Claim
The Zambia Bulletin published an article on 27th July, 2021, alleging that President Edgar Lungu had blocked the UPND Alliance Presidential candidate, Hakainde Hichilema from campaigning. The article stated that Mr. Hichilema has consistently been stopped from campaigning on the ground by the Patriotic Front (PF) government machinery such as the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the Zambia Police and Zambia Air Force (ZAF) on claims of flouting the electoral Code of Conduct.
Rating Justification
The Fact Checking process by iVerify has determined as misleading the claim that President Edgar Lungu has blocked the UPND Alliance Presidential candidate, Hakainde Hichilema from campaigning. While there are indeed restrictions on campaign activities, those restrictions were put in place by the Zambia Police Services and the Electoral Commission of Zambia, which is an independent body. On the 27th of July, 2021, Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja directed Police Officers across the country to strictly oversee the suspension of public rallies and processions, including those where face masks are being distributed. He said the political parties are using such activities to gather large crowds which were turning out to be processions or rallies thereby contradicting the Public Health guidelines and suspension of huge gatherings by the ECZ and the Ministry of Health. This was in line with announcement at the joint Ministry of Health and ECZ press briefing on 7th June, 2021 that all campaign rallies and all activities that may attract huge gatherings were suspended with immediate effect. While the directive counts for all political party candidates, it is important to note that in a live phone interview on Diamond TV’s Breakfast show that was broadcast on 28th July, 2021, Zambia Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said the Police regulation of activities does not apply to the Republican President and the Republican Vice President. According to Ms Katongo, the President and Vice President are exempted because they are not subject to the provisions of the Public Order Act and therefore, all politicians whether from the ruling party or the opposition should not emulate what the Head of State is doing, which is distribution of face masks. The statement is backed up by the Law of Zambia on Regulation of Assemblies, Public meetings and Processions, the Public Order Act Chapter 5 Subsection 6, which states that the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) shall not apply to any public meeting convened by or at the request of and intended to be addressed by the President, the Vice-President or any Minister or Junior Minister or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. In summary, the iVerify team considers the claim that Mr. Hichilema has consistently been stopped from campaigning by the President as misleading given that the current restrictions in place count for all political parties and leaders, with the exception of the President as per the Constitution. In addition, the restrictions have been implemented and enforced by independent government institutions.
Misleading
