them.

Don’t be deceived by the pretence of Edgar being a man of prayer. Even Hitler and Mussolini went to church. Even that monster Idi Amin masqueraded as a devout Moslem. But do religious people do what Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin did? Mobutu Sese Seko presented himself as a devout Catholic and was dining and wining with Catholic priests and bishops while committing all sorts of crimes and corrupt deeds against his people and his country. Edgar can build the so-called National House of Prayer and present himself as a man who prays to God to help him solve national problems, but behind that façade, the man is something else – evil.

And you hear it every day in Edgar’s language. Edgar’s language is that of threats – crush this one or that one, sort out this one or that one, fix this one or that one. That’s Edgar’s language. Is that the language of a religious man? In fact, it is a tendency of criminals to present themselves as very humble and religious people. Do you remember how humble and religious that criminal, Uncle Barry, was? You would leave him with your one-day baby without any suspicions of him hurting her. But he was one of the worst and most dangerous criminals this country has ever known. How else can criminals catch their prey if not by pretending to be humble, God-loving and fearing?

Anyway, when a prolonged, stubborn and heated struggle is in progress, there usually begins to emerge after a time the central and fundamental points at issue, upon the decision of which the ultimate outcome depends, and in comparison with which all the minor and petty episodes of the struggle recede more and more into the background. That, too, is how matters stand today in Zambia. What is at stake is now clear for all to see. It is all about Edgar defending his hold on power and privileges. He is not ready to lose the August 11 elections at any cost, even if that means closing The Post and sending all its employees on the street, manipulating the electoral process to such a degree that its results will be rejected by the losers and plunge the country into post-election chaos.

Edgar is not even ready to listen to the voice of reason from the Church. He is only listening to his own inner demons.

But at the rate Edgar is going, he is likely to end up at The Hague.
- See more at: http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=18963#sthash.jlK8zXdS.dpuf

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14 Comments:

At 12:47 PM , Blogger MrK said...

http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=18981

State House officials beat up, arrest M’membe, his wife and Mwenda
By Chilambwe Mulenga and Mukosha Funga |
Updated: 29 Jun,2016 ,12:59:10

POST editor-in-chief Fred M'membe has declared that the newspaper will continue to do what it does best despite intimidation from the PF regime.

Addressing sympathisers and journalists at Lusaka Central Police where he, together with his wife Mutinta and Post news and deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda were detained early on Tuesday for alleged criminal trespass and uttering false documents, M'membe said such harassment was typical of failed governments.

The trio, who were released on police bond after 17:00 hours on yesterday, have been charged with criminal trespass and uttering false documents and will appear in court next Thursday.

"This is typical of failed governments. They resort to tyranny but we shall continue to do what we do best. Do not be worried," said M'membe.

State House agents and Zambia Police officers on Monday night beat up M’membe, Mutinta and Mwenda when they went to serve a court order that ZRA should hand back the newspaper’s seized property.

The trio was arrested and detained at Lusaka Central Police minutes past midnight yesterday.

M’membe and Mwenda arrived at The Post Newspaper premises around 20:30 in the company of lawyers Nchima Nchito and Chisuwo Hamwela from Nchito and Nchito Advocates bearing a court order compelling the Zambia Revenue Authority to return Post newspapers property pending an inter parte hearing on July 11.

Nchito served the court order on two police officers who have been manning the premises since its closure last Tuesday and asked them to open up the premises.

But the officers hesitated saying they needed instructions from their superiors.

One of the officers started making phone calls to their superior, but his phones went unanswered.

Hamwela then called ZRA officials and asked them to talk to the police officers.

The ZRA officials then told the police officers that they were on their way to The Post.

However, over an hour later, neither the ZRA officials nor the senior police officers were on hand to give instructions, forcing Post security officers to open the gate.

After the gate was opened, M’membe showed the two officers the court order and told them not to worry because the order was valid.

Around 22 hours, M’membe and the lawyers left while Mwenda drove in and went into his office.

At that point, State House security arrived and started demanding that Mwenda leaves his office.

“We know what he wants to do inside there, he should not be allowed inside. Don’t even support him, what do you know?” one of the State House officials told a Post security officer James Kamuti, who was trying to reason with them.

“But you guys, what’s the connection between you and ZRA?” Kamuti asked them.

