Zambia, Lusaka. (News Of The South) – An opposition leader charged Frank Bwalya who was charged for defamation after comparing Zambian President Sata to a sweet potato was acquitted on Tuesday.
The court found that Bwalya was simply exercising his freedom of speech.
Bwalya is head of the Alliance for a Better Zambia, in January he referred to President Michael Sata as “chumbu mushololwa” during a live radio broadcast.
The term according to Bemba language means a sweet potato that breaks when bent and is commonly used to describe someone who never takes advice.
“The court made it clear that in this country we have the right to freedom of expression and as an opposition leader I have the right to criticise where things are not going right,”Bwalya said.
The outspoken former Catholic cleric was speaking from Kasama, about 850 kilometres (530 miles) north of the capital Lusaka, where the case was heard by magistrate Vincent Siloka.
Several opposition politicians and journalists have recently fallen foul of the Zambian authorities for criticising Sata — nicknamed “King Cobra” — and his government.
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