Opposition Patriotic Front (PF) cadres in Mazabuka yesterday stormed Mazabuka community radio station and ordered staff in the newsroom to immediately suspend a live phone in programme in which the station featured their provincial chairperson Opper Hamiyanze.
The cadres who were led by District chairperson, Nelson Simbule and Provincial youth chairman, Brave Mweetwa forced their way into the newsroom at 12:20 hours, directed reporters to stop the programme failure to which they would enter the studio to ‘ evict’ Mr Hamiyanze.
Reporters had to abandon the radio station for fear of possible harassment from the cadres since the suspension of the programme could only be sunctioned by Station manager who was at the time of the fracas out of the station.
PF cadres chanted anti- Hamiyanze slogans as they waited for their superiors to force Mr Hamiyanze from the studio though their demands could not be heeded too.
The cadres briefly turned the community radio station into a political battle field as they hurled insults and prepared themselves for a pysical fight with Mr. Hamiyanze.
However, the cadres fled in their hired car after word went round that Police were on their way to effect their arrest.
Police who arrived at the radio sation later found a skeleton of senior PF party officials under a mango tree waiting for Mr. Hamiyanze to finish the interview.
The police led by District Crimininal Investigation officer, Peter Chibanda and station inspector Mufaya only interviewed the reporters and left at 13:30 hours.
Provincial youth chairman, Brave Mweetwa told ZANIS in Mazabuka, the district and provincial party officials took such drastic action because Mr Hamiyanze had no moral right to discuss isssues involving the PF when he had resigned to join the political party linked to Luena Independent member of parliament, Charles Milupi.
He said the party officials were bitter with Mr Hamiyanze for masquerading as PF provincial chairperson when he did not hold any position.
Mr Mweetwa said the PF is fully aware of the activities of Mr Hamiyanze whom he accused of having been holding dark corner meetings to incite district and provincial party officials to defect from the PF.
He however said the PF leadership in the province is happy that all the district officials talked too by Mr Hamiyanze have refused to accept resign.
Mazabuka radion station manager, Belon Chintombwa said the bevaviour of the PF cadres was unacceptable as it is infringement of Mr Hamiyanze’s right to freedom of speech.
Mr Chintombwa said it was unfortunate that the cadres decided block the programme when Hamiyanze did not say anything bad about the PF leadership except to campaign for the forthcoming PF provincial elections.
During the interview, Opper Hamiyanze, who is Patriotic Front (PF) Southern Province chairperson, called on the PF national leadership to immediately announce the date for its convention.
Mr Hamiyanze warned that he will be forced to resign from the PF if the party does go the convention before the tripartite election next year.[quote]
He said that opposition political parties should learn to exercise the tenets of democracy which demand that all positions in the political structures should be challenged during party elections.
Mr Hamiyanze also condemned the violent behaviour by some cadres who stormed the newsroom at the community radio station.
He said the presenter of the programme dubbed Live Wire, Joe Pandwe had to consult him if he was comfortable with the noise by cadres who were demanding that the programme be suspended.
Mr Hamiyanze accused his opponent challenging him for the position of Provincial chairperson as being behind the fracas and hiring of cadres to denounce him.
He said his opponent allegedly hired call boys and bought beer for them to beat him up in a bid to frustrate him from defending his position.
Mr Hamiyanze has since challenged PF leader Micheal Sata to condemn the violence that erupted at the community radio station.
He also urged Zambians not to support political parties whose leaders preach violence because it has no place in a democratic society.
Meanwhile, Mr Hamiyanze has also denied claims by the district and Provincial leadership that he had resigned to join the party linked to Luena Independent member of parliament, Charles Milupi.
He said he is still a staunch PF member adding that no amount of intimidation would force out of the party.
But PF Provoncial youth chairperson, Brave Mweetwa told ZANIS the party has enough evidence to prove the allegations.
This is not a good sign for the government in waiting……
You guys you take too much time to get information. Even this Mazabuka situation was on Zambia Watch dog a hours ago, to you it’s latest.
Imagine these thugs had instruments of state powers, our sisters and counsin would all be ordered ukwenda ubwamba or bama mama waluse.
Its because of this that I can’t support the PF undemocatric,violence we will see you will never be in state house untill you change your ways.
VETERAN
Until RB became president we never used to have such nonsense under Mwanawasa. Your boss is sowing seeds of violence which unfortunately is spreading to other parties as well. Before they round up the unruly PF cadres, police should arrest your thugs that’ve been beating up journalists.
Satas doctrin at work
This is out of order. This Ha seems to have left PF really. Its not wise to destroy PF in Mazabuka. I did not think PF had such majority in Mazabuka. Good luck with your new party
From Sata’s Chawama massacre to this unfortunate station, its the Sata demon at play.
Not that I’m supporting unruly cadreism but has there ever been any place where opposition politics were peaceful? It could have been worse than this…
PF is a party of hooligans led by a thug. Therefore such behaviour is not surprising. Its just a shame that they keep getting away with their violence.
