Fifteen Zambian village elders have been arrested for trying to block President Levy Mwanawasa’s convoy in protest against alleged government meddling in traditional affairs, police said Monday.
“We will charge them with unlawful assembly for attempting to block the presidential motorcade,” said Emlyn Mushondwa, a senior police officer in the eastern province where the incident took place.
He said the 15 village heads were detained on Saturday after they attempted to waylay Mwanawasa who was in the area to attend a party meeting.
The village leaders accused Mwanawasa’s government meddling in succession disputes by recognising traditional chiefs who were not from the right family to take over.
However, government rejected the charge, saying the troubles in the area had been caused by the royal families who have differed on the installation of new chiefs.
“Government is concerned and President Mwanawasa is not happy about such disputes,” Local Government Minister Sylvia Masebo told state radio after the incident.
“Most of these disputes are due to greed because the positions have become lucrative,” said Masebo, who is responsible for traditional affairs.
The local chiefs had led a group of more than 100 villagers in Petauke, a remote town in the province, to protest against a perceived government interference in traditional matters.
Tension in the area has remained high, the police said.
AFP
Poor villagers, they could have been shot! they are lucky. Next time YSRP. there are more civilised ways of getting your messages through. Anyway am expecting too much from you.
Freedom of assembly in NO where and police brutality stil common in the Zambia/African political mentality.
The picture above reminds of the South African white regime brutality against the blacks, my God it exits in Zambia in this day!!!!!!
Is this Mpezeni on the ground? When we say Mwanawasa is a dictator this is what we mean. Poor tribal leaders being treated like street criminals. What a sad scenario. Brandishing AK47 and stomping on their chests like that. What kind of respect do we have for our tribal leaders? SHAME ON MWANAWASA.
Mwanawasa should be ashamed of brutality by Police. He should have stopped and heard their concerns.
I am sure that there is a more dignified way that these so called elders could have aired their grievances.
This is what you get when you politicise the process of selecting chiefs,rulers.
You mainly look at party affiliation and not family lineage.
Anyway,matter for house of chiefs!
When politics and law collides one is caught in the web, but the question is which one is a spider? and which one is a fly?
A poor village headman,influencial man in that community lying down there being kicked with a shoe from all kinds of rooms including the toilet could just be a grade 7 who does not understand the rule of law.Private legal organisations, NGOs, churches and women organisations look critically at this picture and analyse it, these are the issues you suppose to have a demo on than over shaka’s sex case. Police brutality has forced a lot of our voiceless poor zambians being thrown into prison coz they say yes when in the actual sense they meant a NO.
I thought the right to disagree with your president is part of the democratic process. masebo is talking about “ubufumu being lucrative” bi+*&..what is more lucrative than zambian politics. hule ya chabe chabe..tamanga iwe. people have the right to protest. not everybody worships bena kulibonesha? do you expect everybody to be a bootlicker…go ask the master of bootlicker…chipuba mpombo george? hule iwe…?
Traditional leaders are held in high esteem anywhere in the world and they are supposed to lead by example. The case in point in unfortunate but the police are not supposed to take the law in their hands as portrayed in the picture above. No one should be above the law even if Levy would want to disagree with me.
Please lets uphold our constitution by acting responsibly.
Cops have no respect, how can you beat up village elders like that. Village elders are equivalent to your MPs pls give respect to them.
kwena levy ch…ika..la ni koko
Please leave those poor villagers alone,shame on the Presidential orders,why involve yourself in such low politics,leave it to the Chiefs just come in to advise and pay them.shame to you mr President
Am sure the phoo insert is not zambia, but in kenya, I once saw this picture on TV in Kenya.
THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR BEING ASSOCIATED WITH SUCH CRASS DIRESPECT OF THE COMMON MAN.
# 13, thats Zambia!! No other place but our ‘Christian’ nation!!
Zambian cops should not behave like that. The guy on the ground is not even armed.
