Friday, March 29, 2024

600 police officers deployed in Kitwe

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About 600 police officers have been deployed in Kitwe and a further 900 could be called in to prevent riots in the city.

Acting Inspector General of police Francis Kabonde said at a press briefing in Kitwe yesterday that the police was capable of handling any riotous behaviour.

He said this in the wake of last Thursday’s riots that were triggered by the arrest of Radio Icengelo station manager Fr. Frank Bwalya in Kitwe. Police arrested 38 people for being riotous

“We were planning to bring about 1,500 police officers. This is a warning that we are capable of handling any situation. We therefore appeal to Zambians to continue being peaceful,” he said.

Mr Kabonde said calm had returned to the Copperbelt Province, especially Kitwe, where police are keeping vigil.

A check by the Sunday Mail yesterday found armed police officers patrolling streets in the central business districts.

Mr Kabonde also condemned bus drivers in Kitwe who allegedly ignited the riot.

He said that bus operators should sensitise their bus drivers on the need for proper behaviour in public.

“The riot was caused by bus drivers who were honking and skidding. They were really not political parties involved; they were criminals and thugs who took advantage of the situation and looted things and damaged property,” Mr Kabonde said.

The Patriotic Front (PF) was today due to stage a demonstration to protest the outcome of the October 30 Presidential election won by Mr Rupiah Banda of the MMD, but their police permit was withdrawn because of the tension caused by the riots.

“We would like to commend the PF leadership for bearing with us. Had the demonstration gone ahead maybe we could have experienced some problems,” Mr Kabonde said.

He also commended Fr. Bwalya for broadcasting messages of peace on Radio Icengelo in the aftermath of riots.

Meanwhile, some of the 38 people that were arrested on Thursday for riotous behaviour, have been released after paying an admission of guilt fine of K50,000.

Mr Kabonde said that those that would fail to pay the fine or contend that they are innocent, would appear in court tomorrow or on Tuesday on charges of conduct likely to cause the breach of peace in society.

On Friday, President Banda directed security wings to ensure that peace was maintained in the country.
Mr Banda warned that his Government would not condone people taking the law into their hands.

[Daily-Mail]

89 COMMENTS

  1. Zed shall be served.We want peace, but do not be so excited to send ma para thinking kona solution fa Zed.Listen to what these guys want first, then GRZ can find a solution for that.
    If you think i’m cheating go ahead and do not attend to the cry of Zedians.

    Viva H H , he could have given chance to listen to Zed first

  2. iwe #3 what revolution are you dreaming of….to bring Sata to plot 1. But ba PF u like dreaming…keep on greaming until 2012

  3. RB is duty bound to maintain peace after stealing some votes during the the just ended election. PF should also behave in a mature way as the thug president in the name of Satan can not bring sanity to Zambia. We need hamble leadership and not criminals. Combination of hamble votes for MMD and UPND gives a clear picture that thugs and criminals will never rule zambia. We need hamble leadership. Viva HHHHHHH 2011. Keep yourself well and dont worry about thugs without mmorals. We want quality. Toadface has no direction and is too old for the job. He is touring State house for a short time as elections can be held any time.Viva hhhhhHH 2011.

  4. Send the Army. PF must be dealt with. Why try to bring confusion in the country. Please, we need the army in Kitwe to bring about order. The Police are not strong enough to stop a riot.

    The army will do better.

  5. Sometimes we take peace for granted because we don’t know what it’s like to be in a war zone. War is like a virus, once infected, very difficult to get rid of it. If Sata thinks he can use force to get to state house by encouraging anarchy, what makes him think they won’t be a mad man out there to oust him using the same methods he’s teaching his followers? It’s these scenes which guarantee that we remain poor because of selfish motives. Zambians need to wake up and break this cycle for us to have a chance of progress. If only these hooligans could rebuild this country as quickly as they are destroying it! Police should use all powers available to them to stop these demostic terrorists.

  6. iwe #3 chi**la u r saying tht coz u r not in Z. pitty your relatives and if you v non ikalafye ukokwine ku german chi**la chobe

  7. PF is under the illusion that Sata is the change or a revolutionist? # 06 you are very correct the Government should send Commando’s and declare a curfew in Kitwe. I have just been informed that 36 Grade 11 Pupils at Monze High Sch are in Police Custody for riotous behaviour last night. This PF thuggery behaviour has now crept into Monze. PF should sort out their grievances through the Courts of Law. Some of us have investments in Kitwe that take care of underprivileged in the family and those illiterate twits cannot ruin it and my family members suffer.

  8. Ba #8 Whareva nishani ama sele so? I don’t have to be in there to know that people are not happy with the current leadership. If you disagree with me, just articulate your arguments like a man. They say the pen is mightier than the sword.

  9. deploying para-para is not a solution. the solution lies in putting in place good electoral laws, rules and regulations so that id!ots like vj and kalale do not steal people’s votes. the arrest of Father Bwalya badly rebounded on nyama soya to an extent where mateyo lost his job. when people are allowed to speak their minds peace prevails but when people are gagged, emotions and tensions are bottled up and erupt like they did in the 1986 and 1990 “zampa” riots. regis phiri should know these things.

