Dilapidated vehicles bearing party colours are an embarrassment

(Judge Mbadwa is hearing an application from Mapuya’s counsel on the increase in dilapidated vehicles with number plates purported to be supporting the PDP’s presidential bid) 

Lawyer Tchalo Muzango: My Lord, the leader of People’s Demagogic Party (PDP), professor Mapuya wants this court to order the impounding of all dilapidated vehicles whose owners are using PDP party insignia, colours, paraphernalia and even number plates to escape the wrath of the Road Traffic Directorate and the Traffic Police.

My Lord, we cannot deny the fact that PDP is very popular and that more people want to be associated with our president, but there is something that we cannot accept.

We are not a party with the biggest number of junkie vehicles plying the roads of Nyasaland, yet the picture being portrayed by the large number of rickety vehicles suggests otherwise.

The image of the party and that of Mapuya is taking a battering because of the rickety vehicles bearing number plates with slogans such as Ana Akula, Mfana wa Adad, Mapuya Boma 2019 and whose owners are not PDP members.

We want to categorically state that most of these wobbly vehicles belong to the opposition cockerel party of Lazaro while some are owned by movement fanatics.

We have reason to believe the opposition and movement boys are responsible for the increase of unroadworthy vehicles bearing our colours and that they are on a campaign to embarrass PDP and taint Mapuya’s second term bid.

My Lord, you know that PDP members are driving the state of the art vehicles. You don’t need to ask who owns the latest cars in town because it is common knowledge that Ana a dad have the financial wherewithal to buy the latest vehicles on the market.

My Lord, PDP is not a party of paupers and even the well-wishers we have cannot allow us to use dilapidated vehicles to be promoting our candidate.

As PDP, we contend that such motorists from the opposition are using our colours to circumvent the mandatory certificate of fitness exercise, which the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services are administering.

As a party, we have law abiding members and we cannot encourage people to break the law; hence, our application that these vehicles be impounded so that the opposition’s scheme to give us a bad name should be exposed.

PDP has vehicles, including buses and minibuses, we use to ferry our supporters to our functions.

And in cases where we are overwhelmed by the number of people who want to patronise our rallies, we use vehicles belonging to parastatals and not individual junkie vehicles.

We ask this court to invoke Section 4 of the Protected Flag, Emblems and Names Act and mercilessly deal with those showing disrespect to the party by parading their unroadworthy vehicles in the name of supporting Mapuya.

My Lord, this trend is akin to insulting the modesty of the governing party, which is the same as ridiculing the sitting president. I rest my case.

Judge Mbadwa: Though owners of dilapidated vehicles that are being abused by being decorated with PDP colours are not represented, the court agrees that no one is more equal than others under the law. Regardless of who drives those vehicles whether from the opposition or the ruling side, it is against the law to drive unroadworthy vehicles. I hereby order the impounding of such vehicles as guided by the Road Traffic Act. n