The 18 political party leaders who attended yesterday’s meeting in Lusaka have been commended for coming to an agreement on issues that need to be addressed to end political violence before the August 11 general elections.
The Young African Leaders Initiative YALI has further commended youth leaders from political parties for setting the tone of agreed issues by President Edgar Lungu and other leaders at yesterday’s meeting.
Governance Advisor, Isaac Mwanza says the youth leaders who have been meeting for some time, had agreed on the need to use party structures to end political violence.
He says that YALI is excited to see the 18 leaders speak the same voice as that of youth leaders who met from across the country and agreed on the need for fair enforcement of the Public Order Act.
Mr Mwanza says that the youths had also agreed on the need for fair, equal and balanced coverage by the public media, stopping the use of the military regalia and a joint resolve to ban the use of military regalia.
He says that YALI now hopes to see public bodies such as Zambia Police and the public media helping the political leaders to implement the resolutions as agreed from the highest political level.
Mr Mwanza says that the police and other stakeholders will no longer have an excuse to fail to enforce the Public Order Act fairly and promote a zero tolerance to violence.
Eighteen political leaders met at the Cathedral of Holy Cross in Lusaka yesterday at which various resolutions were made to end political violence in the country.