DETENTION REFLECTIONS (DAY 5): THREE YEARS ON; HICHILEMA’S CORRUPT, TRIBAL AND DICTATORIAL RULE
Greetings once again from inside Twin Palm police station cells!
Today, the greater majority of our people across the length and breadth of this country are in frustration, sadness and regret at Mr Hakainde Hichilema’s election as president exactly three years ago.
Even many UPND members have repented and are saying he is not their perfect choice for president anymore. They find him hard to support owing to his excessive greed, hypocrisy, lies, arrogance, pomposity, puppetry and other unpatriotic tendencies.
Certainly, the dramatic upsurge in dictatorship, grand corruption, tribalism and other vices under Mr Hichilema and the UPND has left a deep dent on the unity and democracy of this nation. Like we keep saying, to those with objective and sincere intentions, it is clear that things are no longer the same any more. With Mr Hichilema at the helm of the political leadership of this nation, repression has returned with vengeance. The escalation of despotism is unbelievable. No wonder, public dissatisfaction is significantly greater. This regime has polarised the nation’s politics and crystallized them into a greater sense of hostility towards Mr Hichilema’s critics and political opponents. And Mr Hichilema is harnessing these divisions for his own end. This is the unfortunate situation we are in today and anyone seeing something different from this, is pretending, ignoring real facts and ultimately fooling themselves. The truth is, the nation is on tenterhooks.
It’s actually painful to witness this abrupt downgrade in the nation’s governance and democratic credentials since the re-introduction of the multi-party system in 1991. To see opposition politicians, private citizens and other critical voices abducted, tortured, humiliated, degraded and dehumanized through untold and unseen repression, and hardship without any tolerance and restraint from Mr Hichilema and his administration is highly offensive and unacceptable.
It is no longer a secret that Mr Hichilema has set this country on a risky path of destruction. The thoughtless manner in which this administration has been circumventing the law and abusing state institutions in an attempt to destroy political opponents is a clear testament of the criminal intentions of this administration. This government has literally incapacitated the rule of law and constitutional order in this country, and they are going about their daily business with impunity, without oversight or regard for the moral, political and economic effects of their actions. They have been blatant with their systematic destruction of state institutions with the single resolve of reigning with fear and terror. And my being in detention for five days today over a bondable cooked up charge confirms this standpoint. Mr Hichilema has rewritten the rulebook on constitutionalism, democracy, governance and the rule of law.
But all these draconian manoeuvres coupled with the high cost of living, hunger, high cost of fuel, loadshedding, unstable exchange rate, skyrocketing mealie meal prices and rampant shortages have made life unbearable for many. The citizens have resigned to fate. They’re hopeless and helpless. They’re pained and frustrated with this corrupt, tribal, incorrigible, manipulative and fraudulent regime. The people are bitterly disappointed! However, for Mr Hichilema and his league, it’s pretty much business as usual. They see nothing wrong with their repressive tendencies. This is a leadership that is seriously obsessed with power and accumulation, and remain distant to the hard-hitting reality facing the majority of citizens on the ground.
Under Mr Hichilema, a sober, unitary and visionary solution to the country’s present challenges remain a non-starter. The realistic chance of returning to real governance and democracy under this leadership keeps getting dimmer each day that passes. Evidently, they’re a bad sample of politicians a country must never wish for. And so, on this day marking Mr Hichilema and the UPND’s election in office, we pay honor and respect to the brave citizens of this nation who are enduring untold hardship and misery at the hands of these coward tribal crooks. We urge them to remain resilient and steadfast as we pledge justice, equity, dignity and respect under the socialist government.
Let’s do more together. Let’s bravely stand up to Mr Hichilema’s despotic adventures.
Bachepa sana! Zambia chalo chesu bonse. 2026 Aleya!
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party