Opposition UPND is worried with President Michael Sata’s blatant disrespect for the rule of law in Zambia.
This, the UPND believes, is being displayed by law enforcement agencies against various opposition political party members.
During the recent Rufunsa civic leader’s by-election, President Sata issued an instant statement to condemn the killing of a PF cadre – Crispin Menyani Zulu – following pockets of violence in the area.
President Sata accused the opposition UPND-MMD of being responsible for the death of the ruling party cadre when in fact preliminary police investigations suggested the deceased was murdered by his ruling party colleagues over a dispute in sharing campaign money.
On Friday, well known PF hooligans organized by Judge Ngoma and party general secretary Wynter Kabimba, descended on UPND demonstrators at Parliament buildings raining stones and other objects on them for picketing an illegal allocation of K1.4 billion towards construction of President Sata’s retirement house.
Judge Ngoma is a PF cadre who was President Sata’s private body guard but is now part of the intelligence system responsible for operations of cadres.
He was jailed, while PF was in opposition, for two years for political hooliganism following the incident in this video link where alongside his colleagues assaulted and abducted a critic of President Sata – Sam Zulu.
Shortly after election in September 2011, President Sata pardoned Judge Ngoma, even though the matter was still pending determination by the Supreme Court.
The UPND says, “the incident in Rufunsa is just one of the few times this government has gone beyond our wildest imagination in the selective application of the law.
“After the death of Mr Zulu in Rufunsa, the government was in a hurry to say UPND cadres killed a PF cadre even before they could ascertain what really transpired.
“Yesterday [Friday], during a procession of UPND in putting a petition against the budgetary allocation for the construction of a house for the sitting President. Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, the Zambia Police said “group of ‘unknown people’” when actually in real sense those were known PF cadres who attacked UPND peaceful protesters on the likely abuse of national resources to the tune of K1.4 billion by the state.”
UPND fears that indication are the country is deteriorating into a brutal state where only those sent by President Sata to cause harm on citizens will be protected.