TWO Lusaka’s Kapasa Township residents have been shot dead by Zambia National services (ZNS) officers over the land impasse. The settlers have been insisting that the land belongs to them and not ZNS. Some say they have lived there for more than 25 years.
The third person was injured in the fracas which lasted for over three hours yesterday and was admitted to Levy Mwanawasa Hospital where he is battling for his life after sustaining a gunshot wound on his left leg.
The victims, who have been identified as Clement Muloongo and Pumulo Lungwangwa, were hit with short batons before they were shot at close range, according to reports. One was shot in the head and the other in the chest.
According to eyewitnesses, one of the men raised his hands and begged the officers armed with AK 47 rifles to spare his life but they ignored him and opened fire on him.
The second victim was shot when he tried to rescue his father, who was in the house which was being demolished, while the survivor was shot in the buttocks as he hung around after being evicted from his house.
Lungwangwa’s wife, Harriet Shabantu, said her husband was not confrontational when the officers ordered them to vacate the house.
“I just told my husband that we should secure our documents and National Registration Cards and leave the house to be demolished. We went to the roadside but they followed us….we moved somewhere else and they still followed us and started beating us up. They started shooting and that is how my husband was shot,” she said.
But when contacted for a comment, acting police spokesperson Charity Chanda said she had scanty information regarding the shooting incidence but was still waiting for more details.
“I have received information by officers who rushed there this morning but I am still waiting for more information. Right now I only have scanty information,” she said.
Another witness told the reporter that the armed officers visited the area around 05:00 hours accusing them of refusing to vacate the premises on several occasions even when they were aware that the land they were occupying belonged to ZNS.
They said it was at that point that others started resisting and confusion erupted in the process forcing the alleged officers to start shooting which lead to the death of the deceased two men and wounding of the other.
“We are shaken. This is our land we have stayed here for years, now if they remove us from here where are we going to go because our children do not know any other place other than this one,” they complained.
The residents had since called on the police to ensure that the culprits were brought to book because they had killed innocent people who were fighting for what belonged to them and their rights to shelter.
“There was no protest for the officers to open fire at us, we were just arguing because it was only this week when we were being assured by higher authorities that we will not be moved so we were shocked to see officers demanding that we be moved claiming we were occupying illegal land, we have been over 10 years,” they said.
But some of the officers found at the scene claimed the residents became unruly and started throwing stones at them a situation which led to others to open fire at them in a bid to stop them from throwing stones.
A ZNS officer only identified as P M Solochi, who was sent to gather facts about the incident in Kampasa, defended the officers saying they shot at the people in self-defence.
He alleged that the settlers were not co-operative and some even threw stones at the officers.
Many houses, including a Church of God centre and Patriotic Front (PF) office, were damaged during the operation by ZNS officers, who also allegedly threatened to burn the settlers’ maize.
A 54-year-old widow, Elina Ng’andu, who burst into tears, said she had nowhere to go after her house was demolished.
Ms Ng’andu and other settlers were found picking up their belongings to camp by the roadside.
Some local people said they were surprised that ZNS officers demolished and damaged their houses despite assurances from “some authorities” that their houses would not be touched.
Cage those fools! What do they do anyway? ZNS is irrelevant. The chaps just warm their asses the whole day and get paid for that!
I think it is a violation of human rights to shoot unarmed villagers. Even if they might have been illegally on the land which they claim to have occupied for 25 years without title, they claim it was theirs under customary law. But unconfirmed reports filtering in claim that the land has been acquired by one lady minister who abused her authority to send in armed men who worked under instructions as it has now become a norm in Zambia. I strongly feel that as a country, any government that fails to protect the most vulnerable members of the community should be discarded.
# Jack
U really need to get worried why illiterate Defence Minister Geoffrey Mwamba was telling soldiers to go and explain reasons of the removal of subsidies.
Soldiers knows only how to shoot to kill, through the head or heart area of the body.
