Metro

Zambia’s opposition National Democratic Congress rejects ban on public rallies

Published

12 months ago

January 7, 2024

Another of Zambia’s opposition parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has rejected a ban on opposition to hold public rallies which was recently announced by the Inspector-General of Police, Graphael Musamba.

Musamba had announced the ban on public rallies by the opposition after the Deputy Secretary-General of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), Getrude Imenda, had earlier made the call.

Rejecting the ban,
NDC leader, Saboi Imboela, in an interview with Zambia Monitor on Saturday, said the decision was undemocratic and should not be supported by citizens as it showed the kind of retrogressive conversations happening behind closed doors.

Imboela advised President Hakainde Hichilema to put his house in order and stop assaulting the democracy which was already under threat.

“The pronouncement by the Inspector-General that the opposition should not be having public rallies but indoor meetings is very worrisome, undemocratic and unconstitutional,” Imboela stated.

Describing the announcement by Musamba as unfortunate, Imboela said:

“We first heard this from the Deputy Secretary-General of the UPND and now we heard it from the IG himself, a man holding a high position at a democratic institution”.

She stated that with the pronouncement, the opposition had been vindicated on their cry that the democratic space in the country had shrunk under Hichilema’s rule.

Imboela’s reaction to the ban on public rallies is coming few days after the Socialist Party (SP) threatened to hold nationwide rallies, meetings, recruitment drive, and other mobilisation activities with or without a permit from the police.

The SP National Youth spokesperson, Stanely Muba’sa, in a daring statement in Lusaka last week, had said the party would defy the authorities in 2024 because the “just ended year was full of dictatorship by the curent administration” of President Hichilema and the ruling UNDP.

Muba’sa said the SP had declared 2024 as a year to hold public rallies, with or without police permit, noting that at no point did the constitution give police powers to allow and stop rallies, saying that only the opposition had suffered the abuse.

“We on several occasions wrote to notify police to hold our rallies, but all attempts, were stopped methodically, this is true with other political parties,” Muba’sa stated.

“This is our democratic right; we will not kneel down before President Hakainde Hichilema and his government to enjoy these political and civil rights,” he vowed.

Related Topics:Featured NDC Politics Rallies Zambia

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Metro

Zambia: FOX report highlights persistent media harassment, calls for reforms

Published

5 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A new Freedom of Expression (FOX) report by the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia, has raised concerns over what it describes as the continued harassment of media professionals in the country despite collective efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.

The FOX Report serves as a call to action for all stakeholders to create a safer and more enabling environment for the media to operate without fear or intimidation.

Chairperson of the MISA-Zambia Board, Lorraine Mwanza, who raised the concerns while launching the report on Tuesday at the Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, highlighted that journalists and media practitioners in the country still faced intimidation, censorship, and violence for fulfilling their role of informing the public.

“The harassment of media professionals is a stark reminder of the threats posed to democratic values and the fundamental rights to seek, receive, and impart information without fear or hindrance,” Mwanza said.

She expressed solidarity with those who are targets of attack, and reaffirmed MISA’s commitment to defending journalists’ rights and protecting the integrity of the profession.

Mwanza further called on the government to address barriers preventing journalists from accessing public officials, emphasizing that public officials were custodians of critical information necessary for informed decision-making.

“When citizens have access to government data, they can better understand policies, monitor public spending, and advocate for change in their communities,” Mwanza noted.

She also appealed for the review and repeal of laws that undermine democracy, stressing the importance of enacting legislation that guarantees media freedom, freedom of expression, and digital rights, and commended the government for responding to calls from civil society organizations to withdraw the controversial Cyber Bills from Parliament.

Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary, Thabo Kawana, in a speech read by Ministry Director Mordern Mayembe, reaffirmed government’s commitment to upholding media freedom and freedom of expression in Zambia.

Metro

Nigeria: 614,937 killed, 2.2m abducted in 1 year— Report

Published

14 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A new report released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that over 614,937 Nigerians were killed and 2,235,954 others kidnapped across the country in one year between May 2023 and April 2024.

The NBS report, titled, “The Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024”, says based on the surveys conducted between May 2023 and April 2024, the 2.2 million Nigerians who were kidnapped across the country paid a whopping N2.2 trillion as ransom, with an average amount of N2.7 million per incident.

The report also disclosed that murder rate was highest in rural areas with 335,827 incidents and 279,110 in urban areas.

A zone-by-zone analysis of the report showed that the North-West had the highest murder cases of 206,030, followed by the North-East which stood at 188,992, while the least was recorded in the South-West at 15,693.

The report also revealed about seven in 10 households reported murder cases to the police nationwide with 33 per cent of households responding that the killer was an unknown person, and 23.4 per cent confirmed that the murderer was a member of the household; while 1.0 per cent reported that the murderer was either a spouse or a lover.

The report said 1,668,104 persons were kidnapped in rural areas and 567,850 in urban areas with the North-West having the highest cases of kidnapping with 1,420,307 abducted, followed by the North-Central with 317,837 and the South-East at 110,432.

“Of the estimated amount of N2.2 trillion payments to free victims, the North-West reported the highest ransom paid with N1.2 trillion; while the South-East was the least with N85.4 billion.

“Disaggregated by zones, the North-Central reported the highest proportion of payment of ransom at 83.4 per cent, followed by North-East at 78.6 per cent.

“Households in urban areas paid an average of N3.7 million compared to N2.3 million in rural areas,” the report stated.

It added that about 91 per cent of kidnapping incidents were done for ransom in the form of money, goods or other benefits.

“While 2.4 per cent of cases were attributed to political, criminal, or terrorist objectives; 2.1 per cent were linked to personal or family disputes. Custody disputes accounted for 0.5 per cent of cases,” the report said.