Zambian VP warns opposition supporters against lawlessness

 Zambia's Vice-President Inonge Wina on Friday condemned opposition supporters who stormed court premises and caused damage to property, saying the government will not sit idle and allow lawlessness.

On Thursday, supporters of the main opposition United Party for National Development forced their way into the High Court to offer solidarity to party leader Hakainde Hichilema and his vice Geoffrey Mwamba during a presidential petition hearing.

About 52 supporters were arrested in the process.

A video footage showed the supporters throwing stones at the court buildings while police were forced to use teargas canisters to disperse them.

The supporters were infuriated when the judge decided to hear the matter in chambers instead of an open court.

The vice-president said what happened at the court was the worst form of lawlessness which the government was not going to condone.

"That can't be allowed. There is no way we are going to have a situation where party cadres want to make decisions on behalf of the judiciary. That is unacceptable and worst form of lawlessness," she said during a vice-president's question and answer session in parliament when lawmakers wanted to know what the government was going to do about what occurred.

She warned that the government was not going to sit idle and allow lawlessness to prevail, adding that the opposition leaders must realize that there was a government in place which was elected by the people.

But Stephen Katuka, the opposition party's secretary-general said it was unfortunate that the police decided to use force on the supporters who were peaceful and only wanted to give solidarity to their leaders.

The Judiciary has since banned the supporters from attending court sessions.

The opposition party has disputed the outcome of the August 11 general elections, citing fraud and wants the court to determine if the Constitutional Court was in order to throw away a petition they had filed challenging the presidential results. 

source: Xinhua