Soldiers are not policemen who knows how to negotiate.
Illiterate Geoffrey Mwamba should now learn from this incident that soldiers are not good at explaining but are good at killings. Their place in society are barracks.
These ZNS soldiers should have pointed their guns at Sata & Mwamba and the entire PF criminals who are bankrupting Zambia’s coffers.
Zambians would have been celebrating by now if the entire PF leadership was put at the shooting range by these ZNS officers. No one will shed a tear.
just wondering why is defence force so excited with live bullets and using them on defenceless people who they are supposed to defend and protect?,, are instructions still coming from above to shot with live bullets at anyone protesting?? or was the protest politically motivated by UPND or MMD??
Zambia is turning into a police state,,,very bad indeed!!!!
YAH, THE CHAPS MUST BE CAGED FOR MURDERING DEFENCELESS VICTIMS.
Law enforcement has become trigger happy in Zambia. How do you shoot unarmed men in front of their families? instant justice must be applied in this case. Prayers for the affected families.
By law those cabbage ZNS officers should not have gone to kapasa to evict those illegal settlers from that land in the first place
There was suppose to be a court order in place, and possibly an alterantive place to relocate them,,,
Mostly importantly its the police who are suppose to evict those people with a court order not lives bullets…
So the cabbage ZNS offficer/s who fired that/those gun/s should be fired and jailed including their boss, who sent them there,,, instead of working with police through the courts of law..
But it looks like in zambia there is NO rule of law
That is Sata’s Zambia for you – a place where life has become cheap,law enforcers are unaccountable and you never read or hear of development news anymore bcoz zed is a true hellhole of evil governance.
@ Enka…thank you! Police are always waiting for more information even after an incident happened in her office. This here is how the story can be distorted and the culprits will walk free.
the commonwealth officer in the country should look into it. Where is the common wealth lets share it kaili.
Makes a sad reading. Who is going to protect us if the people in charge of protecting us start killing us. This Country few are heavily enjoying while Masses are suffering. Accidents are killing us day and night the few people left are being killed by ZNS.MTSRIP.
This is a very sad.
This is a very sad situation,how can the officers shoot,insited of using other tactics to threaten them.
thats the problem in zambia.the poor have no access to land.
any way , the death of two people is so regrettable . You should have just tear gassed them. Indeed illegal land occupation is becoming so rampant in Zambia. These guys went there in the late 1990s illegally and have been resisting eviction since then. Sometimes these people just take away your farm at will, can you really tolerate that? This illegal land occupation was rampant in RB. Please let there be order in Zambia. Govt should also not give land to foreigners at will where people have lived for centuries as RB was doing no. PF please bring order to the Land industry.
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia
How can pf bring order wen pf is the worst case in illegal land grabing?
Shootings, Police brutality, Millitia mayhem, Oppression, Cheap Propaganda and lack of direction is what PF brought on table while their boss goes into hidding.
I think both parties were wrong, the people stoned the officers and the officers shot live bullets. I think what Zambia needs to use vehicles with pressure water or fire engines when dealing with unruly people rather than gunshot. The government is also wrong by wanting people to be moved out without an alternative, as much as the people are on illegal land they should have been given tents at least to settle some where or given a temporarily settlement with tents.
This is how it is when you don’t want to co-operate,they is no way someone would”nt listen to an armed man giving orders,promble some of take u it a granted to pipo in uniforms,even if it was u in that uniform u would have killed to proctect yourself. why should u be killed by pipo if you were trained to kill,those pipo were throwing stones to the men in uniform,it like a lion is sleeping then u go and step on its tell ar u sure!dont do things to test, u ar even the pipo who test God, u want see what happens if a lathel is fire those soldiers ar not your friends they trained to kill not to be killed/to maintain law and order.sorry for the loss of two lifes may their soul rest in peace.
