Staff Reporter
Zambia’s ruling Government led by President Hakainde Hichilema has been accused of persecuting the opposition Patriotic Front ((PF) in a bid to silence it and thwart former President Edgar Lungu’s bid to return to active politics.
A source from PF who spoke to this publication accused President Hichilema’s Government of employing dirty political tricks to bar the return of former President Edgar Lungu to active politics.
According to the source, the Zambian Chief Registrar of Societies, Thandiwe Mhende who is an ally of President Hichilema, has threatened to deregister the PF for failing to avail a complete list of its office bearers as required by the law.
“Mhende wrote to us threatening to deregister PF for failing to abide by the political party registration law. Mhende accused PF of not abiding by Section 2 of the Societies Act Cap 119 which states that every political party should have at least 10 office bearers and threatened to deregister the party. The truth is that all these machinations are meant to bar the return of President Lungu to active politics,” said the source.
The source added that the Registrar of Societies should have reminded PF to fulfil the requirements as opposed to resorting to threatening to deregister the party.
“The least they could have done was to remind PF to fulfil the requirements instead of threatening to deregister the party. This is a blatant attempt by President Hichilema’s Government to thwart political freedoms in the country. PF is former ruling party and it should not be forced into extinction by President Hichilema’s Government,” added the source.
Political analyst, Terrence Chipwanya said that it was ironic that President Hichilema’s Government was attempting to silence PF when it was allowed to exist by the same PF Government.
“It’s ironic that President Hichilema’s Government was attempting to decimate the PF opposition party when it was allowed to freely operate under the PF Government. President Hichilema came to power riding on the promise to bring democracy and reforms, so he should be walk his talk when dealing with the opposition. It’s also surprising how western countries are mum on the persecution of PF party but got the voice to criticise Zimbabwe when opposition members are arrested for breaking the law.
This is not the first that a former ruling party has been threatened with deregistration in Zambia. In 2021, PF threatened to deregister Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), a former ruling party founded by Fredrick Chiluba.
