Campaign violence is born in political intolerance, not in police stations.
A police officer is recovering from injuries sustained while responding to campaign violence in Luampa district. Musician Clifford Dimba, better known as General Kanene, is recovering after he was attacked with a machete while performing at a campaign rally in Shibuyunji district. Ordinary Zambians have also found themselves caught in the violence.
These are not isolated incidents. They are reminders that, during elections, it is often citizens—and even the police themselves—who pay the price for political intolerance.
Yet, almost as predictably as the violence itself, comes another ritual.
The opposition blames the police for failing to act. The ruling party insists the police are doing their best. Politicians condemn the violence, cameras capture the statements, and the campaign moves on until the next clash.
But there is one uncomfortable question that rarely gets asked: Who created the conditions that the police are now being asked to police?
Campaign violence does not begin at a police station. It begins with reckless political rhetoric. It grows through intolerance and explodes when supporters are encouraged to see opponents as enemies rather than fellow citizens exercising democratic rights.
By the time the police arrive, the damage has often already begun.
This is not to excuse poor policing. The Zambia Police have a duty to enforce the law impartially, regardless of political affiliation. Every assault, every act of intimidation and every breach of public order should attract the same response, whoever commits it.
But professional policing also requires honesty from politicians.
It is deeply disingenuous to inflame tensions throughout the day and then ask, “Where were the police?” once violence erupts.
The better question is: Where were the leaders who should have restrained their supporters?
Research by the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) has found that electoral violence in Zambia is often linked to the mobilisation of party cadres and organised political competition rather than spontaneous public disorder. That matters because if the problem is political, the solution cannot rest solely with the police.
Inspector-General of Police Graphel Musamba appeared to recognise this when he ordered the immediate arrest of those behind the recent violence in Shibuyunji, Livingstone and Luampa districts.
His strongest message was directed not at the police, but at politicians: “No politician or cadre will escape prosecution just because they belong to a political party.”
He also pledged that: “The law will be applied fairly, professionally and impartially, without regard to political affiliation.”
Those words deserve to be more than a press statement. They should become the standard by which the police are judged.
The injured police officer did not benefit politically from stepping between rival supporters. General Kanene was not contesting public office when he was attacked. Traders who close their shops and motorists stranded by campaign clashes have no political agenda. They are casualties of a problem they did not create.
The Zambia Police Act gives officers broad powers to preserve public order, prevent crime and apprehend offenders. But it also places them within a command structure headed by the Inspector-General, who exercises command “subject to the orders and directions of the President”.
The police can investigate crimes. They cannot legislate political maturity.
If Zambia wants peaceful elections, politicians must stop treating violence as an unfortunate campaign tactic and the police as convenient punching bags whenever it spirals out of control.
The Zambia Police should be held accountable for how they enforce the law.
Politicians should be held accountable for why the law keeps having to be enforced.
Until Zambia demands both, every election will keep finding its punching bag—and ordinary citizens will keep paying the price.
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