Dear hey mama hey,
Your justification of murder is unacceptable. Those ZNS cowards were totally wrong and they will live to regret it up to the day of judgement. If the people were unruly and throwing stones, as the military cowards claim, they should have gone back and asked the police for a proper and lawful removal. The fact that they were using guns to kill people suggests that this is unlawful removal. The ZNS killers should be arrested and prosecuted, if there is any justices to speak of in Zambia.
To day it is the other fellow; tomorrow it could be you — under a different, but similar set of circumstances. Killing and destroying other people’s property is not keeping law and order. I pray that God hears there cry and plight, in a country that claims to be ‘Christian…
Only militial do that.A trained sodier is disciplined to the core.Trained to protect the country from armed enemies dumbwit.Stop smoking that stuff.A marine who randomly shot civilians in Afganistan is facing the death penalt.As real trained sodier you never shot an unarmed civilian or a prisoner of war, if you do that amounts to a war crime.Read the Geneva convetion agreement dumbwit.Syria is about the wrath of NATO because of using sarine on civilians.Gadafi faced that little plane called the drone because of his reckless killing of civilians.Anyway Why should I waste my knowledge on a cadre like you.
I SENT THEM. THEY DID WANT TO COOPERATE ON SUBSIDY REMOVAL
This is unacceptable. Whatever happened to the rights of the people. Those officers who murdered the people did it on purpose and any talk of self defense is nonsense. Those fools must be brought to book. Enough is enough. And why is the so called president silent in the midst of all this murder and violence. He pretended to care for the people until he got their votes. No one is above the law and the officers who opened fire on the innocent must be locked up and never to be released. Am fed up with all this nonsense and the so called president must protect the people of Zambia. People cannot continue to live in fear of the officers who are supposed to protect the Zambians. They are now behaving like gangsters. I hope to hear from the head of state about this matter.
Is this the ‘Lusaka Times’ or the ‘Harare Times’ ??
More like “The Damascus Times’. We definitely have another Syria on the way with this regime. In Harare Mugabe at least has the balls to say something…
its very unfortunate,the Govt official who was promising the settlers protection should be arrested for misdirecting settlers,and the ZNS officers immediately arrested. other would be offenders should learn from these ZNS officers serious punishment.
Is zambia turning into animal farm? “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” This is going too far now.
this is highly tragic and inexcusable. It is very unzambian and has just shaken me to the core. is this what it has come to in Zambia? shooting innocent villagers? This is sad beyond measure.
There is everything wrong with what ZNS did. Who gave them the authority to go there and remove settlers? Yes, it may be their land but the police service are the ones who are mandated to carry out such an exercise. If it is their land, why then has it taken over two decades for them to start demanding it back from the settlers? Clearly, one can see that there is a dubious, hidden hand someone behind all this nonsense. This is what happens when the government becomes the first culprit when it comes to breaking the law with impunity. We are yet to see more in terms of lawlessness.
It is a very sad development by the ZNS. I feel pity for these poor people who cannot defend themselves. I wonder who the hell gave the land to these people. Surely, where are we going in Zambia? W ho will protect the lives of these defenceless and innocent people? Can there be a better way of resolving these issues than killing? What is the president saying about this? Perhaps, if he remains silence as he always does, should we conclude that he instructed the guys and he is supporting them? I think we are heading nowhere with the PF government. There is power in our votes. We voted them in we can equally vote them out.I am disapppointed!!!
Now that they are dead. our forcus should be on how to care for the left families. the two men be declared as heroes so the left families be assisted to enjoy life. are top government official happy with that? if not, punish the zns officers. If justice is not done, then our coutry risk being hell.
Now that they are dead. our forcus should be on how to care for the left families. the two men be declared heroes so the left families be assisted to enjoy life. are top government official happy with that? if not, punish the zns officers. If justice is not done, then our coutry risk being hell.
These are the 10 commandments of sata and PF…..from more money in your pockets to more bullets in your buttocks.
PF will never win another election….
Hang these guys for murder.