But one of the State House security officers said: “Just wait, today heads will roll. It will first start with you. You are very cheeky, you are supporting Fred, heads will roll. He is trying to play some games this guy, we will fish him out.”

 
At 12:48 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued 1...

Minutes later, heavily armed police officers in riot gear arrived at the premises and stormed The Post led by State House personnel.

They started looking for the main power switch which they turned off after a few minutes, leaving the whole place in total darkness.

The officers opened a window for one of the offices and threw a tear gas canister inside to try and get Mwenda out.

But Mwenda did not leave the office.

At this point, M’membe and Nchito returned to The Post and started trying to reason with the police officers to allow them to get Mwenda out of the office but they resisted.

“No, you are not going anywhere, nawamene iwe nizakuchaila kumodzi, (I will also beat you),” one of the officers told Nchito.

Around midnight, Mwenda exited the office through the back entrance and some police officers led him towards the gate.

But one of President Edgar Lungu’s bodyguards only identified as Eddie, was heard saying, “So this brown guy is Joseph? This is the same guy who is the friend to George Chellah? He is very stupid. If he continues misbehaving, I will shoot him,” after speaking on the phone.

When Mwenda got to the gate, State House officials, including Eddie, pounced on him and beat him to the ground with the aid of some police officers.

Mwenda’s phones fell to the ground as he was being beaten while Fred and Mutinta helplessly watched.

Nchito tried to save Mwenda from the beating but he, too, was beaten up in the process, together with Hamwela.

When Mutinta went to pick up one of Mwenda’s phones, she asked the officers to stop beating him but they said, “Who are you? Just get out of here.”

One of the officers grabbed the phone from Mutinta and started harassing her, which forced M’membe to intervene.

“Why are you taking my wife? If you take her then I am also coming along,” said M’membe as he went to stand by Mutinta’s side.

The officers then instructed M’membe, Mutinta and Mwenda to sit in the middle of Bwinjimfumu road while they awaited further instructions from their superiors.

After a few minutes, a white police van arrived and the trio were ordered to get into the van.

Before getting into the van, Mwenda attempted to give Post reporter Chilambwe Mulenga his watch, but Eddie slapped the reporter and grabbed the watch from him.

Eddie also went away with Mwenda’s mobile phones.

The trio were detained at Lusaka Central Police and by 15:00 hours, they had not yet been charged.

And MISA Zambia says the arrest of M’membe, Mwenda and Mutinta despite a court order in the newspaper’s favour confirms that the closure of The Post is politically motivated.

In a statement, MISA Zambia chairperson Hellen Mwale stated that she was alarmed by the arrest.

“We are alarmed by the arrest of Post Newspapers editor-in-chief Fred M’membe, his wife Mutinta and Post deputy managing editor, Joseph Mwenda for attempting to access their office premises following an ex-parte order staying execution of the Zambia Revenue Authority’s warrant of distress issued on June 21st, 2016. The arrest of M’membe and his Deputy Managing Editor, who had an ex-parte order is proof that the action by the state is politically motivated and only aimed at crippling the newspaper,” Mwale stated.

 
At 12:48 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued 2...

She appealed to public officers to refrain from being used to defy the law.

“It is saddening that the Police who are charged with the duty of upholding law and order decided to defy a legitimate order of the court. State institutions, including the Zambia Police and Zambia Revenue Authority, must not allow themselves to be used to achieve petty political aims but must act in a fair and reasonable manner which is above board.

It is clear that the matter is worsening by the day because of the refusal by the ZRA and other institutions to treat Post Newspapers fairly like they would any other tax payer or media house in Zambia,” stated Mwale, who also demanded the immediate release of the trio.

“We demand that the paper be treated in a non-discriminatory manner in the interest of a media house’s freedom and continued duty to provide a platform for open debate and exchange of ideas, even those deemed to be critical and dissenting. We strongly appeal to His Excellency, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, to immediately rise to the occasion and intervene in the matter if he really believes in the freedom of the press and democracy. We say so because President Lungu stated at his press briefing on May 13th, 2016 that he would ensure media operate independently and without any interference or censorship from the state.”

