By Daily Revelation Editor
John Chalwe Kaume has said that the decision that was taken by police in Kabwe district to arrest and charge him for the offence of conduct likely to cause the breach of peace is aimed at curtailing the freedom of speech and expression by the general citizenry.
Kaume narrated that just after the radio programme where he asked questions of Central Province permanent secretary Milner Mwanakampwe, which unfortunately Mwanakampwe did not take kindly to, some UPND cadres went to his shop at Green Market where they demanded to see him, but at the time they went there, he had already gotten information that some UPND cadres were looking for him; alleging that Kaume had insulted “not only the permanent secretary, but also the Head of State.”
He explained that at the time he was being pursued by the UPND cadres and the police, he had already reported the matter to Kasanda Police Station where the permanent secretary issued “strong language against him while on a phone in radio programme.”
We are at a loss in trying to understand why Kaume was actually arrested for practicing freedom of expression to demand accountability on the government’s promises from a government official, who unfortunately failed to intelligently engage him and ended up using vulgar language against him.
Kaume is right to call this for simply what it is. Intimidation. However, this culture must not be tolerated at all in this country. Since when has questioning a government official become an offence for which people must even be summoned before the police?
The saddening aspect is that despite this serious assault on Kaume’s freedom of expression, there has been no official statement from the UPND administration denouncing the very act where a citizen was arrested for conduct likely to cause breach of peace for simply engaging in his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. If anything, it was actually the language from the permanent secretary which he described as an idiom when we contacted him, which has the potential to cause breach of peace.
Are we to believe that calling in to radio programmes to ask government officials questions they find inconveniencing has now become a crime for which citizens must be summoned and arrested? Will people be arraigned before police simply because UPND cadres are not happy with the pertinent questions they asked of a government official? And instead of the police actually receiving a complaint from the UPND cadres against Kaume for merely calling to a radio programme to remind a government official about their own promises, shouldn’t they have used the opportunity to actually educate the same complainants that their complaint was nothing but outright lawlessness in that it was against the constitutional rights Kaume enjoys?
We don’t think police should be wasting public time entertaining such nonsensical reports actually.
We are noticing a worrying trend of intolerance against people who call into radio programmes to offer views that don’t sit well with those in power. Not too long ago, Sishuwa Sishuwa and the radio station that hosted him, Hot FM, were the victims of this unbecoming intolerance.
The message this sends is as Kaume and both Sishuwa put it. Intimidation. The aim is to intimidate the callers so that they do not call in to radio programmes again to freely air their views because they are being watched. It is also a message to radio stations not to entertain people like Kaume and Sishuwa and those who reason like that.
We urge Kaume to soldier on. He must not feel intimidated to call again and demand answers from government officials. Those government officials are actually in office to respond to questions such as the ones Kaume was raising. Milner should have simply engaged Kaume and responded to him in a sober manner, and not in that vulgar manner he did.
A government that is committed towards democratic enhancement and free speech should have actually reprimanded Milner for responding in the manner he did to a citizen. Beyond that, they should have reprimanded the police for receiving the complaint against him and then effecting an arrest on him.
It will certainly be interesting to hear how the police will prosecute this matter. And prosecuting they must so that their folly is exposed, for it will be an even greater injustice for Kaume if the matter doesn’t go to court as he will continue living under this prison of intimidation. If he is cleared by the courts, it will help expose the folly in the decision to report him to police and the eventual arrest by the police.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
John Chalwe Kaume has said that the decision that was taken by police in Kabwe district to arrest and charge him for the offence of conduct likely to cause the breach of peace is aimed at curtailing the freedom of speech and expression by the general citizenry.
Kaume narrated that just after the radio programme where he asked questions of Central Province permanent secretary Milner Mwanakampwe, which unfortunately Mwanakampwe did not take kindly to, some UPND cadres went to his shop at Green Market where they demanded to see him, but at the time they went there, he had already gotten information that some UPND cadres were looking for him; alleging that Kaume had insulted “not only the permanent secretary, but also the Head of State.”
He explained that at the time he was being pursued by the UPND cadres and the police, he had already reported the matter to Kasanda Police Station where the permanent secretary issued “strong language against him while on a phone in radio programme.”
We are at a loss in trying to understand why Kaume was actually arrested for practicing freedom of expression to demand accountability on the government’s promises from a government official, who unfortunately failed to intelligently engage him and ended up using vulgar language against him.
Kaume is right to call this for simply what it is. Intimidation. However, this culture must not be tolerated at all in this country. Since when has questioning a government official become an offence for which people must even be summoned before the police?
The saddening aspect is that despite this serious assault on Kaume’s freedom of expression, there has been no official statement from the UPND administration denouncing the very act where a citizen was arrested for conduct likely to cause breach of peace for simply engaging in his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. If anything, it was actually the language from the permanent secretary which he described as an idiom when we contacted him, which has the potential to cause breach of peace.
Are we to believe that calling in to radio programmes to ask government officials questions they find inconveniencing has now become a crime for which citizens must be summoned and arrested? Will people be arraigned before police simply because UPND cadres are not happy with the pertinent questions they asked of a government official? And instead of the police actually receiving a complaint from the UPND cadres against Kaume for merely calling to a radio programme to remind a government official about their own promises, shouldn’t they have used the opportunity to actually educate the same complainants that their complaint was nothing but outright lawlessness in that it was against the constitutional rights Kaume enjoys?
We don’t think police should be wasting public time entertaining such nonsensical reports actually.
We are noticing a worrying trend of intolerance against people who call into radio programmes to offer views that don’t sit well with those in power. Not too long ago, Sishuwa Sishuwa and the radio station that hosted him, Hot FM, were the victims of this unbecoming intolerance.
The message this sends is as Kaume and both Sishuwa put it. Intimidation. The aim is to intimidate the callers so that they do not call in to radio programmes again to freely air their views because they are being watched. It is also a message to radio stations not to entertain people like Kaume and Sishuwa and those who reason like that.
We urge Kaume to soldier on. He must not feel intimidated to call again and demand answers from government officials. Those government officials are actually in office to respond to questions such as the ones Kaume was raising. Milner should have simply engaged Kaume and responded to him in a sober manner, and not in that vulgar manner he did.
A government that is committed towards democratic enhancement and free speech should have actually reprimanded Milner for responding in the manner he did to a citizen. Beyond that, they should have reprimanded the police for receiving the complaint against him and then effecting an arrest on him.
It will certainly be interesting to hear how the police will prosecute this matter. And prosecuting they must so that their folly is exposed, for it will be an even greater injustice for Kaume if the matter doesn’t go to court as he will continue living under this prison of intimidation. If he is cleared by the courts, it will help expose the folly in the decision to report him to police and the eventual arrest by the police.
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