To be honest, I support this government but I can’t stomach this. This was uncalled for. You can only rush to fire a gun like that if your training is inadequate because I expect the officers to have other skills to be used to stop rioting masses. Look at what is happening in Turkey; no one is being shot and yet the confusion is more serious. This is unacceptable. President Sata needs to visit this area and calm the villagers. People should be careful with this kind of approach to issues because they are the ones to be blamed when these things happen.
There is too much lawlessness in Zambia, people trained to protect civilians are the ones turning the guns/ assault rifles on defenseless villagers! Very sad indeed, we should always strive to find solutions without the use of force. No wonder the people in diaspora are scared to go home, police, shooting at will, now ZNS and the cadres beating if you have a different view! Just what is the confusion in Zambia today? MTSRIP.
That is not self defense. Those guys acted beyond their duty requirements. Any way until they are proved guilty, now innocent. Imagine.
Self defense.Retreat the fck out!What happened to shooting in the sky.I appologise on behalf of your mother to having allowed you to breath this fcking oxygen!
Can someone explain to me what ZNS mean and compare it to gun triggering. Thats why zambia will not develop.
Get ur facts these cadres overan an operational camp and soldiers only fired in self defence and to recapture wat these sponsored thugs had stolen. There was nothing like evictions frm the land. This a permanent operational camp protecting encroachment that was attacked by cadres.
And that gave you right to shot you fcing ashole!Okay dumbwit let’s play who wants to be a millionaire? First question which weapon is more powerful,a gun or catapult?Then the dumbwit said catapult!It sad the ignorance expressed by oxymorons like you!
You Charity Chanda,ati waiting for more info?Why not get out of that office and visit the scene and the victims to get first hand info?we miss brenda muntemba mwe.
Sometimes sturbonness yields this. ZNS 0fficers would have been killed if they were not armed. The whole situation is bad. Its like armed forces. Have special rights than what we know what about C5. Even during RB shootings have been their. Sorry for the fracas indeed.
Do not justify murder. How many stone ‘throws’ kill people? Gun ‘bullets’ kill.
Be wiser, you could be the next victim. Do not defend murderers in military uniform!
pliz dont defend reckless behavior. the defence forces are trained not just to shot but a lot of survivor and battle skills including negotiation, disarmings bombs and opponents through physical but not lethal combat etc. warning shots in the air could also have done the job. never solve lawlessness with lawlessness – 2 wrongs wont make a right.
the Executive – PF Cabinet, is busy leading the way on breaking the law with its cadres , Police and now ZNS.
God help us
See the photos on the Zambian Watchdog, Shooting must have been at very close range
let us look on both sides of the coin.
This is truly shocking. What self defense? Why not use rubber bullets and tear-gas instead on unarmed civilians if they become unruly? Why carry live bullets to such an event?? Or is this deemed as a SERVICE to our Nation by these ZNS officers? What is this? What is going on in our Country? Shocking. I have titled land back in Zambia, and I have had problems with squatters over the years, BUT NEVER EVER does that mean my life is more precious than theirs. NEVER. What ZNS should do is engage these people in a long-term win-win arrangement. What has happened is completely unacceptable by any right thinking person (landlords included).
I hope commonwealth is taking note of all these happenings
What is the normal procedure of removing so called illegal land settlers? and who is suppose to do it? is it not to be done with a court order? I have so many questions to ask….am disappointed with what is going on in our country, AM DISAPPOINTED, AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED,AM DISAPPOINTED………………..
WHAT DO WE EXPECT. LAWLESS STATE. NO HEAD.
When it comes to issues of encroachment or evictions of persons on private property, the Local Authority i.e the councils and the courts are by law mandated to handle such issues. Its surprising that ZNS command intentionally ignored the right channel of handling this issue and instead sent trigger happy officers to gun down in cold blood poor unarmed villagers. What did they think they were shooting, rabid dogs???? For Christ sake these are human beings that are entitled to own land just like a minister, whether they are poor or not, its there birth right.
