NEW Labour Party leader Fresher Siwale says the Patriotic Front (PF) Government should be wary of the fact that the mother of riots will be inevitable if they continue treating Zambians like second class citizens in their own country.
And Mr Siwale says instead of smearing Hakainde Hichilema’s name that he is the one who is inciting people to rebel by publishing false news, Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya should concentrate on clarifying whether the Chinese firm Topstar takeover of 60 percent in ZNBC had Parliamentary approval or whether the listing of shares in ZAFFICO has been endorsed by Parliament.

Meanwhile, Republican Progressive Party (RPP) vice president Leslie Chikuse wonders whether the Prophet who prophesied that Zambians will begin witnessing riots will be cited for inciting a rebellion.

Speaking in an interview at his residence, Mr Siwale said it is illogical for the PF Government to smear Hakainde Hichilema’s name that he is behind the riots Zambia has been experiencing in the recent past, charging that the protests are a manifestation of the PF 2011 and 2016 campaign “lies”.
“Mr Siwale said the PF and not Hichilema incited Kitwe residents and University of Zambia students to cause havoc and unrest.
He said it is the PF that promised more money in people’s pocket and low taxes hence should not smear Mr Hichilema’s name.
Mr Siwale added that the people of Zambia are annoyed with the PF administration which is selling State Assets with impunity and not Mr Hichilema who is just an ordinary citizen
The opposition leader said Zambia should brace for the mother of riots if the PF does not change and start caring for the people it is governing, arguing that much preference has been given to the Chinese and other foreign nationals.
Said Mr Siwale: “Those small riots they are seeing on the Copperbelt and Lusaka are just the beginning of the mother of riots that is coming and (President) Lungu and his cronies must know that the people of Zambia are annoyed and it will not take any amount of smearing of Hakainde Hichilema of incitement of these riots that will stop Zambians from getting what is theirs. They (Zambians) are tired of being second rate citizens and Hakainde is not the one who is annoying them, it is (President) Lungu and his networks. When PF came into power, they promised them more money in their pockets, lower taxes but what has happened is the opposite. They (PF Government) have looted the treasury. Now, after looting the treasury, they are now looting national assets and you expect Zambians to be watching,” he asked.

Mr Siwale said even the little that has remained, has been taken away under the watch of the Zambian people.
“Let (President) Lungu know that those riots that he is seeing here and there are just symptoms of bigger riots that are coming to drive him out of office and he better be warned, his ministers be warned that time has come for Zambians to take back their country,” Mr Siwale said.

Referring to the letter he has written to the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) and copied to State House and all the embassies where he has argued that the 2016 elections where non-event because they were not held under the electoral law, Mr Siwale warned the Chinese not to be excited that they are taking over land from Zambia because those selling them do not represent a legitimate Government.
“There(PF’s) issue with Hakainde Hichilema is neither here nor there, they must address the lawful nature of their intentions if they are saying they are going to list shares, have they not sold ZAFFICO? but for the Chinese, they should not be excited because (President) Lungu and his Ministers have no legal title deed because they are illegally in office,” he explained.
He went for Ms Siliya for issuing what he termed empty ultimatum to Mr Hichilema.

“Dora must know that she is not speaking for herself; she is speaking for the Government. Now, what does the Constitution say about the disposal of parastatal assets. The Constitution is clear that the oversight institution on the disposal of assets is Parliament. They must go to parliament; they cannot sell any parastatal, later on even offloading shares on the Stock Market without Parliament approval. So, where is their intention because we must know that they have taken that issue to Parliament? It is also the same situation with Topstar and ZNBC. Topstar has illegally taken over ZNBC assets because there has been no Parliamentary approval for Topstar to acquire 60 percent in ZNBC. The Minister of Finance holds one percent, the 99 percent are owned by the Zambian people and thereby, the approval by their elected representative is required. So what Dora must address is not whether Hakainde is telling the truth or he is lying. She must clearly state that they have sought parliamentary approval for the sale of ZAFFICO shares on the stock exchange. Now, if these shares are on the stock exchange what stops a Chinese from buying them? She is contradicting herself, so, it is either she knows or she is being the famous Dora “Siliti” that we know. She must know that she survived the scandal on the procurement of radar at the then Lusaka International Airport but this time around she is not going to escape from going to prison. Why is she going to prison? It is because she is participating in an illegal cabinet,” he said.
And Mr Chikuse wonders whether the Prophet who prophesied that there will be a string of riots in Zambia will also be cited for inciting an uprising.
“Just a few months ago, there was a prominent Prophet that talked about Riots all over Lusaka and we have seen severe riots at the University of Zambia and now ZAFFICO in what is consistent with what the Prophet talked about. Now, there are rumours that those riots where sponsored riots, so could it be that even the Prophet was a sponsored Prophet because what he said is consistent with what is happening. Or could it be that politicians have started sponsoring Prophets to disseminate information that is going to bring? confusions,” Mr Chikuse asked..
He said President Lungu should come out clearly whether ZAFFICO has been sold or there are intentions to sell it. .
“…because we have seen key state institutions being sold to the Chinese and President Yoweri Museveni clearly stated that what is happening in Zambia is what is happening in Uganda. These are things that we must not completely ignore because they say there is no smoke without fire,” he said.
Mr Hichilema has been summoned by the Ndola Central Police Station to appear before it for allegedly inciting riots in the country.
Mr Hichilema denied the allegations when he was responding to what his faithful term a planted question at one of the radio stations in Lusaka.
And analyzing section 67 of the Penal Code Cap 87 of the laws of Zambia and its current status in the Zambian statute, Mr Chipenzi posted the following article on his facebook page.