 
At 12:51 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Behind the scenes?

http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=18962

YOU’RE FOOLS ...Lungu lambasts OP officers over continued publication of The Post By Chilambwe Mulenga | Updated: 27 Jun,2016 ,14:57:39

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu last week summoned senior intelligence officers to a meeting at State House where he lambasted them for failing to provide him with accurate information on how The Post newspaper has continued to publish despite ZRA shutting down its printing presses and seizing editorial offices.

Impeccable Office of the President sources disclosed that President Lungu feared that the intelligence wing was working with the opposition UPND.

The sources said President Lungu called the intelligence officers worse fools than Post editor-in-chief Fred M’membe who had outsmarted them.

“You have put us under serious pressure now with this Post, the President is not sleeping now because he was sure that the newspaper would not continue [publishing]. But now this has put us in problems.

From front page The President called us at State House and told us that he was better off without an intelligence wing because no one knows where The Post is being printed,” sources said.

“He is so angry with this. He said ‘how can one person outthink all of you? What are you paid for? This is the same as not having the intelligence [wing]. You are worse fools. If you think when HH comes to power he will give you jobs, you are lying to yourselves’,” the sources quoted Lungu as saying.

The sources said President Lungu was angry because the OP’s failure to get accurate information on the operations of The Post was an insult to his presidency and vowed to take it upon himself to protect his integrity.

 
At 12:52 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued ...

“Nangu balande ifyo balefwaya abakumbi (no matter what the international community says), I will still protect the integrity of my presidency, if you who are paid for that do not want to do so’,” sources quoted President Lungu as saying.

The intelligence sources disclosed that President Lungu instructed his advisors to immediately find ways of directly dealing with key managers at The Post and find out where the newspaper was conducting its operations.

“The President is under pressure from the donors over The Post closure, but he doesn’t care about them. He has actually told State House advisors to join in and get the key people [at The Post] to disclose how the newspaper is conducting its operations and who is helping,” the intelligence sources said.

And the intelligence sources said President Lungu was giving them strange assignments.

“It’s very hard to work under President Lungu, he is giving strange assignments and everyone is not sure how to handle some of the assignments that he gives. Of course he will do anything to win the elections, but some of the assignments are really strange and the traditional rituals that he involves himself in are shocking for a Head of State,” said the sources.

“But everyone is afraid to talk. We are just watching. He has even gone to the extent of allowing the police to allow PF cadres to use their uniform for operations. Some of those police officers you see harass you and UPND are actually PF cadres in police uniform. If you wish, you can go to Chawama police station and check the names of police officers there if they are employed by government. And also ask the Lusaka Division police commissioner if he knows all the officers in uniform. Ask him if he can tell you the name of the police officer who threw a tear gas canister at your offices.”

 
At 1:20 PM , Blogger MrK said...

http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=18978

TODAY'S EDITORIAL: They’re out to kill The Post By Editor | Updated: 29 Jun,2016 ,11:25:34 | 1180 Views

ve said that what is happening at The Post has nothing to do with taxes, some people have thought that we are being less than candid and untruthful.

Edgar Lungu and the criminal minions that surround him have been working hard to make people believe that we have refused to pay taxes and this is what Zambia Revenue Authority are dealing with, which is not true. Like many other companies and business entities in our country, we have had issues with Zambia Revenue Authority from time to time. But at no point have we ever refused to pay taxes. We will continue to believe that we make a reasonable contribution to the Treasury. At the time we were closed by Zambia Revenue Authority, we were paying them an average of K2.7 million
every month in various taxes. On an annual basis, this translates into approximately K32 million. This is not the behaviour of a company that does not respect its taxe obligation.

In the current issue that we have been dealing with, the Zambia Revenue Authority in March came to us demanding that we pay K101 million in what they claimed were unpaid taxes.

This claim has nothing to do with the issue that was in the Supreme Court that was resolved separately. It was a totally new claim from the Zambia Revenue Authority.

This newspaper dealt with this claim the way we always approach such matters. We studied this claim and came to the conclusion that it was wrong and excessively inflated. We challenged the Zambia Revenue Authority.

After this challenge, they came back and said the figure was not K101 million, but K53 million.

