Rupiah should stop this violence

Rupiah should stop this violence
By Editor
Sun 15 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT

It is said that desperate people do desperate things. This is what can best describe what Rupiah Banda is doing today.

It is clear that he knows that there are serious political challenges ahead. With that in mind, he wants to do everything to ensure that by hook or crook, he retains power. This is the only way one can explain why a sitting head of state who has sworn to uphold the laws of the land can condone the thuggery that Rupiah is condoning today.

We have no doubt in our minds that the political violence that we continue to witness in our country has Rupiah’s blessing. It seems he is very happy when those that he does not support or those that he feels are a danger to his hold on power are molested physically.

We say this because it is very clear that the activities of William Banda, Rupiah’s terrorist in chief, have got the full blessings of Rupiah. There is no way that William Banda can be so confident in marshalling young people and encouraging them to engage in violence without Rupiah’s protection. If William did not have Rupiah’s protection, he would not have the courage to do what he is doing today.

The violence that was unleashed at the funeral service held in memory of the late Lameck Chibombamilimo is despicable. Just when we had thought that Rupiah’s wolves would have been satisfied with molesting Ng’andu Magande, they went to attack PF cadres in full view of the police at the funeral service. We are not surprised that not a single cadre from the MMD who was involved in that violence has been arrested. Indeed, we do not expect anyone to be arrested. If anything, it might well be the people who were molested who will end up being arrested. This is Rupiah’s justice, Rupiah’s law. We saw this in Mufumbwe. The UPND cadres who were being battered by William Banda’s militias were the ones who ended up being arrested for all sorts of things. This is wrong. Rupiah may feel almighty today and be comfortable in orchestrating this abuse of power, but a day of reckoning is coming.

In Mufumbwe, we saw the police running all over the place looking for a member of parliament that they claimed organised youth to attack an alleged policeman. UPND Solwezi Central member of parliament Watson Lumba had to run for dear life because of the brutality with which the police were pursuing him. What they said is that he was behind the violence that rocked Mufumbwe. We are not saying anything new; these are things that our people know. Whilst they were pursuing Lumba, they completely ignored the attempted murder of Charles Kakoma, the UPND spokesman, who is also member of parliament for Zambezi West. We reported and showed pictures of Kakoma’s attack, but to this day, no one has been arrested.

Against that background, it is not surprising to see that although everybody knows that William Banda is behind quite a few political violence skirmishes, nothing will be done to him. It is this protection that people like William Banda are receiving that is emboldening them and increasing their impunity. We have told Rupiah a countless times that the exercise of power must be tampered with self-limitation. Over-confidence and over-belief in the usage of excessive power is what leads to atrocities. We have told Rupiah that this lack of tolerance will make him commit atrocities. He should know as President that some of the people who are around him are hungry and desperate. People like William Banda have tasted destitution and they are not prepared to go back to their humble means. And for that reason, they will do anything to protect the privilege that they now have. They will do anything for and in the name of the president if it helps them to maintain their newly-found comfortable existence.

But Rupiah should know that he is responsible for their actions. People have been wounded and maimed and more are likely to be injured at the rate Rupiah is going.

We say that Rupiah is responsible because we know that we no longer have even the pretence of an independent police force. Francis Kabonde cannot be said to be a professional police officer. He has shown himself as a political bootlicker who will bend the law in any direction that his political puppeteers direct him. Instead of providing security for all citizens, Kabonde has made it clear, by his actions, that he is there to do the wishes of Rupiah and nothing else.

As for Rupiah, he has also made it very clear that he is the one who is controlling the police in their day-to-day activities. On any matter in which Rupiah is interested, it is clear that the police are not allowed to exercise their professional judgement. Rupiah is literally the chief constable. It is he who says who should and should not be arrested. This newspaper has been a victim of this capricious abuse of power. But there are also many others who will continue to suffer from this. It seems there is no justice for anybody other than Rupiah, his friends and his cadres. The police are now being used almost as a private militia to execute Rupiah’s wishes.

We saw this clearly the other week when Rupiah exercised powers that the law does not give him. Rupiah claimed that he forgave the PF cadres who were alleged to have blocked George Kunda’s motorcade in Ndola. Firstly, we don’t think there was any criminal offence that was committed. But that is not the point. The point is how did Rupiah get the courage to publicly announce that people who were alleged to have committed an offence should be set free? This only demonstrates the way that Rupiah has been using his power as president. By that act, Rupiah demonstrated yet again that he had been interfering in the work of the police. Clearly, the police are working under very close supervision from State House. This state of affairs is dangerous for the nation, but it is also dangerous for Rupiah. Today he may be operating behind the veil of state craft, but it won’t be long before that veil is torn away and the emperor who thought he was fully clothed will soon realise he is naked.

Rupiah is not the first president we have had. He should learn from his predecessors, particularly Frederick Chiluba who made the abuse of power the primary strategy for maintaining control. Yes, when he was president, Chiluba could do so many things but that was not the case as soon as he left. The world has caved in around him and he has no real dignity to talk about.

The violence that Rupiah is condoning will destroy him. We have never heard Rupiah distance himself from the activities of William Banda. If anything, he seems very pleased. This is why William Banda is even able to threaten ministers in Rupiah’s hearing without anything being done to him.
The thugs who molested people at Chibombamilimo’s funeral are known, but nothing will be done to them or about them because they are a protected militia carrying out the wishes of Rupiah himself. If that was not the case, Rupiah would have stopped this violence.

As President, Rupiah is capable of stopping the violence that we continue to witness. But we don’t expect him to. That would be expecting too much of Rupiah because it takes a very high level of humanity and a deep sense of right and wrong for a person in Rupiah’s position to use power as it ought to be – to help the people.

But that is not the kind of President Rupiah is. Rupiah is there for himself, his family and his friends. To him, it is more important to push this or that procurement contract than to deal with our people’s actual problems. Retaining power at any cost is not something that Rupiah will shun away from.

Notwithstanding Rupiah’s responsibility, we have a duty to demand that Rupiah stops this violence. And we will continue to make the demand because it is right. Rupiah should stop this violence.