By Patson Chilemba
Chief government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa has urged Zambians to sympathise with Chishimba Kambwili for having been convicted for hate speech by the Kasama Magistrates Court.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Mweetwa said people must not rejoice over the misfortune of Kambwili but learn from the same, saying [pp-logged-users] he was praying for himself and the others not to fall into the same situation.
“I have seen some posting that lekani ajaile, mushe achenjele (I have seen people rejoicing that Kambwili has been taught a lesson). We must be able to sympathise with him. The misfortune of your brother is your own misfortune,” Mweetwa said. “No one should laugh at him but the circumstances he has found himself in are self-made.”
Mweetwa said the UPND administration was a government of laws, and anyone who was being convicted was simply because they offended the law.
He said there should be especially more responsibility on people who have served in public office as members of parliament and ministers on how they must conduct themselves.
Mweetwa argued that Zambia was a unitary state and anyone resorting to sectarianism would simply not be able to achieve any meaningful results.
The Kasama Magistrate Court yesterday Kambwili to 5 months imprisonment after he was found guilty of practicing hate speech.
This is in a case where Kambwili was charged with the offence of expressing hatred and ridicule of the people of Southern Province based on tribe and place of origin.
Kambwili, 54, of Luanshya, appeared before Kasama Resident Magistrate, Samson Mumba for Judgement.
The convict has expressed his intention to appeal against both the conviction and the sentence.
Kambwili is being represented was being represented by Kaizala Tembo from Ferd Jere & Company. [/pp-logged-users]
