MURDER MOST FOUL

NOTHING is adding up. It does not make sense that the death of UNZA student, Vespers Shimuzhila, has been turned into a political cause being championed by the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND). The loss of Vespers is a national tragedy that has touched many people because of the circumstances and manner in which this young lady died. The university fraternity undoubtedly was equally aggrieved to have lost one of their own in those very troubling circumstances which defy logic. For a start, it does not make sense that students could riot two days before the due date of allowance payment. There is absolutely no logic in this, and yet this drove an activity that led to the loss of life. Secondly, the suggestion that a teargas canister was deliberately lobbed into a dormitory does not make sense either and could only have been the work of an individual with a clear malevolent motive, in this case with a political cause. Thirdly, there is still a lot of mystery over the fire that engulfed the dormitory at October Hall. In fact, two rooms were reportedly torched. This could not have been done by a teargas cannister which is designed primarily to produce smoke. Fourthly, Vespers was not in any of the two rooms that were gutted. She was in a room almost five rooms removed from the conflagration and could only have been choked either by smoke from the fire or indeed from the teargas that was unleashed in the area. That is why it is surprising that the UPND has decided to champion the cause to the extent that Vespers’ family had to restrain cadres and students at the funeral house from harassing Minister of Higher Education Professor Nkandu Luo and other mourners who genuinely went to mourn the loss of a young life. In Parliament yesterday, the minister made a number of revelations which are worrisome. For example, the revelation that most activists in the university body were not students and some were identified as former students who had been expelled from the institution. The government is also interested in establishing the source of the T-shirts that were printed and circulated to the university community. Our own investigation also disclosed that tyres used in demonstrations were delivered to the campus by an unmarked vehicle, indicating a very clear pattern of external involvement. We would wish to reiterate our position that the investigation should be done by an impartial team that is certainly not directed by the police. The police are a party to this issue and if indeed any officer lobbed teargas into a room, this can only be considered as an act to support the opposition cause because no sane police officer working under proper superior orders would undertake an action to undermine the integrity of the government. That is why it is important that the over-politicisation of this matter, particularly by the UPND, is becoming counter-productive with the obvious suggestion that it was stage-managed for political gain because the government has absolutely nothing to gain by losing a life. It is therefore proper that all concerned should take a keen interest in the investigation and subsequent inquest to determine the circumstances that gave rise to this very unfortunate circumstance.