BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN ‘this ZAFFICO episode is clearly defining the battle lines as we march towards 2021, says Sejani

THIS ZAFFICO episode is clearly defining the battle lines as we march towards 2021, Ackson Sejani has declared. And the People’s Alliance for Change says UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema is being treated unfairly and the abuse of his rights has gone beyond politics.

Adding his voice to the ongoing contentious debate surrounding the alleged ‘sale’ of Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO) in Ndola or otherwise the listing of the corporation on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), Sejani called on Zambians to show their annoyance on the matter.

Sejani, a former Mapatizya member of parliament, said he had taken note of the intention by ruling PF members to demonstrate in support of national plunder of our national assets by foreign interests.

This is tragic on the part of a party that is supposed to be patriotic. If their government cannot protect national assets, I would call upon Zambians to show their displeasure also by applying to demonstrate in defence of their own assets, Sejani said.

Let us see whether the Zambia Police will allow the PF to demonstrate, without permit, in support of foreign plunder but deny us citizens the right to demonstrate in support of our assets, even when we serve notice to do so. This will clearly show who is on which side. This ZAFFICO episode is clearly defining the battle lines as we march towards 2021.

Sejani asked who would be on the right side of the people and history as the country goes into the 2021 general elections.

Sejani, a former local government minister in Frederick Chiluba’s government, added that Zambians fought for independence in order to have power over the country’s assets and to own them.

We will therefore not allow a few ravenous wolves [to] reverse the gains of our independence struggle. Who is controlling majority shares in ZNBC? Who are we selling those ZAFFICO shares to? We are not against foreign direct investment but it must be for the benefit of Zambians and not exploitative rip-off for the benefit of foreigners and a few greedy Zambian fronts, charged Sejani.

So, I challenge Zambia Police to allow citizens to also demonstrate in defence of our assets.

PF supporters yesterday held a protest against UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema in Ndola where they declared to make the Copperbelt a no go area for the opposition leader and his party.

And PAC president Andyford Mayele Banda yesterday said there was a lot of information that was not straight concerning the impending listing of  ZAFFICO on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE).

Banda wondered why the government was trying to intimidate Hichilema over the ZAFFICO issue, instead of just giving the people of Zambia answers.

You issue a call-out that Hakainde Hichilema should appear at the police because he said that ZAFFICO was sold. Okay, what if it was a slip of the tongue? As PAC, we’ve decided that we are not going to be quiet about such matters anymore. It’s like people are personalising issues; you want to get support by making people hate a person who is a threat to your privileges! You want to get support by making someone look like he is a bad person! Banda said when he featured on Let the People Talk programme on Radio Phoenix yesterday.

For us, having thought about it for a long time, we believe that one of the citizens of this country whose name is HH, is being treated unfairly. This has gone beyond politics! As PAC, we have decided that we are going to stand with HH [and] I spoke with him this morning (Tuesday morning) and I assured him of our support and I told him that I will be with him in Ndola next week at the police.

He highlighted that the presence of PAC members at Copperbelt Division headquarters in Ndola, when Hichilema goes there for interrogations next week on Tuesday, would be to symbolise the opposition party’s solidarity with a Zambian whose rights have been abused.

We are not going to stand against anybody there; we are not standing against the PF [or] the government. [But] we are standing with a Zambian whose rights have been abused, we are standing with a Zambian who people are trying to paint black for no apparent reason. We are for justice; Martin Luther said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, Banda explained.

The opposition leader urged Zambians to understand that parastatals were theirs, as such, there was no need for certain ruling elites to portray some levels of arrogance on matters to do with such entities.

The people of Kitwe went to the streets because they were fighting for what rightly belongs to them, their asset. First of all, there is no much information about what’s happening and this is one of the biggest problems that we have. I don’t know why a lot of things are being done in secrecy, he said, adding that effective communication strategies would greatly help the government to allay speculations on various matters of governance.

We should lay bare on the table contracts that have been agreed with these people’. In any event, even before we get to the part of signing contracts and listing and selling companies, we need to actually request for public opinion because we are shareholders all of us. The reason why Andyford Mayele Banda is running for presidency is because he is a shareholder of this country.

When asked by the programme host why there was a huge public uproar about ZAFFICO listing on LuSE when it was a settled matter that government had no business in running a business, Banda answered: The point is who is buying the shares; at what point did the process start and why is it that this company suddenly went and bought houses?

So, there’s a lot of information that is not straight about the transaction. We are asking; have the interests of the saw-millers been taken care of? Have the interests of the Zambian people been taken care of? All these questions are not answered! he said.

There are intentions of listing [ZAFFICO] and a buyer has already been found. But there is no way you can list when you already have a buyer; why don’t you just transact? So, it’s like there’s a route that is about to be taken to legalise or make a situation look good which is not actually good.

Banda said opposition political figures criticised the government not out of jealousy or hatred but because we are stakeholders.

I believe that this issue of listing [of ZAFFICO] at this point is not being done in good faith because there is no much information that has been given to the public apart from tweets about [some ministers] resigning and whatever, said Banda