CAN THOMAS ZGAMBO GET FAIR COURT TRIAL AFTER BILL KAPING'A PUBLICLY DECLARES HIM GUILTY? Good evening United Party for National Development (UPND) attack-dog, Bill Kaping'a, seems so incensed by United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan's preliminary report's adverse findings on Zambia, that he has recklessly resorted to declaring people guilty of hate speech and seditious practices, before courts of law pronounce themselves on the cases. Self-appointedanalyst Kaping'a, apparently apeaking on behalf of other misguided party zealot, disclosed in an online post: "We are however perturbed by the assessment of her (Irene Khan's) visit", because of this statement in her preliminary report: “My overall observation is stark. Human rights stand at the crossroads in Zambia as the country prepares for general elections in 2026 amid major economic challenges, rising political tensions, and polarisation along ethnic and regional lines…..Laws on criminal libel, seditious practices, insults, hate speech, and cybercrimes are being used to prosecute, punish and silence critical voices and must be repealed or revised”. Kaping'a then profers this inane denial: "The government is in no way ‘weaponising’ any parts of the law to fix perceived opponents; it is a question of maintaining law and order in the land. We shall cite three examples of individuals who have somehow come into conflict with the law in the recent past: a member of parliament, a self-acclaimed civil rights activist, and a journalist." He names three individuals, namely, Lumezi Independent Member of Parliament Independent Member of Parliament Munir Zulu, Civil Activists Brebner Changala, and journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo. Kaping'a sought to use their cases to support his very uninformed denial that Outgoing Dictator Hakainde Hichilema's government is employing state power to curtail citizens' with dissenting views the right to freedom of expression and opinion. His attempt is a pitiful failure. For obvious reasons, we have chosen to focus on the case involving Thomas Allan Zgambo. According to Attack-dog Bill, Thomas Zgambo was arrested for alleging that the Zambia National Service(ZNS), an arm of the defense force, was importing “substandard” genetically modified maize from South Africa without informing consumers of any potential harm. Of course, this turned out to be false! The implication being that since, according to Kaping'a the information was false, then Thomas is guilty. Not true. The stories alleged in this case merely asked the government to explain whether the mealie meal which ZNS was importing from South Africa for sale in Zambia contained Genetically modified Organisms, in which case the government needed to inform consumers as required by law. Secondly, it was known, and admitted by the government, that ZNS was importing GMO mealie meal for onward export to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Was it, therefore not a legitimate public interest issue to ask whether what was ending up on the Zambian market could also have been produced from gmo maize? That was the public interest question raised by the story published by the Zambian Whistleblower, for which Thomas Allan Zgambo stands accused. By attributing falsehood to Thomas Allan Zgambo over this story, while he is undergoing trial in court, reckless attack-dog Bill Kaping'a has effectively pronounced Thomas guilty, and what is going on in court in this case of no use. With a ruling party agent publicly pronouncing Thomas guilty, is it any wonder that UN Rapporteur on Freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan made adverse findings about weaponisation of the law to fix Zambian citizens with dissenting views? What Irene Khan observed was correct. This government is using laws on criminal libel, seditious practices, hate speech, insults and cybercrimes to prosecute, punish and silence critical voices and "MUST BE REPEALED OR REVISED". So, unless Attack-dog Bill is intellectually challenged, He should understand that the case of Thomas Allan Zgambo is actually a perfect illustration of this weaponisation of the law by Outgoing Dictator Hichilema’s government. The same points made regarding Thomas Zgambo's case apply to those of Lumezi Independent MP Munir Zulu, and Civil rights activist Brebner Changala. Kaping'a has been so reckess with his comments, as if the right to a fair trial of these three Zambians is of no consequence. In a normal functional legal system, Kaping'a would be facing contempt of court proceedings. But being a UPND attack-dog, he could get away with it. And this is another aspect of administration of justice in Zambia today, which was subject of reports of rights violations - selective application of the law. Even hate speech is only so when directed at individuals or groups from the preferred Zambezi region. Those from the rest of the country can be targeted by members of the ruling party and police will not move despite complaints being raised. Kaping'a has taken the remarks of both Munir Zulu and Brebner Changala out of context, and we had hoped fair court processes would sort out the facts. But thanks to Attack-dog Bill Kaping'a, these cases may now simply be academic. He has already pronounced these three guilty, by himself. To his credit, Kaping'a has intimate knowledge of many of these cases of seditious practices against opposition politicians. He appears either as complainants or witness. It is not surprising that he is baying for their blood, whatever the cost. The question remains: can Thomas Zgambo, and indeed Munir Zulu and Brebner Changala have fair trial after all that Mighty Ruling Party Attack-dog Bill Kaping'a has said? That is for you, the Zambian public, to ponder. John 8:32 "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Good Night ©️ Zambian Whistleblower (ZWB).