Maravi

Just be courageous enough, arrest Chansa

Just be courageous enough, arrest Chansa
Written by Editor

THE Police have again today summoned Chansa Kabwela, our news editor, for questioning, for harassment in connection with those pictures Rupiah Banda said were pornographic and we should be arrested for them. This is corruption on the part of Rupiah and his police.

We say it is corruption because corruption is not only about stealing public funds. It is also about abuse of power, arrogance and lack of humility. It is clear that Rupiah is abusing the police and our country's judicial process to harass us. Rupiah has made it very clear that his goal, his aim, his dream is to see The Post closed.

He says one day he will catch us wrong-footed, having done something wrong, something illegal. And he hopes through these pictures he may 'catch us'. This is a crazy and wild dream. It won't work because there is no wrong, legal or otherwise, that we have committed over those pictures. In fact, our noble gesture should be respected by men and women of goodwill in this country.

But this harassment will not make us yield to the criminal dictates of Rupiah and his league. There are individuals and organisations in this country that have sold out to Rupiah, been hired by Rupiah, or surrendered to Rupiah, but we serve notice on Rupiah - and he should know, after 18 years, that we mean what we say - our journalists, our staff, our newspaper, and our editors will never hire themselves out, sell out, or surrender. We are not like NGOCC or those changed Women for Change.

We are not like that woman who they say kept looking - who the Bible says - kept looking toward that lake, toward that city which had sunk, and who was changed into a pillar of salt. We cannot be changed into a pillar of salt, looking back at where we are coming from and what we have done, contemplating, enjoying what we have done. We will always look forward. That is the only proper attitude for us to have, which all honest people should have without reservations of any kind, without regrets of any kind.

Others may be used to trembling before Rupiah and his police, but not us. Never. Nothing, other than death, will ever stop us from making whatever efforts are necessary to fulfil our sacred duties to our people and our country. If they think Chansa is a small girl who they can intimidate, they are cheating themselves, they have got it wrong because though young and very polite, Chansa will always stand her ground. She is a young lady of exceptional quality, very respectful and intelligent. It is senseless for anyone to accuse her of engaging in pornography. She is one of the great leaders at the newspaper, an editor with very high morals and sense of duty. She is a far much more responsible citizen than those accusing her of circulating pornography.

But Rupiah will soon realise that a leader who relies on the police, on the abuse of the judicial process, to settle political scores, to revenge against his political opponents - real or imaginary, to solve social and political problems is bound to come to grief. The abuse of the police and the judicial process will not deter people of conscience. There will always be people who will be ready to follow the dictates of our conscience irrespective of the consequences that might overtake them for it. And there are few harassments in this world that one cannot turn into a personal triumph if they have the iron will and the necessary skill.

It is said that if you are in harmony with yourself, you may meet a lion without fear, because he respects anyone with self-confidence. If you have not committed any crime, if you have not violated any standards or moral principles you will always have a lot of self-confidence. We do face major challenges as a result of Rupiah's hatred for us, his intentions to wipe us off the face of this country, his harassment, but none are as daunting as those we have already surmounted. We just hope one day our police, our judicial process and the laws of our country will stop being used to legalise the harassment of citizens those in power hate, legalise tyranny and repression. In time, we must bestow on Zambia the greatest gift - a more humane society. Government harassment, vindictiveness can only do one thing, and that is to breed contempt for itself. You can't build a nation on the basis of abusing the police and the judicial process. It is said that the great lesson of our time is that no regime can survive if it acts above the heads of the ordinary citizens of the country.

We hope one day we will all learn to be affected by the suffering of fellow citizens. The suffering of any citizen of this country should affect all of us no matter where we find ourselves; it should move us with indignation. Let it never be said by future generations that indifference, cynicism or selfishness made us fail to live up to such ideals. The important thing is to give happiness to people. To deny a baby or a mother in labour the chance to live is to challenge their very humanity.

We can make our country a more just, fair and humane nation if we try. But this will only be achieved through hardship, sacrifice and militant action. If a citizen fights back every time injustice is committed against him, they are likely to get more respect than if they capitulated.

We believe Chansa is defending, we are defending certain principles that are of tremendous value at a time of confusion and opportunism in our country, a time when many people are just feathering their own nests, a time of what we might call the deification of political power.

It is not possible for one to claim that they love this country when every day they see injustices committed against the people of this country and decide to do nothing, or simply look away. It is said that love for one's country isn't ridiculous love of the land or the grass under our plants; it is hatred of those who abuse our country's people, eternal animosity toward those who mistreat them. For us, our country means the people, and we have tremendous, ever-growing admiration for our people, because our people are increasingly becoming sensitive to injustice.

This is the way we look at Rupiah and his police's continued harassment of Chansa. It's just over a week that the police had summoned Chansa for interviews and she gave them a warn and caution statement. And today they again want her for interviews. For what? The best they can do is to simply arrest and charge her today so that we can proceed to court and put an end to this nonsense. If they think they have got a case, let them go to court. But we have no doubt theirs is the most senseless and ridiculous charge any self-respecting police officer can accept to administer. We will see and hear what the arresting officer will say in court, what reasons he or she will give for arresting and charging Chansa with pornography as directed by Rupiah. It would have been good if Rupiah was in a position to come to court and testify against Chansa. The state witnesses in this case may be drawn from NGOCC and Women for Change. We will be very happy to cross-examine them and show how foolish, treacherous and opportunistic their act was. We just hope that the police will be courageous enough today to effect an arrest so that we proceed to court because these unending interviews are just a form of harassment of Chansa and a waste of police time, and indeed Chansa's time.

Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 6:46 AM