Maravi

Rupiah’s treason

Rupiah’s treason
By The Post
Tue 21 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT

The announcement by Chiko Chibale, the MMD information secretary for the Copperbelt, that the ruling party has a militia and he is the commander for the Copperbelt unit has not been denied by Rupiah Banda and the top leadership of the MMD and its government.

When we have said that Rupiah is irresponsible, some people have accused us of insulting him and being disrespectful. But here is an example of how irresponsible Rupiah is. This is a president who doesn’t seem to appreciate the difference between important things and trivia.

A leader who understands the importance of peace and stability in a nation would not be so careless in the face of such a stunning revelation from his own political party. The revelation by Chibale has told the nation that the MMD is preparing for violence.

In view of the elections that are not very far away now, it shows that the MMD will do everything possible to try and retain power at any cost. What worries more is that Chibale’s revelation of the MMD having a militia was made in the context of threats to Bishop Paul Duffy for saying that the people of Western Province want the MMD out of power next year.

If a humble priest can be threatened with the possibility of the militia being unleashed on him for simply saying that the MMD is not wanted, is not popular, will not be voted for in Western Province, what hope is there for legitimate political opponents? The gravity of this issue should be understood in the context of Rupiah’s reaction, or more precisely the lack of it.

The MMD under Rupiah have by their silence confirmed that they have militias that they are using to carry out their political programmes. The question is: what are these programmes? Militias by definition exist for violence. Why should a legitimate government that controls the police, the army, the air force and other armed units need a militia?

What is it that this militia is meant to do that the legitimate law enforcement agencies and defence forces of our country cannot do? The creation of these militias tells its own story. And as we have asked before, what would be the reaction of Rupiah if any of the opposition political parties were to announce that they have a militia?

Militias are not created for peaceful purposes. They are created for violence and fomenting strife. They are created by those who cannot win elections or retain power by peaceful means. These are the people who resort to violence, to militias to achieve their goals. Do we have a situation in Zambia that necessitates the creation of militias, especially by a political party in power?

This tells us something that we should start paying a lot of attention to: something is seriously wrong in our country. There must be gangsters in government similar to those of the drug militias of Mexico who have to protect their loot by violence. These elements know what they have done and they also know that the only way they can protect themselves and their hold on power is through violence.

They cannot silence their opponents, those who don’t support them, through legitimate arguments and common logic. This is why they are resorting to violence to silence those who question what they are doing and who they think are threatening their hold on power. This development is a serious one which should not be downplayed or ignored by anyone.

We have enjoyed peace as a nation because at critical times in our development, when our national stability has been threatened, our people have made it very clear that they will not accept anything other than democratic resolution of our problems. We saw the kind of desperation that Rupiah is showing at the end of Frederick Chiluba’s tenure.

Chiluba unleashed violence on anyone who opposed him. Even his own close colleagues were not safe from molestation on account of differing with him. We also saw how that desperation was translated into election fraud.

Chiluba had to put Levy Mwanawasa in office at all costs and rigged those elections for him. There is Supreme Court testimony to this effect. In the election petition by the opposition challenging Levy’s election, Chiluba’s own very close lieutenant went to testify to the effect that Levy was fraudulently elected.

Xavier Chungu, Chiluba’s intelligence chief, was one of them. Katele Kalumba, Chiluba’s corrupt finance minister and MMD national secretary, was the other. We shouldn’t forget that even Vernon Mwaanga, who is today very close to Rupiah, also testified to the same effect.

Of course, their testimony only came after they realised that they miscalculated by bringing Levy because he was not going to be the stooge they designed him to be in order to protect them from the temerity of their own corrupt actions. Today Chiluba is one of Rupiah’s political consultants.

It should not surprise anyone that the same methods that Chiluba tried to use to secure an illegal third term for himself are today finding favour with Rupiah in his bid for another term of office at any cost. But Rupiah should not forget that our people rallied in defence of their Constitution when it mattered.

Whatever else Chiluba was able to do, he was stopped from butchering the Constitution to give himself another term of abusing the people and stealing their money.

The people Chiluba thought were docile and he could rule forever reminded him who the boss was. His schemes did not work in the end. Rupiah should expect the same from our people. This talk of militias, this naked exhibition of violence, will not be accepted by most of our people.

And this talk of militias should not just be about Rupiah. Those opportunists who serve with Rupiah should know that such dangerous actions are a threat to all, including themselves. You cannot have a country that has fully functioning laws failing to respond when sections of it begin to prepare for violence. People like Ronnie Shikapwasha are quick to make comments about all sorts of things.

One would expect that with his military background, he would see the gravity of the announcement by his party that they have formed militias and even have commanders who are ready to move militiamen into places like Western Province where they are not popular. What is the chief government spokesman saying about such a grave announcement?

You also have somebody who draws his salary by being minister of defence whose job is to ensure that the defence policies of the country are consistent with national interests. What is Kalombo Mwansa saying about his party’s announcement that parallel military structures are being created?

The nation has every reason to expect that their minister for defence should not tolerate this threat to state security. Whether or not the MMD is a government in power does not change anything. No political party should be allowed to run militias. There is also a compromised Minister for Justice, who also happens to be Vice-President to Rupiah.

If George Kunda was concerned about serving our people, he would not accept the kind of pronouncement about militias that has come from his party. If that announcement had been made by a member of the opposition, George would have been the first to declare that it was treason. And he would be correct.

The creation of militias by the MMD is not only an act of treason but also threatens our democratic processes because you cannot hold elections when one of the political players is armed and is forcing people to vote for him. In this situation, people lose their right to freely elect leaders of their choice.

We know it sounds negative but we have always thought it positive to say that the important thing about democracy is that we can remove without bloodshed, without violence, without militias the people who govern us. We can get rid of Rupiah by democratic processes. But that cannot be done when Rupiah is the commander-in-chief of a militia run by his party.

Rupiah’s failure to act on this militia is misprision of treason and treasonable itself. In other words, by failing to act, Rupiah is committing treason himself. This is a very serious matter.

Labels: CADRES, CHIKO CHIBALE, MMD, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 6:11 PM