Thursday, March 28, 2024

We have to make Political Violence Stop Collectively

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The funeral service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross of the murdered UNPD Cadre
The funeral service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross of the murdered UNPD Cadre

By: Anthony Bwalya – UPND Member

To PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND, I want to say this: I can see and feel the pain in your eyes. But in that pain and suffering, rests your love for your country and it’s people. That will always be your greatest victory.

I also want to be clear and on the record from the onset on a number of things:

Firstly, that the UPND holds a very clear agenda for change and reform; an agenda we wish to use in interrogating what we believe has been a failed PF development agenda, as well as their legacy and culture of corruption and bad leadership whose results are evident in all of our homes and communities.

Secondly, the UPND as an organization does not espouse, promote or encourage political violence. The tenets that gave birth to the party, the same tenets that has held it together for so many years, are very clear in focus. It is about creating a rule of law that works for all of us, restoring the credibility, quality and standard of life for our people by reducing poverty and putting people back at the center of national development and growth.

Thirdly, the UPND has no policy of arming or encouraging it’s members to carry or brandish assault, military grade and other offensive weapons. The UPND continues to emphasize the primary responsibility for the police to maintain law and order and keep all of us safe and to effect the law with impartiality.

Also important to note, is that the call by the UPND leadership for it’s members to defend themselves when attacked, is often done so reluctantly and with such dejection and despair, and as a rallying cry for help and for the police to do their job. The UPND always encourages it’s membership, even under the most intense of provocation, to respond with the utmost restraint, caution and with such complete and total respect for human life.

Further, that the UPND remains committed to collaborating with all stakeholders and political actors in working through all available options and alternatives, to ensure that we retain order to public life, and rid our politics of rapidly degenerating culture of political violence.

The UPND does not want the country to lose focus of the critical conversations around jobs, education, government corruption, poverty, inequality, healthcare, land administration, the economy etc.

These are and will remain our primary areas of focus of engagement as we enter the crucial period leading up to 2021.

But we also take great exception to the deceitfulness of our colleagues in the PF. Yesterday, while Hon. Kelvin Samoa was on Let The People Talk purportedly talking peace with our Gilbert Liswaniso, PF CADRES were in fact mobilizing and preparing to ambush, attack and disrupt the UPND in their process of mourning and remembering the life of Lawrence Banda, slain by paid political assailants.

That was disingenuous on the part of the Patriotic Front leadership and it raises questions around their willingness and commitment to decist from any conduct which may be understood as promoting and sponsoring political violence.

We also think it is distasteful for the PF Deputy Secretary General Madam Mumbi Phiri to wantonly and without an ounce of caution, level Lawrence Banda a criminal who died while trying to steal a bag. That is not how leaders communicate. Her remarks were nothing short of inflammatory and caused anguish to the entire UPND family, but even, to the family and children of Lawrence Banda.

Violence cannot and must never be adopted as the principal medium of communicating our political differences and disagreements. It overshadows and undermines our collective ability to focus on the right sort of developmental, progressive, productive and constructive conversations.

It is sad, that instead of the country discussing the state, quality and standard of public education and healthcare, so that my son can have a fighting chance at a decent future, the country is firmly gripped into a discussion of violent political party politics and polarisation.

When will we have a discussion around how we collectively resolve the question of securing long term land rights for Zambians when current public policy places a demand for hefty payment against it, against a heavily impoverished local population whose ability to buy has been eroded by a fast collapsing economy?

When will we have a productive, honest conversation around public sector grand, political corruption and state capture; all of which have ocassioned such incalculable damage onto our people, irrespective of political party affiliations?

I am proposing a crisis meeting between PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu of the PF and the Republic, and PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND), and the leadership of the police, to be mediated by the Church, to kickstart a different conversation around how we will make violent politics stop.

32 COMMENTS

  1. Its imperative that we have a national political violence dialogue now rather than later else this violence will implode in 2021. True Zambians will raise about partisan politics & deal with this challenge without prejudice. There are no winners if loss of life because a standard of our political scene.

    • While EL said in no uncertain terms that he condemns violence , HH said that all party members must kindly defend themselves. It’s clear who fans violence in this country . And sorry to say Laurence Banda was a political thug who got what was coming to him. What’s really sad is UPND trying to brand him a hero and disturbing peace in Lusaka. Shame

    • HH is Violence Promotor In Chief and we all know that. And why is it that every time I check LT the featured article is now from this Anthony Bwalya – UPND Member??

