Global Academic Community Comes Out In Support Of Sishuwa
Academics from renowned institutions around the world, including the University of Oxford, Yale and University of Cape Town, have signed a letter supporting University of Zambia lecturer Sishuwa Sishuwa and calling for the sedition charges against him to be dropped.
The academics say they are “extremely concerned” about the threat made against Dr Sishuwa and say it is being used “to silence the legitimate expression of belief by one of the country’s most prominent early-career scholars”.
It follows a request to the police by Zambia’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Emmanuel Mwamba, for Dr Sishuwa to be arrested for sedition in relation to an opinion piece he wrote for South Africa’s Mail and Guardian newspaper.
In the piece, Dr Sishuwa argued that Zambia was teetering on the edge of civil unrest in the lead up to elections in August, as a result of the PF government’s work to undermine democratic institutions, including the judiciary and the electoral commission.
Sedition is an incredibly serious charge usually reserved for those who incite violence against the state. It carries a penalty of seven years in prison with no chance of bail following arrest.
The academics, who are largely historians and social scientists with a personal connection to Zambia, say Sishuwa’s was in fact trying to remedy the social unrest that is building in Zambia and avoid violence.
“Far from inciting popular rebellion (as the term ‘sedition’ implies), he seeks to address the underlying causes of societal tension as a way to reduce it. We believe it is both his right and his patriotic duty to bring such concerns into the public eye,” they wrote.
The researchers say they are also “alarmed” by the University of Zambia’s decision to disassociate itself from Dr Sishuwa. They say they “wholly reject” the allegations that Sishuwa is pursuing a “personal agenda” and call on UNZA to guarantee his continued employment and right to academic freedom.
The full list of signatories is as follows:
Professor David M. Anderson, Professor of African History, University of Warwick
Professor Kate Baldwin, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University
Dr Nicole Beardsworth, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Pretoria
Professor Michael Bratton, Emeritus Professor of Government, Michigan State University
Professor Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham
Dr Grieve Chelwa, Postdoctoral Fellow, The New School
Dr Boniface Dulani, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, University of Malawi
Professor Samuel Hickey, Professor of Politics and Development, University of Manchester
Professor Alan Hirsch, Emeritus Professor of Public Governance, University of Cape Town
Professor Faizel Ismail, Professor of Public Governance, University of Cape Town
Dr Walima Kalusa, Senior Lecturer in African History, University of eSwatini, and former Head of the Department of History, University of Zambia
Professor Chammah J. Kaunda, Assistant Professor of World Christianity and Mission Studies, Yonsei University
Professor Miles Larmer, Professor of African History, University of Oxford
Professor Adrienne LeBas, Associate Professor of Government, American University
Professor Robert Mattes, Professor of Political Science, University of Strathclyde
Dr Duncan Money, Researcher, African Studies Centre, University of Leiden
Dr Patience Mususa, Senior Researcher, Nordic Africa Institute
Professor Manenga Ndulo, Professor of Economics, University of Zambia
Professor Muna Ndulo, Professor of Law, Cornell University
Professor Lise Rakner, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen
Professor Brian Raftopoulos, Research Fellow, University of the Free State
Dr Sara Rich Dorman, Senior Lecturer in African Politics, University of Edinburgh
Professor Chris Saunders, Emeritus Professor of Historical Studies, University of Cape Town
Professor Jeremy Seekings, Professor of Political Studies and Sociology, University of Cape Town
Dr Neo Simutanyi, retired Senior Lecturer in Political Science, University of Zambia and Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue
Dr Morris Szeftel, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Political & International Studies, University of Leeds
Professor Blessing-Miles Tendi, Associate Professor in African Politics, University of Oxford
Professor Nicolas van de Walle, Professor of Government, Cornell University
Dr Michael Wahman, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University