By Isaac Zulu
Hichilema wants to use violence to get to State House, Kabushi PF parliamentary candidate Bowman Lusambo has charged.
In an interview with Ndola’s Sun FM Radio on Monday morning that was monitored by Daily Revelation Media, Lusambo justified the decision by President Edgar Lungu to unleash soldiers to maintain law and order.
He also charged that opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and his followers are the ones perpetuating political vio
“The Zambian people know that Hakainde Hichilema is a violent person. He wants to use violence in order for him to get to State House. It is the UPND leader and his supporters that are fanning violence in the country. No wonder Hakainde Hichilema is not condemning violence being perpetuated by his supporters. Instead, he is condoning this political violence,” said Lusambo. “So the Church should speak up, the NGOs should speak up and condemn violence and the traditional leaders should speak out against political violence.”
When pressed by SUN FM presenter Lombe Chiti that there is a video circulating showing his supporters engaging in some altercations, resulting in some physical political violence, Lusambo vehemently refuted a video that has gone viral showing his supporters engaging in physical violence against their political opponents.
“My sister, that is not true…it’s not true. No such a thing has happened. I emphasise that me and my campaign team and supporters are campaigning without engaging in political violence. We have peaceful campaigns in Kabushi,” stressed Lusambo.
The former Lusaka Province minister justified President Lungu’s decision to deploy officers from the defence forces to help the Zambia Police curb political violence ahead of the August 12 general election.
“The President, being the Head of State is a Commander of the Armed Forces. And by virtue of being the Commander of the Armed Forces, President Lungu is within his right to deploy our men and women in uniform from the Zambia National Service, the Zambia Army and Zambia Air Force to help the officers from the Zambia Police in order to curb the escalating political violence,” said Lusambo.
But a former army General who declared anonymity said the levels of violence have not reached a point where the military should be involved.
“I do not believe that the Zambia Police, whose responsibilities it is to maintain law and order have failed, warranting the deployment of our Army. The police have not yet done their job (they have not fought anyone because trouble makers are known to them). Bringing in the Army has far reaching implications at this time of elections. Citizens will question the motive behind the deployment. What will be the role of the Army, Air Force looking at the present campaign scenario?” the General wondered. “Who will be their target (enemy) if not political opponents? Others might think it is a political ploy to scare citizens from campaigning and later discourage them from turning out to vote in large numbers in order to disadvantage other political parties . Others might think the deployment might be intended to send a warning to ECZ to announce favourable results to the ruling party. This will put the the credibility, fairness and transparency of the whole electoral process at risk.”The General warned that deploying the military to deal with electoral issues might lead to more violence, as soldiers are not trained to deal with the issues of political campaigns at play at this stage.
“Citizens might resist attempts to control their right to assembly, association and expression, and go at loggerheads with the military, leading to unnecessary confrontation. Bringing in the Army have legal processes which the state must follow before involving the army in police duties,” said the General. “I advise against military deployment at this stage because it will work against the collective values of the army and be part to a problem than a solution.”
