Zambian police have arrested and charged an opposition leader
with defamation, after he compared the president to a potato, a party
ally told AFP Tuesday.
Frank Bwalya, head of the Alliance
for a Better Zambia, allegedly referred to president Michael Sata as
"Chumbu Mushololwa" during a live radio broadcast Monday.
The
Bemba term literally refers to a sweet potato that breaks when it is
bent and is used to describe someone who does not heed advice.
"The
police decided to arrest and charge him with defamation of the
president," Eric Chanda, the secretary general of Alliance told AFP.
If convicted, Bwalya faces a maximum jail term of five years.
Bwalya,
a former Catholic priest and supporter of Sata when in opposition, is
just the latest opposition leader to run afoul of Zambia's leader.
In September, Nevers Sekwila Mumba of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy was questioned by police after calling Sata a liar.
Ex-president Rupiah Banda has been hauled before the courts on numerous corruption charges.
"President
Sata is the same old man who was on all radio stations defaming former
presidents Banda and Mwanawasa and nobody arrested him," said Chanda.
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