Troop Deployment More About Intimidation Than Peace

A senior British academic has questioned the Zambian government’s decision to deploy troops ahead of next week’s elections, saying it appears to be less about keeping the peace and more about intimidating voters.

Dr Nic Cheeseman, professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham, told the BBC World Service that the military presence in Lusaka was disproportionate to the levels of violence being exhibited and that the presence of things like tanks suggested that the government is more interested in scaring voters than policing thugs.

“If this is really about keeping the peace, do you really need tanks on the street? That doesn’t seem to be a very suitable way for dealing with the challenges of keeping the peace in a compact urban area,” he said.

He observed that, “It seems to be a little bit more about intimidating people and laying down a sense of authority and who’s in control”. 

His comments come after heavily armoured vehicles and tanks were spotted patrolling the streets of Chawama Compound in Lusaka yesterday. On Sunday, President Lungu deployed members of the armed forces to support police in keeping the peace following the deaths of two suspected Patriotic Front supporters in Kanyama.

Dr Cheeseman condemned the increasing levels of political violence in Zambia but said it was interesting that the president should deploy the military to maintain order when “most of the violence is actually being committed by people close to the ruling party. Some by the opposition but the majority by the ruling party”.

He added that one of the reasons violence is spreading in Zambia is that police are told “not to intervene when the violence is being committed by the ruling party in order to allow them to get that electoral advantage”.