“The Patriotic Front’s (PF) failure to respect and uphold the rule of law has led to a rise in hate speech, tribalism with a potential to lead to civil unrest in the country”, says UPND Secretary General, Stephen Katuka.
Speaking when he featured on KBN TV’s State of The Nation program, Mr Katuka however said the country has pieces of legislation that criminalizes hate speech which are being undermined by the lack of respect for the rule of law.
Mr Katuka said the culture of political violence, tribalism and hate speech had reached an all-time high under the PF regime as he rubbished the ECZ decision to allow prisoners vote in the 2021 tripartite elections.
“The recent pronouncement by the Electoral Commission of Zambia that prisoners would be allowed to vote in the 2021 general elections is a trick by the PF to galvanize votes from inmates. We also wonder what message the PF would sell to the prospective prison voters,” he said.
On the country’s electoral governing body’s statement that the commission would not be able to sponsor stakeholders to go and witness the printing ballot papers for the 2021 general elections, Mr Katuka stated that the ECZ would be doing the Zambian people a disservice if it didn’t allow them to participate in the verification process of ballot papers.
He has since advised Zambians to be weary of President Edgar Lungu’s allegedly humble demeanour which he was said was a way of hiding his corrupt nature.
Commenting on the widespread political violence and vote buying that has rocked the ongoing Chilubi Parliamentary and ward by-election campaigns across the country, the UPND Secretary General blamed the elections body for failing to level the political playing field.
“We have tried to engage them to intervene especially in Chilubi constituency where the PF, through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has been distributing Mealie-Meal and money but have refused to attend to us as they have no time for us,” Katuka said.
(c) UPND MEDIA TEAM
