IT’S TREASON!
…to call for a revolution to unseat elected government
IT is treason to call for a revolution to unseat a legitimately elected government, Lusaka lawyer Hobday Kabwe has warned.
And Zambian DNA spokesperson Spuki Mulemwa said that the proposed citizens’ revolution to remove PF from power was not only unfortunate, ill-conceived and unconstitutional, but also incited Zambians to rise against their elected government.
Mr Kabwe and Mr Mulemwa were reacting to calls by Alliance for Community Action executive director Laura Miti and United Progressive Party leader Saviour Chishimba for people to rise against the PF led Government.
Mr Kabwe said in an interview that the current Government was duly elected by the Zambian people and that such calls were treasonable.
He said that it was politically illiterate for anyone to call for the unlawful removal of a legitimately elected leader and warned that people should be wary of their utterances and watch out for illegalities.
Mr Kabwe warned that inasmuch as people had a right to protest, it was treasonous to call for a revolution to unseat a legitimately elected government or leader.
“It is criminal to call for a revolution to unseat a legitimately elected leader or government. People vote in an election to elect their leader so why should someone come and take that right away? It is criminal, actually treasonous to do that,” he warned.
Mr Kabwe said that people fond of taking the law into their own hands should have themselves to blame when things backfired
He also warned that calls for a revolution were a recipe for anarchy and that they should not be taken lightly by law enforcement agencies.
Meanwhile, Mr Mulemwa also said that Ms Miti’s calls for a revolution incited Zambians to rise against their elected government.
He reiterated that the proposed citizens’ revolution to remove the PF from power was unfortunate, misleading, ill-conceived and unconstitutional.
Mr Mulemwa said that Zambia was a constitutional democracy in which citizens were free to vote for a political party of their choice.
“While we appreciate that all citizens are free to align themselves to any political party, we do not support ill-conceived agenda’s to remove a democratically elected Government.
“We are also alive to the fact that some civil society leaders are known to be critics of Government. They oppose everything Government says and does,” he said.
Mr Mulemwa advised individuals agitating for a regime change to wait until the current PF’s mandate expi red in 2021.