  10. #8 and #10, bafi colour why do you like insulting,ediotisi.

    Viva H H he does not like those that are rude and rioters

  11. Pity, there is only one opposition political party in Zambia, the rest are dead and they only resurface when there is an election and one of them is UPND and its leader HH. Ba HH is gone into hybernation once again until 2011.

  12. Therenis actually no opposition in Zambia. PF only interest is to get hold of power and not to critically anayse and offer formidable solution! those rioting are the ones to suffer he consequnces of thier riotious behaviours. They are the one who 2001 were celbrating with MMD and today they want MMD out!How?
    A revolution is fought by all not only one section. non-violence revolutions are the the key if we have to change.

  13. Therenis actually no opposition in Zambia. PF only interest is to get hold of power and not to critically anayse and offer formidable solution! those rioting are the ones to suffer he consequnces of thier riotious behaviours. They are the one who 2001 were celbrating with MMD and today they want MMD out!How?
    A revolution is fought by all not only one section. non-violence revolutions are the the key if we have to change.

  14. No 15 dont cheat yourself PF is dead and those are just kicks of a dying horse. They say empty tins make a lot of noise. There is also this Chewe who is advocating for a revolution in the name of the lost ark . Gentlemen, Nyama Soya is touring state house and all what UPND has done is to give him chance to complete the tour while his felow monister in form of Satan is protesting as a form of salivating and envy for the same. Viva hhhHHHH 2011 OR SOON for progress.

  15. Vote Masebo President 2011
    yes we can
    she has all the neccessary experience an d charisma to take Zambia forward.
    It is time for a woman to lead
    YES WE CAN!

  16. iwe ka #19(dimuna), you are still running away with imaginations of HH being president? I have news for you, your HH will die trying to be president of Zambia. The man is not a presidential material! Zambia’s presidency is for politician and not entreprenuers. Even Teta can make a better president than your HH. HH should come out of his political dreamland and concentrate on his businesses and he can do well to seek advice from BY and Kavindele about mixing politics and business – free piece of advice!

    Naimwe ba #20 (Jazzie Jazzie)who told you that position of presidency has to rotate among gender?

  17. No 3: What revolution are you talking about? What revolution? Do you honestly believe Sata, who failed with Merzaf, Avondale and destroyed the Housing Project Unit at Lusaka City Council, a project that was upgrading the shanties in Lusaka, could do anything beyond destrying Zambia in the unlikely event of him becoming president? P L E A S E !

  18. Even if you call the entire police force in Zambia,the fact is when people are angry with certain decisions who is cop?besides we civillians have out numbered cops and our stones will never get finished whilest their bullets will,stop threatening us we are peace loving zambians and do not exploit us in the name of peace.Let the police officers also have a good time with their families like you always do.

  19. #23 and all those attacking my initial comments, allow me to set things clearer before you spit your venom:

    According to the English dictionary, a revolution is the overthrowing of a government by those who are governed. If what we saw in Kitwe cannot be interpreted as signs of a revolutionary revolt then I think we are living in denial. We must simply face reality as it is: with or without Sata, the majority of the people wanted a change of government but what did they get? The country is being revisited by the ghosts of the fallen UNIP era.
    But you can continue living in denial until we see what happened in Kitwe soon happening in other cities. Then you will agree with me.

  20. WEE HAVE BEEN TOLD OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT THERE IS NO TENSION IN ZAMBIA SO WHY DEPLOY ALL THOSE POLICE OFFICERS IN KITWE?

  21. #25 you are right when you say majority because HH sata and Miyanda votes are well above RB’s which means all those people didnt want MMD. but again i dont agree with your Kitwe assessment those where just unruly thugs whose interest was theft and nothing above that. kitwe has a population of close to a million during the day which comes down to half during the night. to assume that the click that went to throw stones represents Kitwe is abit flawed. the only other place where you can get that kind of behaviour is Lusaka Soweto and city market because of the concentration of a disgruntled population some of whom are unruly, smoke daga, are petty thieves and unemployed.

  22. #31 For the sake of peace in the country, let’s all hope your assessment is right and mine is wrong. Personally, I’m a firm believer in the non-violent revolution and the ideal of the brotherhood but if people are taken for-granted, what choice do they have? To me, people don’t seem to realise that a little whisper of what you call the “disgruntled population” can easily turn into a blast of thunder. They are now going out of their way to deploy police and this is what will cause real trouble because the temper tantrum wont stop boiling. Supressed anger is more lethal than the one vented-out.
    But then, as I already said, let’s hope I’m wrong.

  23. The disgruntled population is not small its big even a good number of civil servants are disgruntled! but these will not mobilise to riot. these may not even have faith in other candidates that stood with RB but are unhappy generally because their needs in life are not met they get low perks less rest high bills etc but my point is that you can easily mobilise and manipulate an illiterate or even educated group of youths that are unhappy are jobless and are found in one place like bus stations and markets. For Kitwe Radio icengelo has a very high listenership. a good numebr of taxi drivers listen to it, go to chisokone thats the preffered station it uses bemba and English.

