HOW THREE WRONGS MADE A RIGHT: A CRITICAL LOOK AT PILATO’S EXILE

By Sean E. Tembo

1. I saw it from a distance! It first swerved to the right then to the left, then made a 90 degree sharp duck upwards and then it swung downwards. But l was under no illusion. I knew in no uncertain terms that it was coming for me and l readied myself. As the saying goes; forewarned is forearmed. I focused hard at the target and projected the ETA (estimated time of arrival). The nearer it got, the clearer it looked. I knew that l was the target, but my foresight had allowed me to turn the tables. As it reduced speed ready to strike me, l made my move and struck first! And voila, l had conquered! I slowly unwrapped my hands and it was there; bloodied, bruised and clearly dead. A big fat mosquito that thought could bite me while l sipped my drink at the bar counter of one of the hotels around Arcades. It was around 7pm and I was waiting for a friend of mine to do some catching up over a drink or two and did not realize that our planned meeting point would be so infested with mosquitoes. I actually hate mosquitoes with a passion and made it a point to kill as many as possible using my bare hands.

2. As l sipped on my drink and browsed on my phone, l saw something that l found quite disturbing; a statement by Amnesty International in South Africa, calling on the government of Zambia to ensure the protection of the rights of artists and that a well known vibrant local musician by the name of Pilato had gone in exile because his life was under threat. The threats were said to have emanated from a satirical song which Pilato released a few months ago entitled “Koswe Mumpoto” which some people claimed was disparaging President Lungu. I must mention that personally, l found the song very educative because it sought to explain the fine difference between Koswe and Mbeba. Throughout my childhood and up until now, Mbeba has always been a delicacy and l was quite amazed when l learnt that our Bemba cousins thought that we eat ba Koswe. On more than one occasion, l labored to explain that Koswe and Mbeba were two different things, albeit similar in appearance. Even the English language differentiates rats from mice. So when Pilato released his song, l was personally thrilled because l knew that l could enjoy my Mbeba delicacy without any compunction.

3. As l continued to assassinate more and more mosquitoes that thought they could have me for dinner, l asked the waiter to refill my drink as I read the Amnesty International statement with a lot of consternation. I always get deeply concerned when international media report negatively about Zambia. I know we have a lot of problems as a nation, which are all centered around two main issues; PF corruption and PF incompetence, but l do strongly feel that these are our problems which we need to resolve as a nation and that it is not the business of the international community to paint our country with a black brush. So l decided to follow up the circumstances in which Amnesty International issued their alert on Zambia. I subsequently learnt that Amnesty International had received a complaint from Pilato to the effect that his life was in danger and that he had received threats from a number of individuals including some PF officials, because of his “Koswe Mumpoto” song. Later on, the PF officials are said to have withdrawn their threats and subsequently, the threats against Pilato’s life are said to have started coming from “independent PF supporters” who are not in the official structures of the Patriotic Front.

4. At this juncture, maybe it is time that l answered some questions of my own. Do l believe that Pilato’s life was genuinely in danger? Secondly, do l believe that Pilato’s actions to register a complaint with Amnesty International and go in exile in South Africa was justified? My answer to the first question is yes. I do genuinely believe that Pilato’s life was in danger and that the authorities were unwilling to take action against those PF officials that publicly threatened his life. In my view, the PF was largely upset with Pilato not only because of the “Koswe Mumpoto” song by itself, but because he had not so long announced that he had formally joined the PF and amid much pomp and fare, he was paraded in front of numerous cameras. Therefore, the PF were left with a sour taste in their mouth when he did not just abandon them, but literally dissed them. To a large extent, that’s why l have always been against the idea of multi-interest players such as musicians, athletes etc, from taking a partisan stance. That as it may, Pilato has a right to defect from the PF and to belong to any political grouping of his choice whether it be PeP, UPND or indeed comrade Muliokela’s party.

