By JAMES KUNDA –
ZAMBIA’S High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba has said issuing of offensive material against the President of Zambia remains a punishable act.
Mr Mwamba said laws prohibiting defamation of the President in Zambia were in existence from time immemorial and not coined by the Patriotic Front (PF) administration to suit the incumbent, Edgar Lungu.
“We have laws; it’s a colonial legacy. These laws were created and we inherited them; they exist on many Commonwealth statues, prohibiting anyone from saying something offensive or anything that will demean the office of the President and visiting dignitaries,” Mr Mwamba said.
He said this on a South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) programme dubbed ‘Question Time’ from Pretoria South Africa, in response to the purported infringement on the freedom of expression and others when the programme featured Zambian musician Fumba Chama also known as Pilato.
Mr Mwamba, who was responding via a satellite feed, said democracy was an ongoing process and democratic government’s such as the PF constantly reformed statutes to suit the societal demands of a particular period of time.
He said Zambia enacted a new Constitution in 2016 to expand on the realm of the rights and freedoms of people and institutions.
Mr Mwamba said Pilato, who was in the studio, hosted by SABC interviewer Mpho Tsedu, and many other people had been allowed to express themselves, criticising Government yet allowed to move scot free.
He reminded Mr Tsedu that Zambia had always been a free country for people to express their views and the pioneer of democracy to the entire region of Southern Africa.
This was in response to Mr Tsedu after he seemingly expressed ignorance about Zambia being a haven for one to freely express their will.
He said despite having the death penalty law, no person had been sent to the gallows for execution under the PF regime.