Leader of a tribe in western Zambia who is calling for the breakaway of the province from the rest of the country has gone into hiding, saying his life is in danger. Clement Sinyinda, the Ngambela (Prime Minister) of the Lozi people in Barotseland said after police interrogations on Thursday that his life is in danger because the interrogators informed him that what he is propagating is tantamount to treason. While police spokesperson Elizabeth Kanjela told Xinhua on Friday that the leader was just warned and cautioned as part of police investigations following reports that the Lozi people have resolved to break away from Zambia. Sinyinda said in an interview broadcast on a private radio station Hot FM that his life is in danger because his interrogators meant every word of what they said. “Right now I am in hiding somewhere where I can’t tell you. I was interrogated on treason charges and the situation in the province is not good. They told me that I am trying to secede the province which is a treason,” Sinyinda was quoted as saying by the radio station. His interrogation came in the wake of a resolution by a Barotse National Council meeting early this week to break away from Zambia because successive Zambian governments have refused to honor an agreement, the Barotseland Agreement, which called on the kingdom to enjoy some autonomy. Barotseland was a protectorate under British colonial rule and became part of Zambia in 1964. The Zambian government has since labeled the calls for secession as a treasonable offence and has vowed not to bow to the demands. The fresh calls for secession came after Zambian President Michael Sata said in a statement recently that he would be reluctant to restore the agreement because it may cause anarchy in the country, contrary to the promise he made during campaigns ahead of last year’s elections where he promised to restore the agreement. The issue has political undertones with analysts calling on the government to exercise maturity in handling it. Three church mother bodies, the Council of Churches in Zambia(CCZ), the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia(EFZ), issued a statement Friday calling on the government to stop labeling people demanding for autonomy as anarchists but to use dialogue to deal with the problem.