5. Having established that the actions of Pilato to go into exile in South Africa were done in good faith and that he was perfectly in order to file a complaint with Amnesty International, the next issue is whether Amnesty International actually properly handled this complaint once it was received. In order to determine this matter, l actually decided to get in touch with both Pilato in South Africa as well as the Zambian High Commissioner to that country, Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba. It was during my interaction with these two individuals that l learnt that Amnesty International actually issued their alert on Pilato solely on the basis of his complaint alone without engaging the other party, which is the Government of the Republic of Zambia through the High Commissioner. There’s no question that an alert by Amnesty International that the Government of Zambia is failing to protect the life and safety of one of its citizens for political reasons, would actually dent the image of the country in the eyes of the international community. Therefore, before Amnesty International could issue such a statement, they had a duty and obligation to engage the other party, which is the Government of Zambia through the High Commissioner, unless they were not acting in good faith. For all intents and purposes, a reputable institution such as Amnesty International is not expected to take such a fatal and irreversible step without ensuring due process. The basic principles of due process require that you hear from both the complainant and the accused before making a determination on a matter, and Amnesty International clearly abysmally failed to do so in this matter. When l tried to dig further as to what might have influenced a reputable organization such as Amnesty International to conduct themselves in such an unprofessional manner, l came across some unconfirmed reports that the person who was the case officer in Pilato’s case, who is also the second in charge at the Amnesty International office in South Africa, is actually a Zambian who is a well known sympathizer of the main opposition UPND. If true, this might explain the glaring wrongful and unprofessional conduct of Amnesty International in this matter.

6. Subsequent to Amnesty International’s adverse statement on Zambia, the Zambian High Commissioner to SA, Mr. Mwamba issued a statement in which he rubbished Pilato’s concerns about threats to his life as mere banter. This was before HC Mwamba had even met with Pilato to hear his concerns and the primary reasons for his exile in South Africa. It is worth noting that by virtue of his position as High Commissioner to SA, HC Mwamba is the official representative of entire Government of the Republic of Zambia in that country. Therefore, after he heard that one of our citizen’s life was in danger as reported by Amnesty International, the first thing that HC Mwamba was supposed to do should’ve been to request to meet with Pilato. However, HC Mwamba decided to issue a statement rubbishing Pilato’s concerns about threats to his life. This was very irrational behavior coming from a senior government official and l scratched my head trying to understand what could have motivated HC Mwamba to act in such an unprofessional manner. The only plausible reason that l could come up with is that HC Mwamba still has strong traits of caderism in him which is preventing him from properly and impartially discharging his duties as a government official. The PF caderism is too embedded into HC Mwamba’s mind. That is why l have always contended that people who serve in government positions must be non-partisan, otherwise such wrongful conduct shall always show its ugly head.

7. Subsequent to HC Mwamba’s premature statement rubbishing Pilato’s concerns about threats on his life, the High Commissioner proposed a meeting with Pilato and Amnesty International to discuss the matter. Needless to say that this is what should have happened the moment Amnesty International received a complaint from Pilato, before they issued an adverse statement on Zambia and also before HC Mwamba issued his misconceived statement rubbishing Pilato’s concerns. Nonetheless, Pilato declined to attend this proposed meeting with HC Mwamba and Amnesty International, on the basis that HC Mwamba had already rubbished his concerns, so what was the point of meeting with him. In my view, Pilato might have had a point, but he was obliged to meet with the HC and Amnesty International. The bottom line is that Pilato has an issue which requires to be resolved, or so l believe. Therefore, if you have a problem which you want to be resolved, you cannot refuse to attend a meeting which seeks to resolve your problem. Otherwise, people will inevitably cast aspersions on whether you problem is real or fake. The natural order of things is that anyone who has a real problem would want their problem to be solved. The only time that someone would be reluctant to solve their problem is if it is a fake problem and they’re using it to achieve an ulterior motive. If Pilato genuinely believes that his life is under threat because of his “Koswe Mumpoto” song, then he has a duty and obligation to meet with representatives of the Government of the Republic of Zambia to hear what solutions they have on the table to guarantee his personal safety. He can not dismiss the Government’s efforts to resolve his issue. He needs to hear out what the Government is offering to do about his situation, and after hearing them out, he can then say whether the measures that have been proposed by Government are adequate or not to give him assurance about his personal safety. What if the Government is going to say that they will assign him a team of police offficers to give him 24 hour protection for him and his family? Wouldn’t that be adequate to assure Pilato that he can return from his exile in South Africa and back to Zambia? Unless of course Pilato’s objective is to relocate to South Africa and he is using the excuse of non-existent threats to his life as an easy way to get asylum?

8. Three wrongs have been committed here. Firstly, Amnesty International acted in bad faith by issuing an adverse statement on Zambia without hearing out the Government’s position on the matter. Secondly, HC Mwamba acted in bad faith by rubbishing Pilato’s concerns regarding threats on his life, before hearing Pilato out. Thirdly, Pilato acted in bad faith by refusing to meet with the Government of the Republic of Zambia to try and resolve his problem. Since all the three parties involved in this matter are equally cupable, l guess it’s all fair and square. However, there’s a very important point that l wish to emphasize; Koswe and Mbeba are not the same thing. One is a delicacy and the other is a pest.

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