By Daily Revelation Reporter
We will not allow a single individual in the name of Hakainde Hichilema to come and undermine our liberties and freedoms, says opposition Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) leader Sean Tembo.
Speaking with Daily Revelation after he was warned and cautioned by the police, Tembo said he found it regrettable that police were getting involved in political matters, which he said are supposed to be handled by political leaders.
He said if he challenged the government on any given matter, be it on the fight against corruption and how they were running national affairs generally, the people in power were supposed to challenge him politically by coming up with their own position rather than involving the police, interpreting that as an attempt to gag the opposition.
“Because as opposition our job is to talk. And when we talk we challenge how government is doing things. If we feel the way government is doing things, maybe allocation of resources is biased towards certain regions, certain provinces, then we will air that…it’s up to the government to dispel our opinions,” Tembo said. “It’s a political issue and not a police issue where police need to come in and say ‘Mr Tembo, why are you saying the new dawn administration is allocating more public resources to this region, and not that region?’”
Tembo said “we can’t criminalize the opinions of the opposition, then there will be no opposition”, saying the country’s forefathers paid the ultimate price for the freedoms and liberties being enjoyed today.
“So we are not going to allow a single individual in the name of Hakainde Hichilema to come and undermine liberties and freedoms when these are the ideals which we have been enjoying since our forefathers earned them from our colonizers in 1964. We are not going to allow that,” he said.
Tembo said that he would not be intimidated but would continue providing checks and balances.
Asked if he stood by the Facebook posting he is being accused of, Tembo said he was not admitting that he issued that statement, but would allow police to do their investigations, since the investigation was already underway.
But asked that police said he posted what he has been cautioned for on his Facebook page, Tembo said “that’s the allegation that they made.”
“So I will not categorically comment on that specific allegation but I can comment on other related matters,” said Tembo. “That you (for getting in touch) you are doing a good job. I often enjoy reading your detailed articles.”
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga stated that Tembo had been warned and cautioned over a Facebook posting.
“Police have recorded a warn and caution statement from Mr. Sean Tembo aged 42 of plot number 8623 in Lusaka’s Ngwerere area for the offence of hate speech Contrary to Section 65 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act Number 2 of 2021 of the Laws of Zambia.It is alleged that on 2nd November, 2021 at around 10:00 hours, Mr. Tembo posted names on his face book account believed to be of Bemba tribe who were being probed for the crimes committed in the previous regime and further went on to state that at the rate at which the Government was making arrests, Bembas would become extinct in approximately Seven months,” stated Hamoonga. “Such utterances involved hostility or segregation directed towards a particular social grouping on grounds of tribe or origin.Mr. Tembo was released soon after the warn and caution statement.”
