Chitotela and Chilangwa’s convictions

By Daily Revelation Editor

The Kawambwa Magistrate Court has sentenced Kawambwa member of parliament Nickson Chilangwa to five years imprisonment with hard labour after finding him guilty of malicious damage to property.

The court also convicted Pambashe member of parliament Ronald Chitotela for arson and committed him to the High Court for sentencing.

Kawambwa Resident Magistrate Martin Namushi said he could not sentence Chitotela, as the offence of arson carries a minimum sentence of 10 years, which exceeds the jurisdiction.

Chilangwa and Chitotela were jointly charged with Chabu Chitotela, Kalumba Chifumbe, Davy Kaniki and Chibwe Musantu for arson, threatening violence, malicious damage to property, and four counts of assault.

Chilangwa and his accomplices during the August 12, 2021 general elections while acting together assaulted four UPND members, damaged the windscreen of their vehicle a Mahindra, before setting it ablaze and threatened violence against them.

Chilangwa Chifumbe, who is Kawambwa mayor, Chabu Chitotela, Kunda Chitotela and Davis Kaniki have also been given 18 and 11 months for threatening violence and unlawful wounding to run concurrently.

The punishments meted on Chilangwa, Chitotela and the others seems harsh indeed. This is as it should be actually in order to send a message to those who become excited with little power thinking they will live in power forever, where they cannot be held accountable. They fail to realise that power is temporally and should always be an exercise enjoyed under extreme constant limitation.

Today, the once powerful Chitotela and Chilangwa are convicts for wrongdoing. We know Chilanga and Chitotela and their sympathisers will argue that this is all politics coming from a very desperate ruling party that is out to reduce opposition numbers in parliament in order to implement its own narrow agenda. Maybe they could have an argument. However, it is always foolish to blame others for one’s own mistakes. If Chitotela and Chilangwa had not been involved in the crimes they have been convicted for, if they had just gone about conducting their elections in the manner elections are supposed to be conducted as a struggle over ideas, as opposed to fist fights, we would not be talking about this matter today.

Because Chitotela and Nickson and their ilk thought that they had been coronated to rule forever, they thought such a day would never come. We doubt there would have even been this outcome today if the PF had won the elections. We live in a society where there is actually little hope for progress because the politicians we have on the scene are mostly quacks, masquerading as potential leaders, while being envious of trading in the same wrongs the people they are seeking to replace from office are trading in.

Already, the same misbehaviour that has landed Chitotela and Chilangwa  jail sentences is being noticed in those governing the country today. They are forgetting the very harsh lessons and injustices they endured during their many years in the opposition. The same happened with those they deposed from national leader just under there years ago. No sooner had they gotten elected into office after taking over from the MMD than they engaged in the same misconduct they condemned in the MMD.

What has happened to Chilangwa, Chitotela and the others should actually send a warning to all the politicians that elections should be about the struggle for ideas as opposed to which thug can met out brute force on their opponents. Today it’s Chitotela, Chilangwa, tomorrow it might actually be another set of untaughts, as that is what politicians are. They are people who never learn. We can speak with certainty that they will not learn anything from this very sad chapter that has befallen their colleagues.

There is a very beautiful saying that “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”