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Rupiah, Shikapwasha will be to blame for violence – Kabimba

Rupiah, Shikapwasha will be to blame for violence – Kabimba
Written by George Chellah in Lusaka and Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:36:13 PM

LUSAKA lawyer Wynter Kabimba has warned that the nation would hold President Rupiah Banda and Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha accountable should any sectarian or political violence break out in the country. And former Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Fackson Shamenda has said information minister Lt Gen Shikapwasha's justification of the violence against The Post puts him in an embarrassing situation.

In an interview on Tuesday, Kabimba said no civilised government today could cultivate a policy of violence to deal with divergent views from its citizens.

"Only a primitive government takes that route and it is good now that these things are no longer confined to the jurisdictions of a country. Violence against minorities, minorities in the sense that those who are opposed to the way you think and feel. It is good now that the world has become one," Kabimba said. "I think the warning to [Lt] General Shikapwasha is that this is a record for us and if he has done very little reading or he is not following the events...what is happening to President [Omar] Al-Bashir of the Sudan, what happened to [Slobadan] Milosevic of Serbia and what happened to [late Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein? Gen Shikapwasha belongs to this class of leaders."

He said it was clear that Lt Gen Shikapwasha was speaking on behalf of President Banda who had not condemned the violence by MMD cadres.

"A President that is worth his sort in governing a civilised country would have dismissed Lt Gen Shikapwasha and condemned the statement as not being the policy of the government and the ruling party," Kabimba said. "The silence coming from the President himself personally and his office is a clear indication to us as citizens that this is a position taken by Gen Shikapwasha's boss Mr Rupiah Banda."

Kabimba said the police had become instruments of the ruling party.

"...Because if this statement were made by a member of the opposition they would have very quickly reacted," Kabimba said.

He said the current crop of leaders had no boundaries.

"We have seen in other countries people lost lives, people lost lives in Rwanda because of having leaders that think that they can only remain in power by getting rid of those that think differently from them," Kabimba said. "So the people of Zambia must take this as a challenge and not look at Gen Shikapwasha as a person who is just hallucinating on an anthill. He is not a mad person, we think that he is very sane until it is proven otherwise so we must take his statement seriously."

Kabimba warned that Lt Gen Shikapwasha risked being extradited to the International Criminal Court (ICC) should his utterances spark trouble in the country.

"Obviously, they would be the architects of sectarian violence, ethnic violence of any type or political violence that may affect this country. Therefore, they must be held to account," Kabimba said. "I also want to say that it is interesting that in the midst of all this the so-called donors in Zambia find Gen Shikapwasha's statement as very normal even as these things are not normal in their own countries."

Kabimba said President Banda and Lt Gen Shikapwasha's time of reckoning would come.

"The goodness is that nobody has ever been in power forever. They will be made accountable for their actions even now or when they are out of power. We shall hold them accountable to these statements and the consequences arising from these statements. They cannot be immune to the general law of what is going on in the world today," Kabimba said. "One day the international community will be the one to demand that these guys are adulterating the Zambian society that they are not capable to be leaders to lead a civilised country. Therefore, they must go and be held accountable. [Former Liberian president] Charles Taylor is at The Hague today...he was President like Mr Rupiah Banda. But we shall not be cowed by these statements because this country is for all of us."

And Shamenda said Lt Gen Shikapwasha's statement promoted lawlessness.

"That statement if not corrected puts the information minister in an embarrassing situation and also puts the police in an awkward position," Shamenda said. "It's unacceptable for cadres to be encouraged and in a civilised society those in government are expected to be custodians of the law and to protect the interests of citizens."

He wondered why instant justice should be meted out on those who were perceived to have insulted.

"Even criminals are protected by the law; they are kept in prison to protect them from running away and from those who might want to revenge for their crimes," he said. "If convicted murderers are being pardoned, how do you mete out instant justice on someone who you think has insulted? Let's be civil in our approach."

Shamenda, when asked about Lt Gen Shikapwasha's statement initially, laughed and expressed hope that the information minister was misquoted.

"If he wasn't then it's very unfortunate because those in government are custodians of law and order even if the others are a bunch of criminals you don't allow that," said Shamenda. "That's why we have law enforcers like the police and in some extreme cases when the situation really gets out of hand the military to help maintain law and order; which means there are back ups."

Last week, Lt Gen Shikapwasha justified the MMD cadres' attacks on Post journalists, saying the newspaper was reaping what it sowed.

Labels: CADRES, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA, RUPIAH BANDA, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 10:37 PM