Ex-UNZASU leader, Banda, found guilty of inciting campus violence, court reserves judgment

Former University of Zambia Student Union (UNZASU) president Gabriel Banda has been convicted of inciting violence at the University of Zambia (UNZA), following a speech he delivered that triggered a destructive student riot.

Banda was charged with proposing violence or breaches of the law to an assembly, contrary to Section 91(a)(b)(c) of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

Delivering the verdict, Senior Resident Magistrate Trevor Kasanda found Banda guilty and ordered that he be remanded in custody overnight, with sentencing reserved for Friday.

The case stems from events on September 18, 2023, when Banda addressed a student assembly at UNZA, in a speech the prosecution said was calculated to provoke violence and property destruction in protest of the administration’s decision to postpone student union elections.

The court heard that Banda repeatedly used the word “roadside”—which the prosecution described as coded language meant to signal students to engage in vandalism.

Magistrate Kasanda ruled that Banda was aware of the students’ anger over the election postponement and deliberately exploited their frustration.

He said Banda’s use of slogans and emotionally charged rhetoric incited students to violent action, leading to widespread damage to university property.

Read more: Tension in UNZA as lecturers threaten unrest over wage freeze, unresolved collective bargaining process

“The slogan did not consistently end with the common words his defense claims. Rather, it varied, tailored to suit the accused’s intentions,” Magistrate Kasanda said. “The phrase ‘roadside,’ in the context it was used, was not incidental. It was a deliberate call to action—one that encouraged destruction and lawlessness.”

The court was told that the riot erupted shortly after Banda’s speech. Students took to the Great East Road in protest, and the situation escalated into campus-wide violence. Several buildings, shops, and facilities were vandalized, and looting was reported.

The total value of damaged property was estimated at K11.6 million.

Prosecutors argued that Banda’s actions constituted a coordinated attempt to incite unrest, cloaked in the language of student activism but ultimately intended to provoke disorder through emotionally manipulative messaging.

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