Like Karl Marx in one of his recognizable quotes he said, “history repeats itself”, one as a tragedy and another as a farce, while George Santayana in The life of reason 1905, from the series Great ideas of western man said “those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it”.
The prosecution of Chitotela and Chilangwa on the given charges of arson and malicious damage may repeat itself among politicians in the near future.
In an act of vengeance I have no doubt it’s likely that a precedent has been set for future political victims to be prosecuted and convicted from whichever perspective people think the courts are discharging their mandate. We recently have heard some sections of society saying the current Judiciary is not impartial, that undue political pressure is being exerted on it and we have heard minister of home affairs respond saying “we don’t control the Judiciary”. And we all know and expect that under the doctrine of a genuine, clear, distinct and strict separation of power of the three arms of government being the executive, Judiciary and Legislature, there must be autonomy and independence which in turn supports the rule of Law and not the rule of men.
The rule of law makes the citizens have confidence in the institutions of governance without which anarchy is bred and peace is threatened. It is unfathomable that Chilangwa and Chitotela, like any other political candidate from any political grouping can set ablaze a political competitor’s property or throw stones at them. It is possible that unruly partisan cadres can conduct themselves in any manner out of unfounded excitement thinking they are pleasing their superiors and punishing opponents. This is mostly perpetrated by those who are ignorant of the electoral rules and the ramifications of abrogating the said rules. For a candidate whether Councilor, Mayor, Member of Parliament or Presidential candidate to incite supporters to commit acts of violence is unheard of, that can only come from an irresponsible imposter of a leader.
There has been spates of political violence in the past in different parts of the country, I do not know if it is fair for victims to report to police opponent candidates as ones who committed the crimes or incited cadres to cause violence. My worry and fear is that once the Chilangwa and Chitotela case remains as it is, many innocent political candidates will have to answer for past political offences they might have not committed themselves as individuals. This therefore calls for heightened efforts for politicians to totally keep their supporters from acts of violence because for any such act committed, the candidates will be made to answer. Can a parliamentary candidate, presidential candidate set another’s property on fire? Or damage property or throw stones? Can they wield matchets and knives? Are we going to be fair to assume that political offences committed by known party cadres were incited by the candidates in those elections? This is a very dangerous path to take. This narrative must be corrected before it is adopted by anyone who assumes office.
It is my hope that no one should try to please anyone because trying to please others in the course of duty may be responsible for breaking the law at all costs. It is therefore incumbent on those charged with these responsibilities, the police and courts to apply the law cautiously and uphold the rule of law and Justice. These institutions should try as much to detach themselves from the emotions and schemes of politicians, they must be far from being suspected to be used or abused by the politicians, especially those in power. As long as some people feel the conviction of Chitotela and Chilangwa is an injustice and persecution, a repeat of this kind of thing has high chances against those who are today accused of perpetrating the said injustice. I pray we should never be personal with certain things because being personal demands that you do unto others what you would have them to you, Mathew 7:12.
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