      Should I boycott this forum?? Is it the new Fox News Channel among the smart people of the Zambian Enterprise???

      LT has always been non-partisan that’s why we have patronized it so long. Now, it probably time to abandon it.

      Epo mpelele nebo …

      BRM

  2. Young man don’t write your uninformed articles from Chifubu, take time and travel across Zambia and see for yourself. Your name can get you killed in parts of Southern Province by UPND cadres. Hichilema hates the Bemba with a passion. Get to Monze, Syansowa, Syanyola, Munyumbwe, Chisekesi, Simaamba, etc and talk about Edgar or PF, let’s talk when you return

  3. Bwalya is a upnd cadre……he cannot see anything wrong with his party and hence his biased articles…! Not sure of how violent PF is but upnd is violent. Being a former member of upnd, I know all the violence tactics that we used to plan during elections….more especially in upnd strongholds. Let’s stop violence….!!!!

  4. From Mapatizya formula to Sesheke brutality to two shootings now-upnd in its purest form. TRIBALISTIC, SATANIC, EXTREMIST, VIOLENT, INTOLERANT, DECIEPTFUL. Zambians, beware!!

  5. Bwalya in your article I was also expecting you to say something on the Liberal network (gaysm) accessions against UPND.

  6. My fellow Zambians let us put finger pointing aside and tackle the devil that has gripped us – Political Violence. We have a problem that needs a solution like yesterday. I am sure some of you saw how peaceful campaigns are in Tunisia. Supporters of different Presidential candidates peacefully canvasing support for their candidate without an exchange of derogatory words. In my view the first action should be the meeting, without preconditions, between the Republican President and HH, secondly criminalize the wearing of military like attire and making the Civic Authorities take total control of running public utilities like markets and bus stations. These bus station commanders must be disarmed and removed. Let the police work professionally

  7. This article is addressed to Trible HH. He is reminding Trible HH of the values upon which UPD was founded. Anthony Bwalya seems disgusted with the way Trible HH has triblised UPND from Anderson Mazoka, and preaching and encouraging violence instead of preaching peace like his counterpart His Excellency of PF.

    But Anthony Bwalya is a lost soul in the UPND scheme of things. Inexplicably this boy cannot understand that under HH the party is trible, dictatorial, violent and essentially cannot rule Zambia under it’s current leadership. The people of Zambia have lived with Trible politics of HH for 13 years now and he is the most despised politician in our land, except maybe in his trible strongholds. But even there people are beginning to question his leadership, and losing confidence in…

  8. Stop wasting time. We have tried this so Many times but the pf always resort to violence. They are intrinsically violent and it is stamped in their DNA. The only language they know is violence. We have countless upnd members murdered by pf thugs. Violence is the only way uneducated failures can communicate as they fail to articulate things and get frustrated when opposition gives valid points. Just like my black Zambia exes who always resorted to swearing and throwing plates during arguments because they had no points. Glad my white wife is level headed and can constructively debate issues without violence. Pf can learn alot from her

  9. HH and UPND have been around Zambian politics for decades , how come we have the highest levels of political violence, tribalisim, corruption and moral decay only now with lungu as president ????

  10. Logical and wise Zambians are not interested in knowing who is to blame between PF and UPND! What logical and wise Zambians want to know is whether Zambia has a President! That’s all! If Zambia has a president, you won’t see political violence with its ugly head of bl00dshed and loss of precious lives! You just need to go back in history to learn how the Late Levy Patrick Mwanawasa did it! He never resorted to finger pointing as to who was to blame between his cadres and the opposition cadres. He drew the line in the sand! It was all about the RULE OF LAW! The police were given real powers to deal with the problem! So if political violence continues, you should know you don’t have a President! Full Stop!

  11. #11 Mwine Mushi, great I agree. What you are saying is that His Excellency must show courage and lock up his counterpart “his excellency” Trible HH, and there will be no more violence. Period!!

