Maravi

MMD will pay for Barotse blood - Imenda

MMD will pay for Barotse blood - Imenda
By Mwala Kalaluka
Sun 24 Apr. 2011, 04:59 CAT

THE MMD government will pay for the blood they have shed in Barotseland, says Lukulu East United Liberal Party parliamentarian Batuke Imenda. And a youth activist in Mongu says it is time the youth of Western Province rose to express their solidarity with the young people arrested over the Barotseland Agreement riots.

Reacting to the death of Barotse juvenile detainee, Kabayo Kabayo, who was detained in Mumbwa Prison over the January 14, 2011 Barotseland Agreement-related Mongu riots, Imenda said the MMD's actions against the people of Western Province was no different from what Col Muammar Gaddafi was doing to his people in Libya.

“No amount of cheap propaganda will change or heal our wounds,” Imenda said.

“The victims of the cold blooded killings compounded with fatal injuries and continued persecutions of our people in Mumbwa make our hearts bleed. In this year's elections the MMD government will pay for the blood they have shed.”

Imenda said he saw no difference between what Col Gaddafi was doing to defenceless civilians in his country and what President Rupiah Banda's government did to the people of Western Province on January 14, 2011.

“As we continue seeing horrifying pictures of the Mongu massacre we shall never fail to demand for a public inquiry to enable the nation come to terms with what really happened on the fateful day,” Imenda said.

“In a Christian, democratic and 'peaceful' nation, human blood can never be swept under the carpet. I want to remind people of Barotseland that President Banda told us that he did not need or request for our votes in 2008. The time to withdraw the 2008 votes is now. Let us vote for change.”

Imenda asked President Banda if he thought it proper that the nation was only getting the truth, albeit in piecemeal form, through the efforts of The Post newspaper.

“The answer is a categorical no, we demand for a public inquiry,” said Imenda. “We demand to know the number of people that were murdered, missing as well as those that were maimed as a result of the indiscriminate use of firearms by the police against civilians.”

And Adolescent Reproductive Health Advocates (ARHA) executive director Brian Kayongo said in an interview from Mongu yesterday that Kabayo's death in police custody had angered many people.
“What are we going to talk about if young people are left to die like this? This young man went there Mumbwa Prison very healthy. I think it is a violation of human rights as far as we are concerned,” Kayongo said. “First of all you look at the health of a juvenile. He should have been given special treatment because he qualified for bail.”

Kayongo said his organisation, which advocates for the rights of young people, condemns the police's conduct over Kabayo's death in the strongest terms possible.

“This is one clear violation of young people's rights,” Kayongo said. “It has become clear that the government doesn't look at the future of young people.

One of the roles of the police is to protect life but if we continue losing lives it means they are failing in their duties.” Kayongo said those detained in Mumbwa were not criminals but that they were mere suspects.

“These are not issues of politics. These are issues to do with the lives of the people,” said Kayongo. “We have been quiet because there was no life that was at stake, apart from two lives that we lost, but things are getting into our nerves. As young people, it is high time that we rose and show our solidarity with the young people that were arrested.”

Meanwhile, the government has provided two vehicles from the Western Province Permanent Secretary’s office to collect the body of 16-year-old Kabayo who died on Friday in police custody in Mumbwa .

Labels: BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, BATUKE IMENDA, MMD, MONGU

posted by MrK @ 2:28 PM