Resolve problems of Barotseland peacefully - Sata

Resolve problems of Barotseland peacefully - Sata
By George Chellah
Sat 05 Feb. 2011, 04:01 CAT

MICHAEL Sata has called for peaceful resolution of problems in Barotseland. In an interview yesterday, Sata said it was not too late to resolve the problems in Barotseland peacefully by talking to each other without intimidation, harassment and violence.

“Arresting and detaining so many young people from Mongu will not resolve the tension that has been created over the issues they have been raising. What is needed is the release of all the arrested and detained young people and engaging them and their leaders into finding ways to remove the cause of this dissension,” Sata said.

“As I have stated before the Barotse Agreement is not a contentious issue, which any serious government, which is interested in increasing the participation of its people in government can fail to honour and respect. No one can govern this country alone or with a small group of people from Lusaka. We need all our people to participate in government using the structures they themselves have created and understand better.”

He said for PF, this made the honouring of the Barotse Agreement a matter of urgent necessity and not political expedience to win an election.

“We want to govern not for the sake of it but to push our country and all our people in all parts of our country forward. We therefore call for the release of all the detained young people and their positive engagement in removing the tension that today surrounds Mongu and other parts of Barotseland,” Sata said.

“We cannot continue to have young people hiding in the bush for weeks fearing to be arrested without their mothers and fathers knowing where they are. Let us bring peace to those mothers and fathers who are not sleeping and even eating because they don’t know where their children are.”

He stressed the need for fear and tension to be removed from Mongu.

“Our people need return to normal life following the sad events of the last few weeks in which some of our young people lost lives and others where maimed and will have to live the rest of their lives as disabled persons,” Sata said.

“We know that the conditions in our prisons are not good for anybody. This government must just pluck the courage to do the right thing.”