{"id":721,"date":"2021-05-14T04:47:42","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T04:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?p=721"},"modified":"2021-05-14T04:39:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T04:39:53","slug":"pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws","title":{"rendered":"PF\u2019s Abuse of Sedition Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zambia<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>By Henry Kyambalesa<\/b><\/p>\n

It has become common knowledge that the Patriotic Front (PF) administration has often used sedition laws against some citizens who have attempted to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression to critique the government\u2019s apparent failure to address the catalogue of socioeconomic problems facing the country and the common people.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Section 57 through Section 62 of the Penal Code Act\u2014that is, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia\u2014have become a vital weapon against citizens who dare to decry the widespread destitution and clear-as-crystal socioeconomic decay and backwardness in our Motherland. The following headlines excerpted from a diversity of news sources are good examples of the use (or is it \u201cabuse\u201d) of sedition laws by the PF administration:<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo journalists in Zambia arrested, charged with sedition.\u201d (July 19, 2013.)<\/p>\n

\u201cMagistrate overturns his earlier judgment and dismisses case of sedition against 4 Barotse Activists.\u201d (December 4, 2013.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThree Luyungandambo Barotse Activists appear in Court again for sedition.\u201d (December 9, 2014.)<\/p>\n

\u201cZambia charges \u2026 presidential candidate with sedition.\u201d (October 6, 2016.)<\/p>\n

\u201cDrop sedition charges against HH and GBM \u2013 Amnesty International.\u201d (October 20, 2016.)<\/p>\n

\u201cSinger Afunika\u2019s wife charged with seditious publication.\u201d (February 23, 2020.)<\/p>\n

\u201cArresting officer testifies in Mushipe\u2019s sedition case \u2013 Zambia.\u201d (June 30, 2020.) And<\/p>\n

\u201cEmmanuel Mwamba Reports Sishuwa Sishuwa to the Police for writing and publishing seditious material.\u201d (April 26, 2021.)<\/p>\n

Recently, a brother of ours is reported as having reported Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa \u201cfor writing and publishing seditious material.\u201d I have had the opportunity to skim through some of Dr. Sishuwa\u2019s articles.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the implicit message I have discerned from his articles is his advocacy for a change in the leadership of our beloved country through the ballot box. There is really nothing seditious about this\u2014it is what citizens and non-PF patriots in opposition political parties are supposed to do.<\/p>\n

And PF leaders and supporters would have engaged in the same or similar kinds of rhetoric if they were not in power and had a desire to secure the people\u2019s mandate to form government.<\/p>\n

In fact, the issues and problems which Dr. Sishuwa has attempted to highlight in some of his articles are actually undeniable, and they affect the majority of Zambian citizens irrespective of the political parties they belong to and the political leaders they support.<\/p>\n

Such issues and problems include mass poverty, extreme inequalities, intolerable levels of unemployment, unprecedented economic decline, the worsening levels of corruption, and unsustainable levels of commercial, bilateral and multilateral debts, among a host of other socioeconomic issues and problems.<\/p>\n

There is a need for PF officials and supporters to actively counter dissent and criticism with factual, honest and regular defences of their government\u2019s handling of the socioeconomic issues and problems facing the country and the common people.<\/p>\n

Some of the issues and problems about which journalists, opposition politicians, political commentators, and scribes like Dr. Sishuwa have continually accused the ruling political party as having miserably failed to address are chronicled by the Bank of Zambia, Amnesty International, Transparency International, the World Bank, the local Central Statistical Office, and other credible institutions.<\/p>\n

One wonders why PF leaders and supporters cannot continually defend themselves in word and deed through their monopolised national news outlets\u2014including the Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (radio and TV), and the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS)\u2014which they can freely use in this endeavour.<\/p>\n

One would wish to advise our compatriots in the PF administration to refrain from \u201cweaponising\u201d sedition laws against critics. Charging such people with the offence of sedition should, therefore, never be the norm\u2014it should be used sparingly, if ever.<\/p>\n

If PF officials cannot withstand the heat, they will do well to stay out of the kitchen, so to speak, in order to spare the citizenry from incessant violations of their rights and freedoms.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Michelle Obama, former U.S. First Lady, has provided the following additional leadership morsel for PF officials to consider:<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing Commander-in-Chief [and Head of State and Government] is a hard job; [among other things,] \u2026 you need to have discipline, and you need to read, \u2026 you need to be knowledgeable, you need to know history, [and] you need to be careful with your words.\u201d<\/p>\n

And one has to make an earnest effort to perform one\u2019s job with dignity, leadership and integrity amidst a myriad of genuine and\/or unfounded criticisms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. By Henry Kyambalesa It has become common knowledge that the Patriotic Front (PF) administration has often used sedition laws against some citizens who have attempted to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression to critique the government\u2019s apparent failure to address the catalogue of socioeconomic problems facing the country and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8,16],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nPF\u2019s Abuse of Sedition Laws - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Henry Kyambalesa It has become common knowledge that the Patriotic Front (PF) administration has often used s ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PF\u2019s Abuse of Sedition Laws\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Henry Kyambalesa It has become common knowledge that the Patriotic Front (PF) administration has often used s ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-14T04:47:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2021\/05\/img-609dff03b4fcc.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"934\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"PF\u2019s Abuse of Sedition Laws\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-14T04:47:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2021\/05\/img-609dff03b4fcc.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/pfs-abuse-of-sedition-laws\",\"name\":\"PF\u2019s Abuse of Sedition Laws - 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