Mockery of justice and democracy in Zambia

By Dr. Munyonzwe Hamalengwa

A Mockery of Justice. That is the title of the book written by Richard Sakala, the Owner-Publisher of Daily Nation in which he lambasts the persecutions , prosecutions and injustices that he and President Chiluba suffered under the MMD government of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. It is one of the best books on the perversions of Zambia’s highly politicized criminal justice system.

Recall the recurrent nolle prosequis? These are political cases that were or are hurriedly and haphazardly put together to criminalize political conduct of the perceived enemies of the state knowing very well that there were or are no reasonable prospects of conviction. After faked motions of seriousness of purpose to prosecute and expenditure of millions of hard earned tax-payers currency wasted, the cases are dropped. The victim has also spent thousands if not millions of kwacha in lawyer fees and sleepless nights, money and intangibles that can never be recovered. A nolle prosequi nullifies a civil suit for malicious prosecution and related actions. You need an actual acquittal to commence most actions against the state.

There aren’t many good books in Zambia on criminal justice, civil liberties and politics of justice. Sakala’s is one of them. A handful of others include Vernon Mwaanga’s The Other Society; Muna Ndulo and Theresa Turner’s Civil Liberties Cases in Zambia; Larmer’s The Musakanya Papers; Sophena Chisembele’s Zambia: The Freedom Struggle and The Aftermath and a few more others. Thus the message in Sakala’s book is of signal importance. And we depend on Sakala to live up to the creed that he inscribed in his book.

Zambia also doesn’t have a dynamic free press, a very depressing fact. Contrary to the crusading experiences and practices of many media houses around the world that fight for democracy and a free press, the Zambian press engages in a mockery of democracy, suppression of democracy and persecution and prosecution of the insurgents for a free press and democracy. The psychology of the Zambian press will one day be diagnosed.

I was thus very excited when Sakala, the author of A Mockery of Justice, started his paper The Daily Nation and the self-described creed said it all for me, ” Pursuing Justice and Equity with Integrity” at the top of the paper and at the bottom it warmed  my heart, “The People’s Paper; Building The Nation With Real Issues”. I reckoned that a man who suffered as much persecution, prosecution and injustice as Sakala describes in the A Mockery of Justice, cannot disappoint when it comes to a fight for justice and democracy. This man went through a baptism of fire. He would be a justice crusader. Because he suffered injustices, he would fight for fairness, procedural and substantive justice for all, that the paper would be “pursuing justice and equity with integrity”.

I thought that here is the paper that would add another arsenal to the armoury of free press in Zambia along with The Post which continued to be “the paper that digs deeper” and “still the nation’s most trusted media”. I suspected that Sakala attributed his persecution and prosecution partly to the coverage of The Post but papers can still work towards the protection of the free press from different mountain tops.

I figured the Daily Nation would be totally different from the other Zambian presses that had completely betrayed Zambian democracy. The Zambia Daily Mail claims that it reports news “without fear or favour”. The Times of Zambia reports that it is “Your Paper for All Times” with the promise to you to “Be Better Informed”.  Does anybody who believe in a free press and democracy believe the claims of the Zambia Daily Mail and the Times of Zambia? The claims of Zambia Daily Nation was not to be. The Post continues to remain alone as the harbinger of a free press in Zambia.

Here is the test for my thesis. Has anyone in the entire world including foreign ambassadors in Zambia, local and international NGOs, foreign Secretaries of States, foreign press agencies, SADCC and other regional press agencies and legal bodies or LAZ or personalities like Mike Mulongoti or VJ Mwaanga and a whole lot of others, ever endorsed the Daily Nation, the Zambia Daily Mail, the Times of Zambia or ZNBC as yardsticks for measuring a free press and as crusaders for democracy? Why not? On the other hand, how many of the above entities, individuals and more, have saluted and defended The Post as a champion of the free press? Why? Have I made this up? How many awards have Sakala and editors of the other papers received abroad for their fights for a free press? How many awards has M’membe, the Editor of The Post received abroad for his journalistic work? You be the judge.

Do not take my analysis alone. Let’s examine the evidence which is there for all to see. Did any of the papers cover the election launches of May 2016 with pictures and all on the front covers? Who appeared on the front covers? What appeared on the front covers? Whose words were reproduced on the front covers and in the inside covers of these papers? What is covered in the editorials everyday in these papers? Who continues to appear on the front covers of the papers during this campaign season of 2016? Do you ever see any positive front cover headlines pertaining to the opposition? Do you ever see any photos of opposition rallies on the front covers of these papers? Or on ZNBC?
The Zambian papers other than The Post have truncated democracy. They have caricatured democracy, they have eviscerated democracy. They have engaged in A Mockery of Justice.

These days I don’t read the other papers. I pass through and glance and memorize the daily Inspirational Quote or Note. Then I quickly jot down the Inspirational Quote or Note for later use. I cherish these Inspirational Quotes or Notes.

Back to the Daily Nation. Have you ever seen any positive caption in the front or inner pages of the Daily Nation relating to the opposition?   How about the editorials?  Is the Daily Nation reflective of the the paper that is “pursuing justice and equity with integrity” or is it A Mockery of Justice?

Dr. Munyonzwe Hamalengwa teaches law at Zambian Open University and is the author of Thoughts Are Free: Prison Experience and Reflections on Law and Politics in General (sold at Planet Books at Arcades).