SACCORD SLAMS POLITICAL INTOLERANCE

By SIMON MUNTEMBA THE recent harassment of a female civil servant and violent clashes between the ruling PF and UPND members must be condemned by all Zambians, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has said. SACCORD executive director, Boniface Cheembe, condemned the humiliation of the civil servant on suspicion that she …

SACCORD SLAMS POLITICAL INTOLERANCE
By SIMON MUNTEMBA THE recent harassment of a female civil servant and violent clashes between the ruling PF and UPND members must be condemned by all Zambians, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has said. SACCORD executive director, Boniface Cheembe, condemned the humiliation of the civil servant on suspicion that she was a UPND sympathiser. Mr Cheembe also condemned political violence between the PF and UPND in Lusaka’s Kabwata constituency that resulted in both parties recording injuries to their members and damage to property. He said in a statement yesterday that all those acts pointed to lack of respect for political parties and their sympathisers. Mr Cheembe said civil servants have a right to support a political party of their choice in their private life and when they are at work, they are expected to be nonpartisan in their undertakings. “SACCORD would therefore like to appeal to all political stakeholders that one way of addressing the phenomenon of political violence is to ensure that a culture of respect prevails among all members,” Mr Cheembe said. He noted that when there is respect in a nation’s political environment it helps arrest other sources of conflict such as scapegoating which tends to find breeding ground in a disrespectful environment.