WHY DICTATOR HICHILEMA WISHES SOCIAL MEDIA WOULD SHUT DOWN IN ZAMBIA Good evening. If Outgoing Dictator Hakainde Hichilema had his way, he would compeletely block Zambians from the internet. It is the source of most of his nightmares. This is why he keeps harping on the subject of abuse of social media each time he has a microphone. He has tried everything to make sway Zambians from using social media to criticise his failed government project, but has failed. He has tried discouraging people from spending too much time on social media, while he himself posts on multiple channels and even recently invited Zambians to meet him on tik tok. He has attempted threats, warning Zambians that he is aware of what they post in their private WhatsApp groups, because he has planted his agents in those platforms. As content critical of his failing and increasingly corrupt government has grown bolder, Outgoing Dictator Hichilema tried a desperate move. His government drafted amendments to the cyber security and cyber crime laws to further restrict use of social media by Zambians. Included in these amendments were loose and vague extensions to the definitions of hate speech, and ridicule of individuals, which would have virtually outlawed satirical articles and even simple comedy. Sharp reactions to the proposed amendments, from Civil Society Organisations(CSOs), independent media, the Catholic Church in Zambia, and other church mother bodies, embarrassed Outgoing Dictator Hichilema forcing him to backpedal and withdraw the amendment bills "to allow for consultations". The truth is that his government feared the issue would hand the opposition a potent anti government item. Chances are that these bills will not come up again before the 2026 elections. But why has Outgoing Dictator Hichilema come to hate Zambians' use of social media to this extent, when it helped propel him to the 2021 election victory by helping surmount restrictions placed on his physical campaign activities by the previous government? The answer is simple. The works of the government propaganda machinery, thousands of paid praise singers who troll known government critics, and the help of western foreign backers and cheerleaders, have failed to divert the attention of ordinary Zambians from the pain of the harshest economic hardships in the history of their country. Complaints about the high cost of living are now a daily chorus. The evidence of Outgoing Dictator Hichilema's failed economic policies and management are stinging. The population is groaning, and there are no visible signs of any large scale development projects done in the four years he has been in power. And social media is the channel and host of daily complaints about the high cost of living, by individuals and organised groups. Outgoing Dictator Hichilema and his government are now in panic as the 2026 elections approach. But even the spate of arrests of independent journalists, civil activists, opposition politicians and clergymen, for alleged hate speech, seditious practices and criminal libel, he unleashed, all based on media reports, have failed to put the lid on open dissent and criticism of his government. Those arrests have now opened an investigation of increased violations of citizens' freedom of expression and opinion, resulting in the January country visit by United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, Irene Khan. Now Outgoing Dictator Hichilema is in serious panic, especially after the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) lost the Petauke Central Constituency by-election recently. Therefore, Outgoing Dictator Hichilema simply cannot help himself, but continue his love- hate relationship with social media. He loves communicating directly, daily with the people, but is loathe to read the feedback from the people he is governing because they are saying things about his failures, which he does not like. In the light of approaching elections, there is an even bigger reason why Outgoing Dictator Hichilema wants to restrict use of the internet. As a politician campaigning to be President of Zambia, he told too many lies, and uttered many without conviction because now in government, his actions have proved contrary. Even on the subject of cyber security and cyber crime laws, Hichilema the candidate and his party committed that these two laws were going to be the first ones to be repealed, if he was elected President because in their current form they restricted people's freesom of expression. Now in the fourth year of his Presidency, Outgoing Dictator Hichilema is instead trying to make these two laws even more draconian! It is not surprising then that social media is awash with criticism of Outgoing Dictator Hichilema for his politics of expediency, rather than conviction. Apart from this, Outgoing Dictator Hichilema has been know to tell plain lies. Perhaps this is why he is now so forcefully against social media usage. The Internet has helped Zambians keep a record of all his lies, and now constantly remind him about them. Social media has also been exposing the discrepancies between what Outgoing Dictator Hichilema says and what he actually does. Because of this, social media is making it harder for him to revise his false narratives or hide contradictions in his statements and actions. He now erroneously hopes that limiting citizens’ use of social media can minimise constant damage to his personal reputation and preserve for him a little bit of image going inton2026. But it is too late for him to control his public image in the face of telling falsehoods and exaggerations. Social media is actually helping Zambians hold Outgoing Dictator Hichilema directly responsible for his poor performance, and his words and actions since he decided to run for office of Republican President. And it is a good thing that he will not have his wish of blocking Zambians from full access to the Internet. Get in touch with us on WhatsApp +263786654620 John 8:32 "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” #zambianwhistleblower #zwb ©️ Zambian Whistleblower (ZWB).