So, there are even people who are for state brutality? I couldn’t belive the man being brutally beaten up by a cop who took orders from the president was in Zambia. Chaps create jobs for the citizens. Minerals are everywhere in Zambia to industrialize Zambia. Issues of fighting for a ‘lucrative’ post would stop. How much do our chiefs get, anyway?
Police, stop that nonsense. Trouble with our policemen is that their brains are in their buttocks and what comes out of buttocks is in their heads. Someone else has to think for them. So, Zambia is going downhill.
shut up already everything levy does is wrong!!? he is our head of state he can meddle in any affair he wishes with ‘just cause’, the behaviour of these leaders in the east can set precedent for other tribes to follow, ultimately compromising national security. u guys with doctorates on this blog sure talk crap, 4 all ur supposed education ur contributions are of ignorance and myopic ineptitude and the guy who was beaten up by the cops deserves it. People should respect our leaders especially if it is a person like levy we seem 2 forget that this man has been shaping the law before he became vice president let alone PRESIDENT its not 4 nothing that he was honored with a doctorate in the WEST
#18 YOU HAVE SHOWN YOUR STUPIDIT ON THE NET AGAIN,SO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T JUST SHUT IT IF YOU HAVE GOT NOTHING TO SAY THAN SHOWING US ALL THAT YOU ARE A BOOTLICKER.SHAME ON YOU SIR
18 is a nephew also bcoz no one can say like that.
Bola panshi imwe bakabalwe!
19 and 20 : u wankers clearly understand where i’m coming from thats why u are so annoyed, its all logic, everything i said was factual, and nowhere near questionable, u monkeys cant offer substance on this blog because what i said is true, so u get frustrated call me levys nephew, suggest im a bootlicker in the hope that no one acknowledges the respect i have for my president and ultimately my patriotism for our nation………..god! indeed p@nyo p@ko aba ni bakabalwe.
Hey Mr. Bigger Head, show some respect to the poor villagers dem! Dem is also human, you know? Dem feel pain too! Cyaa step pon a man like dawg so, tcho! Jah a go raid ya!
never mind #18, he must be a donkey and a relation of levy.
what type of a**hole upholds police brutality?
the village elders are a threat to national security? you almost made sense before you said that. you dumb fu*k.
mr moderate, the only wanker on this blog is you.
that is what is frustarting us, not your bubble-gum opinions.
you’re in the uk somewhere, if you’re so patriotic then take you a** back home.
we will gladly show levy our president the respect he deserves but the scenario above is WRONG and you must have a vagina in place of your brain if you can’t see that
iye ba Kiki lol………. mwalya inshimu? for as long as i’m a zambian i dont have to be in zambia to show my patriotism u have clearly not understood my comments i dont condone police brutality however if u will have no respect for the law the cops will straighten u because it is their duty to uphold law and order the village elders behaviour was uncalled for. H.E LPM went to hear their grievances and offer a solution to the succession disputes but what do they do? before he could even greet them they decided 2 turn violent which was unfortunate hence the deterrent of sorting that chap out. Imagine if those elders were allowed to continue acting unruly, we would have every tribe championing
their strength and turning violent every time government tried to help ppl in rural areas, in the end there would be an insecure govt due to each tribe claiming sovereignty in their respective provinces, as a result we would be susceptible to external influences H.E is only protecting KK’s principle of one zambia one nation by acting as a responsible head of state…..Having said that i apologise for having insulted anyone who questioned my comments, in hindsight my remarks were distasteful.
thank you then, i didn’t want to cuss you out but i didn’t understand why you had to call everyone wankers.
peace then, we’re all allowed opionions and yours are vaild
Modearte, I must say big up for your great sense of maturity. I wish there were more Zambians like you in these blogs! People say a lot of crap on the net that are just “unzambian” just because they can’t be seen. It’s pathetic. One Zambia,one nation also means the right to freedom of speech comes with a duty to respect other people. We are a good people, believe it!