By Esther Chisola
Police on the Copperbelt, have cancelled the Sociality Party (SP) rally which was scheduled to take place this afternoon in Kitwe at Changanamai grounds.
And Socialist Party General Secretary Dr. Cosmas Musumali has challenged President Hakainde Hichilema to curb the looming hunger situation in the country unlike infringing on the rights of citizens and opposition political parties.
Meanwhile, Dr Musumali says the party will take legal action following the cancellation of their rally.
Speaking to the media shortly after police disrupted their rally, Dr Musumali revealed that the police was notified two weeks ago about the rally.
“Two weeks ago, our leaders on the Copperbelt notified the police of the intentions to hold a rally at Changanamai ground. And what happened was that on the 3rd of June, we got a refuser. They basically told us that the security situation in the country was volatile, Kitwe included. And because of that, this rally was not going to go ahead. We sat as the leadership of the party, looked at that and we came to the conclusion that this is a huge infringement on our rights and as political parties we have to speak to our masses. A very good way to speak to the masses is with rallies. And being refused that is basically being told that we are not going to participate politically which is unacceptable,” said Dr Musumali.
He however, explained that the police denied their request and only reversed last night after the party appealed.
“So, we challenged that refuser, we made an appeal on the same day in the afternoon to the minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security. We told him this is unacceptable, it’s unfair, the rally should go ahead. Still yesterday, exactly at 21:30, the police at Riverside reversed their decision. They told us that ‘you are advised to ignore the earlier reply; therefore, your rally should go ahead as planned’, that is in black and white. So, we were given the go ahead to hold the rally. The leadership in Lusaka from 21:30, they started traveling up-to here. We are all here, we are all gathered here, we are all ready for the rally,” he said.
Dr. Musumali wondered why the Changanamai ground was surrounded by police presence who did not allow them to mount their stage.
“To our surprise, early in the morning, the whole ground was secured. We were not allowed to mount our stage, we were not allowed to erect our tents, nothing was allowed. We had hundreds of police men and police women that had gathered there and took charge of that ground. Our team, especially the legal team has tried hard to engage the police, they always referred our legal team to the Riverside Police Station because that’s where the goal ahead was granted. To our dismay, all the senior police officers at Riverside had basically withdrawn, they boated. They left the police station, their phones are switched off,” he explained.
Dr Musumali further challenged President Hakainde Hichilema to focus on ending the hunger situation in the country unlike infringing on the rights of the opposition political parties.
“There is hunger in the country. It’s not just the fear of the opposition political parties but it’s the fear of own failures. It’s a failed government. It’s a failed regime. And because it has failed to address the material needs of the people, its resorting to political intimidation, its resorting to suppression of critical voices. So, the voice of Fred M’membe should not be heard, even his picture should not be seen anywhere because of insala (hunger) people are angry and hungry. When people are hungry, they become angry. All Zambians everywhere you go today they are very-very hungry and they are angry,” said Dr Musumali.
He added that the UPND government was the worst regime the country had ever had.
“These are worse than any other government that we have ever had before. And that’s why they can’t allow the voice of Fred M’membe to be heard by millions of Zambians. That’s the real reason behind it. But bane (you people) you can’t resolve insala (hunger) by stopping Fred M’membe from talking. You can’t deal with corruption by stopping Fred M’membe from talking. Because it’s not just Fred M’membe, Fred M’membe is a spokesperson, he is the voice of the masses that are suffering. The masses are going to talk, 2026 is near,” he said.
Dr Musumali further disclosed that the party would take legal action against government.
“Bwana (boss) Hakainde and your bunch, your group, be aware of this. You have stopped us today from holding this rally but we are not stopping. This is a battle of ideals, a battle of emotions for the Zambian people and we will carry this forward from here. So, for us that rally has begun and every day from today onwards, we will have rallies everywhere. We will every opportunity available to ensure that the Zambians get to know the truth and we are also taking legal action. The legal proceedings are starting immediately,” said Dr Musumali.