When we looked at this matter with the help of experts, we were advised that these figure were still grossly inflated and that the Zambia Revenue Authority had not dealt with all the objections that we had raised. We wrote back to the Zambia Revenue Authority demonstrating what we thought were the errors in their K53 million claim. Before the Zambia Revenue
Authority responded to this objection, Hakainde Hichilema, the presidential candidate for the UPND, issued a statement telling the nation that he had become aware of the plot to close The Post. A few days later, we got an unfavourable judgment from the Supreme Court. The Zambia Revenue Authority, knowing that the issue had been resolved and could not be used to close The Post, swung into action last week on Tuesday, June 21 at about 16:00 hours. They went to our head office and to
the printing press and claimed that they had come to execute a warrant of distress to collect money for the Zambia Revenue Authority. What was strange about these warrants is that they were blank. No amount of money was written on these documents as being demanded. It was just a warrant of distress. We went to school to learn law as journalists so that we could understand things like these. And because of that, we know that this can never be done in this way. Why was ZRA in such a hurry that they could not even wait to write the correct figures in their warrants. The behaviour of the officers who came clearly showed us that this was not about taxes. These were not independent professionals making their own informed
judgements.

 
At 1:21 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued...

These were people who were under political direction because the first thing they did was to switch off the printing press to stop the newspaper from coming out the next day. It was only after they had switched off the printing press
that our general manager finance received an email that our objections had been rejected. That email did not even provide any detail about why our objections had been rejected.

Our lawyers then wrote to the Zambia Revenue Authority asking what amount was being claimed in the blank warrant of distress. The Zambia Revenue Authority wrote back confirming that it was a K53 million which we had objected to. This
is a totally new matter with no connection to the Supreme Court matter. We therefore decided, on the advice of our lawyers, to challenge this new claim before the Revenue Appeals Tribunal. On Monday, the Revenue Appeals Tribunal decided
to give us a conditional stay, provided we could make arrangements for security in property and otherwise, equivalent to the claim that Zambia Revenue Authority was making, by July 11. The tribunal, as it is empowered to do, also ordered that our premises should be opened immediately to enable us continue operating whilst complying with its order. It is this order that we served on the Zambia Revenue Authority and also on the officers who had been placed to guard our premises.

But instead of respecting an order from a legally-mandate tribunal, Edgar and the criminal minions that surround him resorted to violence for simply trying to effect an order that has told them something they don’t like.

We went to the Tax Appeals Tribunal because it is our right as citizens to enjoy the protection of the law. This is not a right that is exclusive to us. All citizens of our country are entitled to this. We have always said for this place that we call our home, our country, to be good to one, it must first be good to all. When we stop being good to some citizens, it is only a question of time before things turn against all of us. The essence of democracy is that we must all live together and find a peaceful way of dealing with our differences, addressing our competing interests. Violence has no place in a civilised
society. The rule of law demands that all of us must be protected from molestation by those who wield the instruments of power. This is why we go to courts; it is to seek their protection.

This is why we have a police force that is meant to protect all of us. But what is happening today? Some of them have hired themselves to crimiminal elements within Edgar’s government.

They are a private militia doing the criminal bidding of their corrupt paymasters. That is what we saw on Monday. We are not saying anything very complicated here, but it is very clear that Edgar and his minions have a problem accepting these basic principles of common decency. That is why Edgar has no shame in sending coded messages of incitement to violence against those that he perceives to be his enemies. He has problems with common decency. If this was not the case, he would not be bragging about having a ‘big stick’ or threatening people that he will fall on them ‘like a tonne of bricks’. We have head him pretend to instruct the police to deal with violence whilst at the same time saying that if they fail, “we will
deal with it ourselves”. Who is the “we”? Who is going to deal with violence in our country? Our experience yesterday tells us without shadow of doubt that there is a militia or at least Edgar and the minions that surround him have hired violent hoodlums that are masquerading as policemen to inflict harm on innocent citizens.

 
At 1:22 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued 2...

What happened at The Post on Monday night should tell everybody that we have a government that does not respect the rule of law at all. They will talk about court orders and court decisions only if they are in their favour.

But when those decisions go against them, or at least appear to frustrate their immediate intentions, they resort to violence, intimidation and other uncivilised activities to try and ensure that they get their way.

