Political Violence becoming Zambia's DNA

By DOREEN NAWA
VETERAN politician Vernon Mwaanga says political violence is slowly becoming the country’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); whether it is in homes, communities or political gatherings.
And University of Zambia academician Wenstone Mafuleka said political violence undermines national development.
Dr Mwaanga said unprofessionalism among the Zambia Police and high unemployment levels are the major contributors to the rise in political violence in the country.
He said the violence in political parties is slowly filtering into the communities as evidenced by an apparent increase in physical confrontation cases as reported in the media.
Speaking at a two-day political party summit organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) and Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Mwaanga said some political parties have become legalised gangs or bunch of hooligans.
Dr Mwaanga said agents of social change such as the church, civil society and family should assume their roles if the country is to witness a violence-free Zambia.
 “As we prepare to celebrate 50 years, it is important to take stock of political violence which has started showing its ugly face on Zambia’s democracy. An urgent solution needs to be found among political parties.
“We talk about peace but it should be recognised that the peace was worked for by leaders of political parties and other players,” Dr Mwaanga said.
He said the summit should kick-start the death of political violence, which was never there on the political menu before 1991 but that it has now become a norm in the lives of many Zambians.
“High rate of unemployment is a major cause; the uneducated youths remain readily available for hire,” Dr Mwaanga said.
He said the failure by the police to protect every Zambian regardless of one’s political affiliation is a source of worry.       
“We need to give security of tenure to police officers so that they can discharge their duty professionally and fairly without fear of losing their jobs. How best do we restore the lost trust between the police and political parties, especially the opposition. these are questions that need urgent answers.
“I think we should take advantage of judicial reforms to suggest ways in which our men and women in uniform can feel protected from arbitrary dismissals and sanctions,” Dr Mwaanga said.
And speaking earlier, Dr Mafuleka said political parties should concentrate on national development and providing checks and balances to those in power.
“National development has no political affiliation, if the party in power is tasked to put up infrastructure, opposition political parties should then provide checks and balances to ensure that every citizen benefits from the mandate,” Dr Mafuleka said.