#9 & 10, In Zambian politics since independence every party has had its own thugs. Now we even have a president who calls citizens Vimasilu just because they support the opposition and he is also reported to have ordered to have non easterners chased away from the province. Is this not thuggery?
# 11 Nom de Plume Dot Com
By all accounts RB is seen as not a man of violence. Sata on the other hand has prefected the use of Violent cadre thugs beggining with tenure of FJT. Sata is a deranged thug, period , and PF are his image. talk of tribal politics, RB pails compared to satas tribalistiic and racial utterances. On this score Sata is undiffendable. Just to show how cheap sata is i personally saw him in livingstone harrasing truck drivers during the last election thinking thhey were carying ballot papers, while his opponents were campaining with dignity befitting a president. Mad lunatic thug.
No. 9 – Nine Chale, you seem to have time to comment on every issue! I really admire the time you have to spend blogging. It’s good, keep it up and win another award.
Just imagine Sata in power, the Kaponyas will be in control, all the educated people trying to criticize him will be threatened or beaten. And dont expect Sata to condemn what happened in Mazabuka, he loves that, he might even be the one who gave the instructions for those cadres to start that noise at the Radio Station.
A bemba adage says uwa kanaka ta leka.Once a thug always a thug. we can’t have thugs leading our country, to hell with psycho matter.
So, how many PF cadres were there to have fled in on car?
No.13, You seem to have time to read every issue and someone might as well admire the time you have to spend reading otherwise how do you know he comments on every issue?
#13 Julius, yes I have the time but another award is not my motivavtion to comment. I’d just rather be up to date with events back home. 24hrs is a long, long day when you’re on Winter break like I am. Plus its -5°c here in South Germany and I wont catch Pneumonia outside!
# 11 you are running faster than an i.d.i.o.t. you appear to have non to say on this blog.please be factual.
you can see that RB is so liberal and democratic.Other presidents would not allow such thuggery bx by so called party cadres.We want PF TO WIN BUT SURELY IS THIS THE TYPE OF people you can entrust with leadership?the party president who is NOT even elected is quiet about it.you should be ashamed of yourself.lucky am not president of this God forsaken country,i would lined up all those f.o.o.l.s. and have them shot dead!
#16 Good question? A car can only take at most 6 people? This is the usual LT propaganda driven by MMD meant to paint our great party as an anarchist party, but guess what it wont work. Zambians on the ground know the truth and come 2011, they know where to mark their X
Why dont you condemn the MMD cardes that beatup innocent journalists in full view of police, MMD officials and ministers?
If anyone is to be condemned it is these foolish cadres who are doing what will push people away from supporting the party they claim to support. Those supporting these thugs must be aliens!
This propaganda report does not tally with the reation of the police officers who attended to the so-called disturbance as they “only interviewed the reporters and left at 13:30 hours”.
Why did they not arrest the “skeleton of senior PF party officials under a mango tree”??
Is LT really not an MMD propaganda website? There is need to investigate further.
It is very important for us all to realize that we are living under a simple but clever system that has been designed to contain revolution whilst projecting the illusion of being a free, fair and open democracy.
The multiparty democracy system provides firm support for the elite to implement their agenda from the top down, whilst the ordinary people at the grassroots level squabble between themselves over which political party is the best.
In reality, it doesn’t matter which of the party you vote for because the same agenda will unfold regardless. Hence,all parties are controlled at the very top by the same force.
# 15 its actully (uwa kalema taleka ) not what RB tought you. I dont like that behaviour of carders PF , MMD or UPND that’s not the way to deal with matters. Bad plus Bad never brings Good
This nosense is becoz the govt of the day tolerates violence!!!!!!
#24 Thats good insight.
#25 Actually it is “ Uwakalema takaleka” The point I want to make is that we Zambians need to be steadfast in condemning any form of violence regardless of our political affiliation. The vibes that are coming through during the political campaigns are certainly not the right direction for our democracy. We seem to be living on a planet where birds fly backwards. One would imagine that Zambia ought to be leading in democracy as much as we lead in being peaceful in the region if not the continent. The leaders of various political parties need to disossiate themselves from the culture of violence, the police need to protect the rights of every citizen-meaning that they need to act firmly on any one infringing on anyones rights.
# 28 belive me its Uwakalema taleka I passed my Bemba witha 98% I know what am talking about
I shudder to imagine this cabal of thugs presiding over the Zambian Army, Police, ZAF,ZNS, DEC, ACC and above all covert operatives in the secret service of the SD.Zambian mothers sisters and daughters would be stripped naked and paraded for raping in market centers there after executed before Sata.Us men would be airlifted and dumped in Zambezi, Luangwa and Luapula rivers on dissenting the PF thuggery.We can pick what is in the Chawama massacre straight from the Sata violence operations dossier.National leadership is a preserve of sober heads because it comes with too many state tools that a thug can easily become full headed Idi Amin a man Sata adores with passion.