“A ZNS officer only identified as P M Solochi, who was sent to gather facts about the incident in Kampasa, defended the officers saying they shot at the people in self-defence.” It is a shame that today’s soldiers are not properly trained and the only self-defence they know is shooting! I thought there are so many ways a soldier can defend himself especially when dealing with unarmed civilians.
What self defence? This is pure abuse of authority by the officers. There is no reason to open fire on unarmed citizens. It gives a very bad reputation to ZNS and the protction of Human Rights in our country.
correct I am with you.
This is shocking and disapointing at the same time.Where is the rule of law? ZNS have qualified personel including lawyers who should have adviced these happy for nothing guys.When land is in dispute the courts come in and the right owners of the land would have been know unlike this brutal killing using state guns. Is this the service taht S represent in ZNS? are these guys well trained? Can we have a proper report from ZNS to explain what happened and who gave these these guys order to fire at the innocent armless civilians.
PF is following the dictator’s manual to the letter. We already know where we are going with these lot, we need to be stop this before things get out of hand. Anyone who uses state machinery to persecute their own citizens should face mob justice.
This is so shocking and disappointing.Where is the rule of law? ZNS should have qualified lawyer who should have adviced them that when land is under dispute you leave it to the courts of law to decide the righful owner.Killing of defenceless citizens like this is seriously unacceptable and should be condemned by all well meaning Zambians.Is this the meaning of that service in Zambia National service? Are these guys well trained? We need a full report on this brutal killing detailing the people who ordered these guys to attack and kill these defenceless civilians.What a shame.I used to admire the displine of thse guys in uniform but of late they have proved to be very unprofesional.WHAT A SHAME.
very dull to say these *****s from zns where in self defence when firing on civilians arent these pf *****s trained in crowed control or there are just armed farmers
This is unacceptable.very sad indeed.The graphic picture on watch dog clearly shows the man was fired upon at close range.Rule of law breaking down.Your president is ZEEEEE as usual. Lord have mercy!
that’s the point my friend, how did they get very close to the armed soldiers? what if they wanted to grab the weapon? if someone unarmed but confrontational comes close to when you are armed, what do you do? So don’t look at the issue on one side. if the villagers grabbed a weapon from the soldiers, what were you going to say?
This was unlawful and cowardly act by (wo)men dressed up in military uniform. It should be condemned in strongest terms and the culprits should be prosecuted accordingly. Nothing more, nothing less.
From being a Christian Nation Zambia is becoming an Idiocracy . Where is the democracy ??
GVIMBWA a wife a batterer is in charge of security,what do u expect ?? I mean he’s failed to run his home. When real criminals come u lie on the floor & perform yo training on unarmed citizens . Pathetic, the UN should charge the government & it’s security forces for “crimes against humanity” .
And probably the villages shot voted for the ruling Government. Time to speak up and put pressure on this Government for all sorts of violence the very peaceful Zambian nation is now experiencing. When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent;I wasn’t a Jew.When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.
This is the PF you voted for ka. When people warned the zambians they said awe Sata is a man of action, now you see Sata’s action at work. Lets wait and see if sata will even care to make a statement about this murder. This is abuse of human rights, our govt is busy giving out land to foreigners yet killing our own over our own land… Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!! God help us. And we still have 3 more yrs to be with sata, i wonder what will become of zambia because so much has gone wrong just within 2 yrs of satas rule.
That makes it four families in a space of 7 days that need to lawyer up….surely what powers have ZNS corporals got when it comes to carrying out eviction without a court order.
imwe, sad that lifes were lost. But what puts me off are bloggers who always want to blame the President. Sata wouldn’t like to see people shoot neither can he ve policies to kill his own people, grow up. when a tragedy befall us. lets always seek for reasons and punishment in the humane and civil maner. Name calling wont take us anyway.
I feel very sad.
Ba LT, your headline is misleading!
These people have lived in that area for decades.