    After all in this article, even Anthony Bwalya, staunch UPND Member (and formerly aspiring upnd candidate for the position of honourable) has not left any doubt that he is admonishing Trible HH to stop the violence of his party which was formed by Anderson Mazoka on the national platform of peace, unity and development. But now Trible HH has reduced it to a violent trible party based in selected regions of Zambia.

    Trible HH is simply NO OPTION for Zambia. No matter how bad His Excellency may become, Trible HH will always be much worse and all Zambians know it for 2021.

    • “…..Trible HH is simply NO OPTION for Zambia. No matter how bad His Excellency may become…”

      To you PF looters and theives , lungu is the best only option, to almost Half of Zambians feed up the lungus corruption and mismangment , anybody can do a better job than lungu……

    • @ mwine mushi and junior JJ. The unfortunate thing is that the person who has the authority to stop all of this is the beneficiary and so has no interest in stopping the madness. The only way this madness stops is when the devil they entertain knocks at their door. What a country, it’s politics every day, all their energies are focused on elections and nothing else, crap

  12. ….Of course the best option is to take both out of the political picture in 2021 if a better option becomes available by then. Otherwise Aluta Continua is better than tribles until 2026 when both His Excellency and his counterpart “his excellency” will definitely become archives.

  13. We have never heard of any PF member that was ever killed by UPND. It’s always the other way round. Harry Kalaba is always in southern province and we have never heard that he got attacked by the UPND cadres. Obet Kasongo died after PF perpetrated violence in Roan where fully armed PF known cadres threatened violence on Chishimba Kambwili openly and up to date none has been arrested. For once, let us stick to the topic at hand,violence not gay rights. Why is it that when PF cadres run out of defensive mechanisms they always infuse the topic at hand with a cocktail of other unfounded stories to divert attention?

  14. #10 Spaka, “HH and UPND have been around Zambian politics for decades , how come we have the highest levels of political violence, tribalisim, corruption and moral decay only now……?”

    Your question contains the answer. Trible HH has lost elections so many times. His fear of the next obvious loss leads to high levels of desperation for power which we of the smart Zambian enterprise will never give him. And that leads him to violence which he has openly advocated under the guise of “defending ourselves”, as if anyone has ever pointed a gun a him. He cannot even pretend to advocate for peace. Contrast Trible HH’s thirst for blood and violence with the peace making statements of His Excellency.
    The bembas have a saying for Trible HH’s behaviour “tuka filila mwinsenga” meaning…

  15. …….The bembas have a saying for Trible HH’s behaviour “tuka filila mwinsenga” meaning “if I don’t have it, no one else must have it”.

    And losing to His Excellency Lungu has really peeved the underfive boy, and you can understand why, because Lungu is not really the best His Excellency Zambia can have, but he is certainly far better than his counterpart the trible “his excellency” in all respects.

  16. By the way, does Anthony Bwalya realise what he has done? Of course he is innocently advising Trible HH but not realising that Trible HH does not take advice because he is supposed to be the most intelligent person in the whole trible UPND.

    But relax, this trait is the same with his counterpart His Excellency Lungu, who also considers himself the most intelligent person in PF, at least in comparison to the majority of his barely literate ministers and advisors and party leaders.

  17. How Zambian leaders select the worst people to surround them and give them si.lly advice I will never understand. And yet Zambia is flooded with the some of the best brains in this region and beyond. I suppose it’s this same desire to look more intelligent than the pack and , more importantly, to surrounding yourself with yes men and bootlcikers. And destroy all governance and law enforcement institutions. But how else can you practice corruption anyway if you don’t do that?

  18. He will be expelled from trible UPND for this. You cannot criticise Trible HH in this manner or any manner at all, that is the trible god of UPND.
    You mean they have not expelled him yet? I mean hasn’t Trible HH the god not given instructions yet? Wait a few more days, maybe on National Prayer Day.

  19. We also wait for trible HH to comment on the trible UPND victory in Kaoma. A margin of only 151 votes in your stronghold which was 70 to 15 barely two years ago? Must be hard to make a sensible comment which cannot be misinterpreted. Fact is, it is a serious erosion of a stronghold, now a former stronghold for all intents and purposes.

  20. As we are preparing for the National day of prayers, we need to come in numbers to fast and cry to God to unvail all evil rights we have been hearing which are being supported by leaders vaying for the heighst political office in this country Zambia to be revealed. We do not want our nation to be exposed to Gayism.

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