Citizenry and State defend the apprehension of Banda

ZAMBIAN citizens and the State have defended the apprehension of former Petauke Member of Parliament Emmanuel Jay Banda, dismissing criticism from some civil society organizations and insisting the fugitive must face justice.

Members of the public reacting to Banda’s apprehension said no one is above the law and that a suspect who publicly called for violence should be made to answer before a competent court.

Citizens said Banda’s alleged broadcasts, which included calls for the assassination of a democratically elected head of state and the annihilation of an ethnic group, cannot be defended as free expression and must be subjected to due process.

Many argued that describing such incitement as merely “vulgar” minimizes its gravity and that turning a fugitive into a victim undermines genuine human rights advocacy.

The citizenry position aligns with that of the State.

In a statement, State House Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka assured the nation that Banda will be afforded medical care, access to legal counsel and his family, and all rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

“Justice will be administered in accordance with the law,” Hamasaka said.

Hamasaka was responding to a joint statement by a group of local and regional civil society organizations that questioned the apprehension while stating it was not declaring it unlawful, but calling on the international community to condemn “these acts of lawlessness.”

“That is a verdict that precedes evidence,” Hamasaka said. “Civil society is entitled to demand transparency. Its credibility, however, depends on applying to its own conclusions the same rigour it demands of Government.”

He said it was only bogus organizations that could question the apprehension of a suspect who made such calls.

“No genuine human rights defender can excuse such incitement and remain credible,” Hamasaka said.

Hamasaka added that human rights advocacy cannot be reduced to “a commercial enterprise in which outrage is manufactured for sale to the highest bidder,” and that while civil society organizations need to justify funding from their financiers, there was a moral way of sourcing money.

He said Zambia is a sovereign state governed by the Constitution and the rule of law, and a fugitive does not acquire immunity by crossing a border.

“Cooperation between sovereign states in securing the return of wanted persons to face justice is a legitimate exercise of sovereign responsibility and mutual legal assistance,” Hamasaka said.

Citizens echoed that view, saying cooperation to return wanted persons is lawful and that those seeking to turn a law enforcement operation into lawlessness should reflect on whose rights they truly serve.

Banda, who had been on the run, is expected to appear in court in the coming days to answer the charges against him.

(Mwebantu, Tuesday, 20th October, 2026)