Even the Zambia Revenue Authority that is supposed to be a professional institution is having problems obeying the order the Revenue Appeal Tribunal. Why? This is because they have a pre-determined outcome – to destroy The Post. An order given to the newspaper is frustrating to them. Arresting us will not stop us from pursuing our mission. We will continue
to speak even from our prison cells and the newspaper will continue to be published. This is our birthright. We have the right to hold our views and to disseminate them. It is only a shameless government that arrests someone for obtaining a court order. In our case, it is not only ourselves, but even our wives are not beyond their malice. People with any shred of common decency would leave our families out of their malicious plots and schemes.

 
At 1:59 PM , Blogger MrK said...

http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=19002

Lungu has surrendered his powers to Kaizer - Nawakwi By Fridah Nkonde | Updated: 30 Jun,2016 ,12:11:01

EDITH Nawakwi says President Edgar Lungu and the PF not only want to close down The Post but also want to shut anyone who is against them ahead of the August 11 general elections.

And the FDD leader says it is laughable that President Lungu has surrendered his presidential powers to his political advisor, Kaizer Zulu, to victimise The Post.

Commenting on Monday night’s arrest of Post editor-inchief Fred M’membe, his wife Mutinta Mazoka and deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda, Nawakwi said the time of reckoning for the PF was coming and that Zulu would have to speak for himself.

“I personally have been very unhappy that Mrs M’membe was part of this operation where they find her at her husband’s work premises and feel that she is part and parcel of a dispute between The Post and the Zambia Revenue Authority because there are procedures of collecting tax, which are clear and well documented. When there is a dispute between ZRA and a client, ZRA can evoke several measures, including being part of the business to collect or taking over the operations so that they can run it and collect,” Nawakwi, who also went to express her disappointment over Mutinta’s arrest to police deputy Inspector General Malcolm Mulenga, said.

“No one is saying tax should not be collected but tax incompliance is not a criminal offence, it is a civil matter which can be resolved in other ways. This problem which has been escalated to this level is basically a problem of an attempt not to provide press freedom. It is an attempt to disobey court orders. It is an attempt to make sure that the press is gagged before the elections. But in the process of doing that, unfortunately an innocent person was thoroughly inconvenienced.”

She said it was clear that what was happening at The Post was a result of orders being given by State House.

“I am getting to an understanding that the orders are coming from State House, specifically from Kaizer Zulu, and that is the most unfortunate position. That is why in the morning (Tuesday) I thought that the President was in town and I wanted to see him to find out how such actions could be taken. I get concerned as a citizen that the next day, I will commit something as a politician and my children and husband will also be locked up; that is why I got extremely concerned,” Nawakwi said.

 
At 1:59 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued...

She said in the absence of President Lungu, she decided to go to police headquarters to see Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja who was also not around and she ended up seeing Mulenga.

“I have seen the deputy IG, I think he has given me ample hearing and I think his summary was ‘I have heard’. I dropped everything I was doing today, simply to see if we could have our sister released. We are all citizens and it should never be like this. This is a travesty of justice on the part of Mrs M’membe and as for The Post editor-in-chief Fred, and his deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda, it is an inconvenience. It is not about The Post, it is about the elections which we are going through and a clear motive simply to shut up everybody,” Nawakwi said.

“But unfortunately, what I have learnt today is very disturbing - that the orders are in fact coming from Kaizer Zulu. I think the whole country is aware that the orders are coming from State House, but they are not defining who at State House. The sad truth is that it is a gentleman called Kaizer Zulu and for me it is actually laughable because it makes my police service look like they never went for training if they can get so embarrassed by someone who has never even been in a classroom to read even about grade 12. I think it’s very unfortunate.”

She said the people surrounding President Lungu should never be allowed to have so much power that they could even override the authority of the police.

“If it is the police on their own, I am sure they should have bentbackwards because I am aware they know that this matter is not even something that should have started,” said Nawakwi.

M’membe, Mutinta and Mwenda were released on bond on Tuesday and are scheduled to appear in court next Thursday.

 
At 4:00 AM , Blogger MrK said...

The Post spoke for us - ex-miners
By Misheck Wangwe |
Updated: 03 Jul,2016 ,13:00:39

WE would have died of hunger like wild animals if it was not for The Post and their objective and detailed exposure of our plight, say retrenched Copperbelt miners.

In their solidarity message to The Post through their representatives Ackim Simunyola and Robert Chakulya, the thousands of miners who were retrenched from various mines of the Copperbelt between July 10, 2015 and February 21 this year have cautioned President Edgar Lungu not to turn himself into a tyrant and allow The Post to operate freely.

