Police in the border town of Mufulira district have refused to sanction tomorrow’s planned demonstration by the opposition Patriotic Front PF which had earlier intended to hold a solidarity march over the National Constitutional Conference NCC.
PF chairman for mines, Yamfwa Mukanga, confirmed the development in an interview with ZANIS in Mufulira today.
Mr. Mukanga was however quick to note that the party was satisfied with the reasons advanced to its district party leadership by the local police command on why the party had not been given a leeway to hold a peaceful demonstration.
Mr. Mukanga, who is also PF Kantanshi MP, said the party would hold the planned solidarity as soon as police were well equipped with the desired manpower for the demonstration to go ahead.
The PF in Mufulira had initially planned to hold a solidarity protest in support of its leader Michael Sata who has opted to stay away fromt he NCC.
Meanwhile, Mufulira Town Clerk Charles Mwandila has challenged the City Mayor Stanley Kaluba to be decided over his candidature at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).
Mr. Mwandila said the NCC was a serious national sitting which the municipality ought to fully attend, addiang that if the mayor was skeptical about his sitting on the NCC, he should inform the secretary to the cabinet over his stance in writing.
The town clerk was reacting to revelations from the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) in Mufulira which had earlier today revealed that mayor Kaluba had withdrawn his nomination to the constitutional conference.
Mr. Mayor told ZANIS in Mufulira today that he had nothing to comment over the matter, claiming that he was still a delegate to the NCC.
He also confirmed that he was tomorrow scheduled to travel to Lusaka in readiness for the NCC sitting on Wednesday.
But the Mufulira TC said that the PF should as a matter of urgency come out clearly on the stance it had taken over the NCC, adding that internal party issues should not affect the representation of the council at a crucial gathering.
Earlier, PF District Secretasry, Davies Chishimba, had disclosed to ZANIS in an interview that the Mufulira mayor had withdrawn from the NCC.
The PF in Mufulira had initially arranged for a meeting with the press where mayor Kaluba was officially supposed to have announced his pull out from the NCC.
Mr. Chishimba alleged that the Mufulira mayor had surrendered himself this morning at the party offices where he had pleaded with party officials not to be expelled from the party.
By Press time, Mufulira district PF chairman John Katati told ZANIS that he was still waiting for mayor Kaluba so that he could clearly give his side of the story instead of being undecided.
