Changala Urges Hichilema to Break Silence on Post-Election Fear

Civil rights activist Brebner Changala has urged President Hakainde Hichilema to break his silence on what he described as a climate of fear and uncertainty across Zambia since the general election, warning that the country is more divided than on the day the Head of State took…

Civil rights activist Brebner Changala has urged President Hakainde Hichilema to break his silence on what he described as a climate of fear and uncertainty across Zambia since the general election, warning that the country is more divided than on the day the Head of State took office in 2021.

Mr Changala made the appeal on Thursday, addressing the President directly. He said voting on 13 August was largely peaceful, but that what followed the polls had left many citizens anxious about their safety.

“Mr President, this country is divided. More divided than the day you took office in 2021,” Mr Changala said.

He said the rise of the Tonse-Pamodzi alliance in the months before the vote had shown that many Zambians wanted political change, and that the campaign had grown heated. The mood since the election, he said, was one of fear brought on by arrests and detentions.

“But most worrying is your silence when majority of the citizens are not happy with what is going on in this country where we seem to have a clamp down,” he said.

Mr Changala said arrests had become a daily occurrence, with some carried out in dramatic fashion far from the homes of those detained. He reminded Mr Hichilema that he was elected to protect every citizen, and to speak whenever citizens felt unsafe.

“Every day you wake up, somebody must be arrested and many are arrested in the James Bond style, in a very dramatic style, on the streets far away from their homes. They disappear,” he said.

He also questioned the President’s silence over the death of former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya, who was shot dead during a raid on the Kabulonga home of opposition presidential candidate Brian Mundubile.

“I am not comfortable that you have never officially commented on the death of Honourable Mutotwe Kafwaya,” Mr Changala said.

On detentions, he said some citizens were spending months in police cells without police bond and without being taken before a court.

“I am not comfortable that even with your guidance on several forums, you have not commented on long detentions of individuals in police cells, sometimes going to one, two, three months without police bond, without being taken to court,” he said.

Mr Changala said the silence was hard to accept from a leader who had championed human rights and freedoms in opposition.

“Human rights, people’s freedoms, that was your battle cry. What has happened today that you don’t talk about it?” he asked.

He called on the President to address the closure of the courts during the period when election petitions were expected to be filed, saying the judiciary should remain open to citizens seeking redress. He also asked why some speech had come to be treated as hate speech or sedition.

“We need to know as to why speech and language has become hate speech or sedition. You need to address that. Your silence is extremely worrisome,” he said.

Mr Changala urged the President to hold a press briefing or press conference and respond directly to the concerns. He recalled that Mr Hichilema had promised, while in opposition, to be a friend of the media.

He said Zambia could not achieve economic development without protecting the freedoms of its citizens.

“You cannot grow an economy in the midst of a gagged nation. Because those people and women who speak, they speak and add value to what you want to grow,” he said.

The activist also voiced concern over the weakening of institutions that have traditionally given citizens a voice, naming the Church, the labour movement and student unions. He said criticism should not be read as hatred, and that Zambia’s political culture had always made room for dissent and humour.

Mr Changala urged Mr Hichilema, who was sworn in for a second term on 1 September, to use his mandate to reach out to supporters and opponents alike.

“You have told the world and you have celebrated with many that you are in charge. Be in charge for those who support you and indeed for many who do not agree with you. That is leadership. Talk to the willing. Speak to those who are unwilling,” he said.

He said the situation looked like a country being held hostage.

“It all looks like you are holding this country hostage, Mr President. Free your people. Let the people talk. That’s the only way you are going to govern properly because you know what their needs are and what their concerns are,” Mr Changala said.

Mr Mundubile, the President’s main rival in the election, his running mate Makebi Zulu and 16 other opposition leaders, lawyers and security personnel have been charged with treason and are held at the maximum security correctional facility in Kabwe.

Seven international and regional legal organisations have separately raised concerns about the Judiciary, access to justice, the conduct of security forces and the ability of lawyers to operate freely after the election.

The Law Association of Zambia added its voice on Thursday. President Arnold Kaluba said every person in custody should be brought before a competent court without undue delay, or lawfully released, and that the seriousness of an allegation did not place anyone outside the protection of the Constitution.

Government has rejected claims that the law is being used against political opponents. Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe said in an interview in New York that those in detention face individual criminal charges rather than political persecution, and that every citizen remains innocent until proven guilty before a competent court.

Mr Changala, together with lawyer Linda Kasonde and the LCK Freedom Foundation, had earlier petitioned the Constitutional Court to challenge the validity of the presidential election, saying the electoral environment before, during and after the poll violated constitutional guarantees.