They stated that every reasonable and objective citizen could see that there were serious attempts by the state to have The Post closed.

“At a time it was darkest for us, The Post gave the nation a clear picture of what was happening in the mines. When other media organisations were beaming government propaganda on the mines, The Post told our story truthfully. When we were warned that Nchanga Underground in Chingola would be closed and placed on care and maintenance, the government and the mine argued and accused the newspaper of telling lies. The opposite is what turned to be true,” stated the ex-miners in their solidarity message to The Post.

 
At 2:36 PM , Blogger MrK said...

http://postzambia.com/news.php?id=19183

TODAY'S EDITORIAL COMMENT: Friday’s killings lie squarely on Lungu’s shoulders By Editor |
Updated: 12 Jul,2016 ,12:19:02

ON Friday, police killed at least two people in Lusaka.

A UPND lady participating in a protest against the police’s denial of her party’s right to hold campaign rallies in Lusaka was killed in cold blood by Edgar Lungu’s thugs masquerading as police officers. We say thugs because we know that the police has been infiltrated by Patriotic Front cadres who have been put there for their loyalty to Edgar and for their ruthlessness and brutality.

It is not a secret that the professional police officers are not happy with what is going on but
are not strong or courageous enough to voice out their displeasure.

What is shocking is Edgar’s lack of decency that even over the deaths of innocent Zambians,
he is able to tell lies. This country has in a very long time not experienced this type of violence, a fact which even Edgar himself acknowledges. Edgar ascended to power on
the back of violence. The adoption process that made him the candidate of the Patriotic Front
in last year’s presidential election was marred by violence. And that violence came from his
side and not from his opponents. Since then, the politics of this country have never been
peaceful. The one year plus under Edgar has been the most violent of the last 25 years of our
multiparty political dispensation. And without beating about the bush, Edgar is to blame for
this and must take full responsibility.

Edgar’s behaviour is that of a hyena on a bone. It is very difficult to remove a hyena from the bone it’s holding. This is the way Edgar is treating his hold on power. He is ready to have people killed just to remain in power. The intolerance and brutality of Edgar is not concealed. Edgar doesn’t hide his evil intentions. He has openly threatened to crush his opponents like a tonne of bricks. These are not our words but words from his own evil mouth. Look at the way he is treating political competitors or opponents! Edgar doesn’t realise that this is a multiparty political dispensation and not a one party dictatorship where only one leader, one party and one agenda is allowed.

There is political violence in this country because Edgar has organised his politics around it. It is not possible for Edgar to survive politically without violence. And unfortunately, Edgar has turned the Zambia Police Service to be part of his political violence and a killing machine.

There are more people who have been killed and maimed and more property destroyed in politically-motivated violence in the last one year of Edgar’s presidency than in the entire 25
years of our multiparty politics. This is a fact that cannot be denied.

But read what Edgar had to say to the police killings of last Friday:

 
At 2:55 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued 1...

“ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION, IN PEACE. Tonight my heart is heavy. I first and foremost want to express my deepest sorrow to the family and friends of those who lost a life and were injured in the violence today. 50 years ago we fought hard to bring independence, peace and democracy to our nation. For 50 years our nation has lived with peace, stability and freedom. There is no place for this type of violence in our society. I take a firm stance against any sort of violence in our democracy. Zambians know the kind of leader that I am, and that I am a man of faith that walks with God. I live my life and lead this country with Christian values. In a Christian nation our brothers and sisters can never turn to this sort of violence. We cannot let ourselves be led into a crisis by those who wish to instil fear into the hearts of many in hopes of gaining power and control. We are a blessed nation and cannot afford to lose order and take steps back in the progress we have made. I feel for Mother Zambia. I pray for peace for all my people, across all provinces. The people of Zambia shall know peace and this shall not escalate further. We will not be led by fear. I call for unity, and end to the violence. Police will take stern action against anyone perpetrating this violence. I have faith that the lines of inquiry police have opened will lead to arrest of the culprits.”

What an insult to God and to Christ! Does Edgar understand what it means to be a man of faith that walks with God and to live one’s life and lead a country with Christian values?

Edgar is evil. Edgar is cruel. Edgar is brutal. Edgar is violent. Edgar is a liar. Edgar is commanding a killing machine. How can he claim to be a man of faith who walks with God?