“If correctly quoted, the Zambia Police Service cited 67 of the Penal Code Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia as a weapon it might use to address the spreading spread of false/fake news in the country.

This is in the wake of the ZAFFICO riots allegedly triggered by falsehoods that the company had been sold out to the Chinese. If this is the case, the Police has misguided itself.

Unless, the police legal department is sleeping, I recall that section 67 was nullified by the High Court in a judgment delivered by Judge Isaac Chali on December 14, 2014 in case of McDonald Chipenzi, 2 Others vs. The People HPR/03/2014.

Under this case, we were charged with one count of publication of false information with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public contrary to 67(1) of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

In this judgment which the Zambia Police Force then was the complaints and never appealed, the Court declared section 67 as null and void.

Judge Chali explicitly explained thus, “further, the prosecution and conviction under Section 67 appears to me not to be dependent upon any actual occurrence of public fear or alarm or disturbance of public peace.

It all depends on the state’s perception of possible impact the expression may have on the public and if the court can be persuaded positively. The law is intended to install a danger, which is both remote and uncertain, arising out of the “false news”.

Judge Chali concluded thus, “in conclusion, I find and hold that section 67 does not fit under 20 (3) of the Constitution…I therefore, find that section 67 does not pass the test of being “reasonably justifiable in a democratic society”.

“It contravenes Article 20 of the Constitution and is NULL and VOID, and therefore, INVALID FOR UNCONSTITUTIONALITY”. It follows also that that invalidity and constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression preclude the prosecution of persons and the criminalisation of the alleged false statement under section 67.”
Judge Chali retorts at the end of his judgment that, “accordingly, a prosecution based on 67 of the Penal Code is itself inconsistent with the guarantee and equally invalid.”

So I thought I should remind not only the Police but the Zambian citizens that one should or must not be charged or prosecuted under Section 67 of the Penal Code because it does not exist in the current Zambian statutes.”

And Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) spokesperson Yotum Mtayachalo has expressed regrets that whatever unfortunate event which happens in the country is attributed to Mr Hichilema and his Party by the PF supporters.
Mr. Mtayachalo has stressed that it is high time the PF put its house in order because the more they are concentrating their energies on Mr Hichilema; the more they are making him popular.
“Now the question which is begging for answers is how influential is this man called HH to cause riots in Kitwe, in an area which is according to the PF is their political bed room. Does it mean that the PF has lost support on the Copperbelt that people are now listening to HH? Copperbelt Province Minister Japhen Mwakalombe and Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda are blaming HH on the Kitwe Riots even before investigative wings of Government conclude their investigations, making the work of the police extremely difficult. Markets have been burnt and the first thing was to accuse the opposition even by the vice President whom I though was level headed but I was mistaken,” Mr. Mtayachalo wondered.
Mr. Mtayachalo has called on the PF to address the real economic issues affecting the people on the ground, especially the issue of Chinese monopolizing businesses.
Mr. Mtayachalo stated that the FDD is yet to see how the Government will connect Mr. Hichilema to the riots to secure conviction in the Courts of Law.
“…However, we are yet to see whether Government will arrest HH in connection with the Kitwe riots and how they will connect him (HH) to the riots to secure conviction in the court of law, therefore police must tread carefully over this matter otherwise it may be another Mongu treason fiasco,” he stated.

Source: Kwacha Celebrity Newspaper