FT Letter: The Commonwealth should call out Zambia
FT Letter: The Commonwealth should call out Zambia
From Richard Elsen, Zambia Specialist, Seaford, East Sussex, UK
Zambia has changed its governing party peacefully three times since the multi-party era began in 1991 and has never suffered a coup; it was Africa’s example of resource wealth and stable democracy coexisting.
Yet just a day after Zambians went to the polls in an election (“Zambia’s election becomes battle over copper windfall”, Report, FT.com, August 13), security forces raided the Lusaka home of opposition candidate Brian Mundubile, alleging a militia plot to seize power.
A former minister inside the building, Mutotwe Kafwaya, was shot, though the government spent five days denying it. Police have since confirmed Kafwaya’s death, identified by his family.
Eleven people seized that night, including an Anglican bishop, remain in custody without charge, defying Zambia’s constitution. Mundubile himself has gone into hiding, rejecting the militia allegations as fabrication.
The UN’s human rights chief has urged Zambia to stop arresting people arbitrarily. Amnesty International had documented this pattern before the vote, warning that Zambian authorities were using the law to criminalise dissent and silence independent media.
Zambia’s conduct since the election should prompt the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to open a formal review.
Baroness Scotland, then Commonwealth secretary-general, used her good offices to free Hakainde Hichilema, now Zambia’s president, from his cell in 2017.
Scotland’s successor, Shirley Botchwey, should press just as hard for a review into Hichilema’s own government without further delay.
Hichilema courted the international community for five years to build Zambia’s reputation as a stable democracy; that reputation is what the past week has put in doubt.
Richard Elsen
Zambia Specialist, Seaford, East Sussex, UK
