Envoy accuses Maimane
SPAT: PLAN TO PRESSURE ZAMBIAN COURT TO FREE OPPOSITION LEADER
Zambian High Commissioner says DA leader needs permission to enter.
An irate Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, walked out of the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria yesterday after not getting any real answers for why he was denied access to the country on Thursday night.
The DA leader said he and his colleagues were manhandled and told to go home after they landed at Lusaka International Airport in Zambia on Thursday.
Maimane went to Zambia to attend opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema’s treason trial, which was scheduled to start yesterday in Lusaka.
As he walked into the high commission yesterday, Maimane was booed by Zambian nationals picketing outside for their president, Edgar Lungu.
Meanwhile, a small group of DA members were demonstrating for Hichilema to be released.
Along with his entourage, including Gauteng’s John Moodey and Tshwane Chief Whip Christiaan van den Heever, Maimane said he would demand answers for his deportation.
But the opposition leader left unsatisfied.
“Nobody can give me reasons of where the instructions come from. The ambassador says he doesn’t know who made the decision.
“It could only come from [Zambian] government. It seems politics can make a government stop democracy,” he said.
But Zambian High Commissioner Emmanuel Mwamba said the DA leader had threatened to undermine the country’s judiciary.
This followed media reports that Maimane intended to pressure the courts to release Hichilema.
During a meeting between department of international relations and cooperation officials and Mwamba, it was stated that the matters regarding Hichilema were in court.
“It was imperative that the due process of the law was respected without undue pressure or interference.
“Maimane alleged that Hichilema was facing trumped up charges and therefore he would mobilise fellow regional opposition sister parties and leaders to pressure the Zambian courts to release Hichilema,” Mwamba said.
According to the Zambian High Commission, Maimane was requested to delay his trip, pending permission from the courts for him to attend the trial.
“On Tuesday, Maimane’s office got in touch with us and informed us that he will be travelling to Zambia on Thursday.
“When we contacted Lusaka, especially about the details of Maimane’s visit, we were advised that Maimane should reschedule the visit,” Mwamba said.
Maimane, however, accused Zambia’s “dictator” President Lungu of forcing the government to bar him from the country.
“I still hold the view that Lungu is not acting in a manner that is consistent with democracy.
“How can I be barred because of newspaper articles that claim I want to put pressure on the courts? Therefore, I will be going back there given the time, to support Hichilema in Zambia.
“They must send me formal reasons for why I am not allowed in the country.”
Hichilema is accused of allegedly attempting to block Lungu’s motorcade, when it was travelling on the same road as he was.