Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president, Sean Tembo, has urged President Hakainde Hichilema to lead by example in encouraging sober and progressive engagement from opposition leaders.
Speaking when he featured on Tuesday’s edition of Phoenix FM’s Let The People Talk program, Mr. Tembo has described it as unfair that opposition leaders are limited in how they express themselves while online platforms that are allegedly linked to State House and ruling party officials go on to disparage opposition leaders without any satisfactory action being taken by relevant authorities.
The PeP president has further challenged President Hichilema to address the diminishing confidence in state institutions such as the Zambia Police Service caused by the perceived selective application of the law in matters involving Presidential appointees and ruling party officials.
Mr. Tembo highlighted the discrepancies in how opposition leaders are approached for Hate Speech charges compared to UPND Secretary General, Batuke Imenda, who he cited as an example of a ruling party official who has not been arrested despite being reported for allegedly referring to Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda as “Lucifer”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tembo has called on the Government to heighten their efforts towards the Cholera epidemic that has claimed so many lives. He has also described as regrettable how families are not being informed about the state of their hospitalized loved ones and where they get buried if they succumb to the disease, making it difficult for family members to mourn them even after being put to rest.