OUR President has finally woken up from slumber and he is demanding that the police should investigate the use of live ammunition to disperse a crowd of UPND supporters, which resulted in the death of two people. Interestingly, he also says the killers are unknown assailants – almost as though he has already seen the report.

LUNGU: First of all, my heart goes out to the families of Nsama Nsama Chipyoka and Joseph Kaunda, both of whom were killed by an unknown assailant or assailants yesterday in Lusaka. I am grieving with the families of these victims. My sincere condolences to the families. I have taken a moment to reflect on these senseless murders, and I have spoken to the Inspector General of Police to find out what could have happened. As you heard from the Inspector General of Police yesterday, police are investigating this matter for the motive and to find out who is behind these killings. I am directing the Inspector General of Police to use every resource available to fully investigate these murders as quickly as possible. I must receive the report by Monday, 28th December 2020.

As Laura Miti put it, sometimes, we so desperately desire to hear from the President in times of crisis, but when he speaks, you wish he kept his mouth closed. If this is all we can get from the President, then I wonder why we need a President in State House, because this statement is something any cadre who has been to school like PF media Director Sunday Chanda can make with better expression of empathy.

But the important question we have for President Lungu is this: last time during the poisonous gassing incidences, he ordered the Inspector General of Police to investigate and give him a report, exactly as he has done. Over 50 people were killed, but to this very day, we have never heard from the President. He has never cared to address the nation and provide answers to what happened.

What does this mean? Is the President really telling us that the police are undermining his authority and refusing to give him answers? Or is this a statement that the President knows the story behind these crimes and he doesn’t want to share what he knows with the nation because it can compromise his desired prolonged stay in power? We ask because Mr Lungu has turned out to be a very strange Head of State.

We have every reason to suspect that the President doesn’t want the truth to be known to the public. And this is what we mean when we say Mr Lungu’s presidency thrives on lawlessness. He acts like a top beneficiary of the crimes that are being committed in his name. If Mr Lungu truly hated what is happening in this country, he would put an end to it; if he did not benefit from the crimes that citizens are complaining about, he would definitely ensure that the perpetrators are sent to prison. But the man seems to be enjoying the show.

If we are wrong about this, if the President is genuinely innocent, unaware and honestly seeks answers to what is going on, then it leaves us with a very weak president who is not in charge. If the President says “I want a report on the gassing incidences” and the police refuse to comply, it means he is a weak man whose orders mean nothing to the police command. If the police give him the reports and he chooses to keep the findings a secret, then we have a President who is an accomplice to murder. That’s all we are saying.

But we would like to advise President Lungu that the tempers in this country are boiling hot. These people who are surviving the bullets will have no option but to figure out a way of fighting back. Only a careless leader would tolerate such atrocities with a decisive election in sight.