What has made them illegal settlers today?
Was there a Court order for this exercise?
Who gave the order to open fire?
Are these gun handlers subjected to regular psychometric testing?
We should just agree that Zambia has all the symptoms of a failed State!
This includes failed land administration.
Other countries in the region have well-administered Land Boards!
This is the first time in Zambia I am seeing a government whose actions have been in reverse gear. This also applies to thugs getting orders from above. To the thugs and followers of this government, it is normal to shoot to kill innocent and defenceless citizens. To them when there is disorder this is seen as peace. When there is chaos in the country, they keep quiet. Having more than 60 government ministers is normal to them, while people continue suffering. No leadership or whatsoever.
Sad to see that the new President and his administration are going the same way as much of Africa, violence.
satan is in charge of Zambia right now. There is more coming our way if good men of GOD do not do anything. Where are the churches who were so supportive of the PF when things were going wrong with MMD? Where are the vocal Catholics?
WE NEED A DAY OF PRAYER! Am i a lone voice in the wilderness?
No, you are not alone.
And you mfacker that Is what you had to spew.Stick to the topic dumbwit!
Zambians this is what you voted for. It’s not as though you did not know what a savage your president is, but you even allowed him to fool you with all his fake promises. Now the thug police and ZNS have become very trigger happy and releasing batons and bullets at any given chance. This will sadly continue and come election time in 2016 Zambia will become the new Syria. Do you really think Sata is ready to stand down at the next elections without fighting like Bashar Hafez al-Assad of Syria? Remember his best mate and chief advisor is Mugabe. Be prepared there is worse yet to come.
This is first degree murder. The overzelous ZNS officers who killed defenseless, unarmed citizens must face the full wrath of the law.
Is life this cheap? Land? Land sure? Is life really this Cheap that you can shoot somebody because they are unruly? Who ordered this innocent blood to be spelt over land,
THIS IS SO SAD, I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT IT’S HOW ZAMBIA HAS BECOME LAWLESS. IT’S MURDER AND THE ZNS STAFF SHOULD BE ARRESTED. WHERE IS THE COURT ORDER? I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS FOR OUR LEADERS.
IT IS UNBELIEVABLE TO SAY THE LEAST THAT WE HAVE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN LESS THAN A WEEK DISCHARGING LIVE AMUNITION WHICH COST LIFE AND A LOST KIDNEY. WE CLEARLY HAVE A PROBLEM AND CLAIMING SELF DEFENCE IS NOT THE ISSUE, WHAT DID THEY EXPECT, THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED WITH TEAR GAS WHEN GOING TO THE VILLAGE OTHER THAN LIVE AMUNITION. THE LEARNED PEOPLE WILL SAY IT IS PREMEDITATED WHY DID THEY NOT CARRY TEAR GUS OR BUTTONS. i HOPE THE PEOPLE INVOLVED GO TO JAIL A LONG TIME. SURELY MR PRESIDENT, THE CLOWNS ARE LOOSING YOU POPULARITY BY THE DAY. DONT YOU THINK IT IS TIME TO CHANGE YOUR ENTIRE HOME AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE TEAM AS IT IS OBVIOUS THE PEOPLE ON IT NOW ARE BUSY ENRICHING THEMSELVES THAN DO THEIR JOBS. YOU ARE PLAYING RIGHT IN THE HAND OF THE OPOSITION
the kiiling of two innocent zambian by the ZNS is worrying.the ZNS have no legal right to shoot an innocent citizens this is against the law of zambia and the zambia interest.let those in authorty look into the matter so that these people be investigated by the law.the killing of these villagers by the ZNS lacks heart of the vulnelable zambian hence god will do something serious to punish such heartless police officers.i am humbly request the government to do something about this matter before hand because this is against the right to life.the violation of the right to life must be revisited by the government so that we the people of zambia can enjoy our peace.instead of the police to protect us from being killed by themselves,please no one is above the law,very sad