Anyway, even Idi Amin claimed to be a man of Allah! Even Mobutu claimed to be a devout Catholic, dining and wining with priests and bishops! Even the brutal apartheid regime claimed its legitimacy on the Christian doctrine. Even that shameless thief Frederick Chiluba claimed to be a good Christian, a God-fearing man. But what does it mean to be a Christian? To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Christ was kind, loving, humble, meek and so on and so forth. How can these brutal crooks claim to be like Christ?

There is nothing wrong those UPND supporters did. They had every right to protest the injustices the police are committing against them every day through the denial or manipulation of the permit process to slow down or derail their election campaigns. By and large, protests are recognised and accepted by the people as an effective and powerful weapon of political struggle. Mass action is a peaceful form of channelling the displeasure or anger of the people. These UPND members were protesting against the decisions and actions of the same police that was unleashed to maim and kill them.

When a regime seeks to suppress protests of unarmed people by unleashing the police on them to maim and kill, it concedes a weakness and recognition for the support of the protestors. But the blame for all the maiming and killings lies squarely on Edgar’s shoulders and he must one day be made to account for all this.

 
At 2:56 PM , Blogger MrK said...

Continued 2...

They seem to think through their blood and not through their brains.

It will be immoral for anyone to keep quiet and call oneself a Christian, a democrat, a progressive or even a revolutionary while Edgar’s political tyranny seeks to reduce the
entire nation into a status worse than that of beasts of the forests. Edgar’s rule is the rule of
violence, brutality and tyranny.

Edgar’s unbridled desire to win the August elections at any cost will cost this country and himself heavily. Change is inevitable in politics. And belief in the possibility of change is perhaps one of the defining characteristics of multiparty politics. It can’t be avoided and it is
not something one should be so afraid of.

Edgar’s brutality and the criminality of his regime need to be opposed, challenged. It is said that a man who abides by unjust political practices and permits anyone to trample and
mistreat the citizens of his country in which he was born is not an honourable man. There
is need to rebel against those who abuse and brutalise one’s fellow citizens, that is to say,
against those who steal national honour itself.

But it is understandable that people should be maimed and killed in a country where the
President is a violent, brutal and tyrannical man who openly threatens to crush anyone who
stands in his way and tells some that balefwaya ukwakufwila. If there is in your heart, as a citizen of this country, a vestige of love for your fellow citizens, love for justice, you cannot go without opposing Edgar, denouncing his tyranny and repudiating all the brutal things he is committing in your name.

Edgar and his minions in the Zambia Police command are lying to cover up their maiming and killings of totally unarmed people who threatened no one’s life. Their endless stream of lies and slander of even those they have killed, polled fourth in their crude, odious, repulsive
language, may only be compared to the many lives they have taken since coming to power
in January last year – with their knowledge, consent, complicity and approval – being
maimed and killed by the most inhuman gang of assassins it is possible to imagine.

To have believed anything that Edgar said about last Friday’s maiming and killings for a single moment would have sufficed to fill a man of conscience with remorse and shame for the rest of his life. We should not mince our words in opposing and denouncing those savage killings.

The criminal hands that are today guiding the destiny of Zambia are very easy to see. They
don’t even attempt to cover appearances. They don’t bother in the least to conceal what they
are doing. They think they have deceived the people with their lies but eventually, they will
end up deceiving themselves. Today, Edgar and his minions feel themselves lords and masters of the universe, with power over life and death.

At the hands of Edgar, today the best and noblest Zambians are being humiliated, slandered, destroyed, maimed, killed. But this will not go on forever. Those who live by brutality will meet their end the same way.

Open your eyes and see what is going on in your country. A tragedy of unprecedented proportion is unfolding. More people will be maimed and killed in the days to come if Edgar’s
violent, brutal and tyrannical politics are not stopped.

And we call upon the international community not to allow Edgar to maim and kill his people
with impunity. Again, as Nelson Mandela correctly reminded us, “We cannot abuse the concept of national sovereignty to deny the rest of the continent the right and duty
to intervene when, behind those sovereign boundaries, people are being slaughtered to protect tyranny.”

The challenge now is to move from rhetoric to action, and action at an unprecedented intensity and scale because the worst is yet to come.

 

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