ARREST OF AN INDIVIDUAL CANNOT TURN ZAMBIA INTO A DICTATORSHIP — EMMANUEL MWAMBA’S 2017 ARGUMENT LUSAKA — Emmanuel Mwamba argued in 2017 that the arrest of an opposition leader could not, by itself, justify declaring Zambia a dictatorship, defending President Edgar Lungu’s administration amid criticism over the detention of Hakainde Hichilema. In an article titled […]

ARREST OF AN INDIVIDUAL CANNOT TURN ZAMBIA INTO A DICTATORSHIP — EMMANUEL MWAMBA’S 2017 ARGUMENT

LUSAKA — Emmanuel Mwamba argued in 2017 that the arrest of an opposition leader could not, by itself, justify declaring Zambia a dictatorship, defending President Edgar Lungu’s administration amid criticism over the detention of Hakainde Hichilema.

In an article titled “Has Zambia Slid into Dictatorship?”, published by Lusaka Times on 20 May 2017, Mwamba maintained that political leaders were subject to the law and that criminal proceedings against them should not automatically be interpreted as political persecution.

“The arrest of an individual, cannot slide the country into dictatorship,” he wrote.

His commentary followed Hichilema’s arrest on 11 April 2017 and subsequent prosecution on treason charges arising from an alleged obstruction of Lungu’s presidential motorcade in Mongu. Hichilema rejected the allegations, while the UPND described the prosecution as politically motivated.

Mwamba challenged warnings from Archbishop Telesphore George Mpundu, whose April statement raised concerns about police conduct, judicial independence and the treatment of political opponents.

He argued that criticism of the government had developed into an international campaign that portrayed law enforcement as evidence of authoritarian rule. In his view, Zambia’s democratic standing should be assessed against its constitutional institutions and legal processes rather than the arrest of one political figure.

Mwamba also defended the closure of The Post newspaper, presenting it as a consequence of tax liabilities and business decisions rather than an attack on press freedom. Those explanations represented his defence of the administration’s actions.

His article further blamed Hichilema’s legal team for the unsuccessful challenge to the 2016 presidential election. However, the EU Election Observation Mission recorded that the petition was dismissed on 5 September 2016 on procedural grounds after the constitutional hearing period expired, without evidence being heard. It was therefore not a judgment rejecting the petition’s substantive allegations after a trial.

The central position advanced in Mwamba’s 2017 commentary was that enforcing the law against an opposition leader did not, on its own, establish dictatorship. The dispute concerned whether the authorities’ actions constituted legitimate enforcement or an abuse of state power.- George N Mtonga