National Restoration Party president Elias Chipimo says the PF is scared of Chishimba Kambwili’s ability to cause damage to their structures by telling the truth about corruption and misrule of the country.
Commenting on police’s decision to cancel a scheduled NDC rally in Chipata on Saturday because Kambwili was among the speakers, Chipimo said the PF were scared of the former Roan PF member of parliament.
“This is a very typical reaction and it’s an example of the hardworking civil servants and members of the police who wanted to do their professional job but they were prevented from doing so by superiors who are making decisions on behalf of the police out of fear that has been instilled in them by those who are clinging on to power illegitimately. And when I say clinging on to power illegitimately, it is not legitimate to deny any member of a political party, the right to assemble. And so, they are abusing the authority they have over professionals, in order to prevent them from doing their job,” Chipimo said.
“It has become clear that honourable Kambwili is doing vast damage to whatever little reputation is left of the PF, and clearly, they are seeing the exit signs. The PF has run out of runway, there will be nowhere for them to hide in 2021. My fear is that they won’t even see 2020 at this rate, so I think they are aware of the impact that the mismanaged economy is having on the people of this country and so anything that reminds them that there are alternatives, presents a serious threat to them, even before their term expires. And so, this is typical, it’s not the first time it has happened, it’s not the last time it has happened and we are probably going to see an intensification of this kind of stifling of peoples’ freedoms.”
He said preventing Kambwili from addressing people was a violation of his rights.
“Which law demands that if certain people are indicated as speakers at the rally, they should not allowed to speak and the rally should be cancelled? That’s why we need to amend the Public Order Act, because that’s violation of human rights. If you are saying Kambwili can’t speak at a rally simply because you are afraid of how effectively he campaign against you, then you are violating his fundamental rights and freedoms, and ultimately, all our fundamental freedoms because Kambwili speaks on behalf of the people who are desperate and dying to see change in this country,” Chipimo said.
“This is the challenge that we have as the opposition; the whole reason we came together as an alliance was precisely to be able to stand on a platform to resolve issues such as lack of access to media; when you look at ZNBC , the use of the Public Order Act to prevent the opposition from freely interacting with citizens. so clearly, the opposition has been affected negatively by the way the public order law is being implemented and it’s the only reason that the PF still have a semblance of an opportunity to still be in power. If you the people made fully aware by the opposition of all the thieving, all the corruption that has been taking place in this country, you would see a different reaction. And that’s what the PF are afraid of, they don’t want the reaction of the people when they become aware of how much has been plundered, how bad our economy is and just how much worse things are going to get.”
He said there was need for the police to stick to their professional ethics by rejecting certain instructions.
“The police are just instructed to work, they work on orders just like the people in the military. You can’t expect the people who are earning a living from their work to sacrifice in this brutal regime, they have got families, they have got responsibilities and so they are afraid of losing their jobs. But there are certain things that the police can challenge professionally and say ‘I cannot do this because it’s against professional conduct.’ Even if they can’t say it openly, they can act more professionally against brutal instructions. But this again takes us back to the need to amend the public order act so that it guides our police officers and shield them from threats by those who holding political office,” said Chipimo.