It is still unbelievable to me that the population is still caught in the MMD vs PF/UPND pact.
Are we really that blind to the system? It matters little which puppet sits in office.
Surely we should condemn violence wherever it is emanating from? MMD, UPND, PF it does not matter as violence begets violence. It is utterly childish to justify PF violence because MMD does the same thing. If that is the case then what is the point of having different parties if they are all violent? Regarding the issue of a PF convention, is it really too much to ask for one, for a party that is seeking power in the next election?
pipo should now know what type of a leader sata will be, voilence is not the way to act if one needs to talk, sata as a leader should know this and if he is going to do things this way he is going down.
30 Veteran/Senoir Citizen,
Please shudder as hard as you can because MMD (The only party that unleashes cardes to beat innocent journalists in full view of police, MMD senior officails and cabinet ministers) is out of office next year.
What have you got to say about MMD cardes betain of those journalists? And the support they get from senoir party officals for such acts?
BK aka senior citizen or Veteran is a mouthpiece for propaganda and crap blogging. Under RB the violence is too high for the likes of many Zambians. Violence against the media in full view of the police.
Party cadres like you intimidating the police. Draconian laws to suppress the most cheerished human right freedom of expression for person hatred of those who have different critical views. Imagine have a govt like this one for another 5years how will Zambia be ? It is shame and barbaric for someone like you KB to lower your self to a mere Kaponya propaganda reporter. Where are your once ethical reporting manners gone? Many young and the old cheerished your briliant reporting skills, high moral and ethical manners. Today you are the worst blogger on both LT and ZWD.
#23. YOU R CORRECT,REMEMBER 2 WIKS AGO I ADVISED THIS INTELLIGENT READERS ON LT.THAT LT IS CONNECTED TO mmd.WAIT EN C DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGN.
i think ene namishila LT. its of no meaning.
just luk at the way he brings out mmd issues
Let us avoid been used by new parties that seems to go nowhere hamiyanze should learn a lesson he betrayed his friends when in real seense he was a sponsored person within PF.It is a high time people should represent what they stand for, how can a stauch PF behave in such a manner when their proceedures to follow when it comes to holding elections let him go he has exhited sign of not togetherness. Hold elections and kickout bad eggs before we send Movement for Mad Dogs (MMD) to where they belong anyone who goes against our wish and desire shall be subjected to MAPATIZYA FORMULA ask MAJOR ROBBIE CHIZYUKA he has experienced the formula So watchout.
What about when MMD cadres storned Radio Chingelo and damaged property because Sata was being interviewed, was that acceptable?
PF kaponyas at it again. Typical of them. They believe in violence because they can’t reason. We do not want lawlessness in the country, Sata style. Why is their ever talkative know-it-all leader not saying anything? I shudder to think what kind of government we can have in Zambia with these characters in charge! UNIP’s vigilantes will look like kids on a Sunday school picnic. Police should bring the chief culprits to book without any reservation.
these people are supporting their party, anf they didnt destroy anything, the guy who is claiming to be a PF member and denounce PF is a lier. Y have namulambe and the other guys fired because they are are ant-MMD. and now whts wrong with PF cadres stopping an MMD cadre from destroying the party? If he is concerned y didnt he go to PF offices and discus the matter. Point of correctin you guys Sata isnt a thug, have u ever met Mr. Sata? Then stop talking nonsence.
PF is a nice party.they did wat you saw becouse coz MMD are the same.dont blame and owaz discuss same things plz.lets wait for 2011 and campagn.
#38 two wrong donot make a right..even in your heart you know that theres more voilence tendence in PF than any other political party on earth
39
Chinese Eyes——— Kaponyas also have a vote. They became Kaponyas because ba Matipa (MMD) have killed jobs in Zambia. Ulabalisha?
IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT POLITICAL PARTY ONE BELONGS TO,VIOLENCE IS NOT THE SOLUTION.ITS UP TO US ZAMBIANS TO STAND UP AND CHANGE THE WAY THINGS ARE IN OUR COUNTRY.LETS STOP THE INSULTS ,THE STONE THROWING.LETS HAVE A SANE ZAMBIA.MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS US ALL
is my former AY leader in Siavonga….Brave Mweetwa
I we Brave Mweetwa when did u bcome a politician???????????? gud lak lol.there is money in that game man……..r u the brave mweetwa I knew in Siavonga/Chirundu AY..???
Sata is mute on this and speaks volume.He was suppose atleast to make a short statement condemning the act.I implore HH to take a leading role and become the leader of the Pact and save Zambia from the violence inherent in Sata’s traits.HH has a history of no violence though he has seriously put his political career on the chopping board by associating with Sata.Sata’s CV does not warrant him to be the Commander-In-Chief and makes him a person non-grata as President.I need not describe them,worse still his outrageous outbursts whenever given a platform leave much to be desired.
Sata and PF have been like that all along, no change. Given chance to be in power you will cry you Zambians.