  24. Zambians have become dangerously quiet and people mistake this for peace. No it’s not peace it’s actually tension and anger boiling inside them. Kitwe residents had to vent it off somehow! They had every reason to take “action” because this mediocre political methods of intimidation and repression using the ploce will eventually be extended to the Zambian citizenry at large. In UNIP era people would be made to dissapear from the face of the earth when they contradicated the “party and its government”.

  25. #34 i dont subscribe to the notion of ‘Kitwe residents” . i am not sure we had any decent Kitwe residents supporting that. apart from you who does not live in Kitwe. those are disgruntled youths bus conductors, kaponyas and thieves.

  26. #36(Wewewe) don’t expose you dullness here now! Any person regardless of status in society can be a resident of kitwe if they reside in kitwe ,so what’s your difficult here?

  27. Imagine coming into office and the first thing you have to do is start deploying police forces to hold the peace in the country. Futhermore, the money spent on deploying the police can be used to improve health care and public services!

  28. #29 What can stop Masesbo from being president? She has the neccessary experience and political clout to be president.She is far much better than the HH,SATA RB and the rest of the men in politics. actually women make better leaders than men.
    VIVA MASEBO
    YES WE CAN

  29. Willie Nsanda “PF” has alot of buses and most of his drivers and conductors come from chimwemwe and most of their time they tune to radio ichengelo in in their buses.
    People ,at one time radio ichengelo brodcasted uncensored interview of Dipak Patel former Minister,in which he insulted Mwanawasa but later on accepted to be his minister.Can you connect the whole story now.

  30. Chizungu bane, we seem not to understand most of the topics and end up bringing uninteresting issues. Why then do we blame our leaders when they forget what they were voted for. I would like to see issues being discussed based on the SUBJECT.

  31. Soldiers just stage a mutiny may its wen things we be ok in zambia.poverty is on everyone.Word of encouragement poverty in zambia is manmade its not natural.

  32. these same policemen were only paid half of their election allowances while the other half went to build ephraim mateyo’s hotels. wake up fimpombozi.

  33. Mwembushi Mwe! can’t you see how much harm MMD has done to democracy? even a blind man can see that MMD has paralyzed democracy in Zambia. When different people ( young and old) try to challenge them they either tell you to start from the branch, or rig elections. Time and time again we see names that are too familiar to our political system. The likes of Vernon Mwaanga and Teta. With the current situation and culture of rigging we might as well go back to one party participatory, cause thats pretty much what we are in now ( under the lie that we’re a multi-party system).

  34. #40 What has this got to do with Nsanda? When people decide to react because of the arrest of the priest you don’t have to blame some Willie Nsanda of Garneton for people’s anger. I Have time and again asked here if Zambia is immune from the anger we saw in Kenya. No one, even those staunch supporters of MMD have ventured into answering. You cannot force people into submission while yourself have always failed to submit that you are at fault. MMD, which I supported before has lost its values and the end result is a revolution. Ask the Russians, ask the Yugoslav people, ask Cuba, ask Burkinabes (Sankara), Ask South Africa. ASK KK

  35. #49. Kalos2020, you wore ‘I Have time and again asked here if Zambia is immune from the anger we saw in Kenya.’

    My take is that YES Zambia is immune to the issues of fighting we saw in Kenya.
    Zambians are more mature in the way they deal with issues. I am only worried on most of our Bemba friends who follow and support the Undereducate out of nothing but shear tribalism and want to engage the whole Nation in the fighting endeavour that will certainly not happen in Zambia. Most of all tribes in Zambia are very mature and will not entertain losing the peace we enjoy at community levels. Viva One Zambia, One Nation. Together, YES we shall by endorsing president HH and the UPND in 2011.

  36. ‘An opposition Patriotic Front official has taken a swipe at Kasama Central Member of Parliament, Savior Chishimba following remarks made in connection with the PF leadership and convention.Mr. Chishimba was yesterday said that PF leader Michael Sata will never be President of Zambia as time has run out.He also called for the party to hold a convention.In reaction, PF official, Mrs. Charity Banda says Chishimba is not a member of PF and should not involve himself in matters of the party.She disclosed that the party is discussing the issue of the convention and that everything is in line.’ Source:w w w . muvitv . c o m /news /Nov2008 /16thpnews6 . h t m l

  37. Mugungulu H.Mwanga,Livingstone, dimuna,free-capitalist i greet you my tonga brothers in the name of jesus christ. i pray that God forgives you because you have wronged him by preaching tribalism in his great country Zambia, i denuonce the inferiority complex burning in your hearts.Amen.

  38. #52. Big Ben, thanks and appreciate such noble causes though you must be careful not to pray in vain – since you are accusing me of preaching tribalism but without backup data to attest your claims.

    Please, do the needful and remember to pray for yourself too for making judgements that may be terribly wrong for only our God, the Creator, knows exactly who has sinned between you and me unless your God is not the one who rested on the SABBATH and hallowed it for an eternal sign between Him and His creation us.

    May you have a blessed day.

  39. Kalos,

    You say-

    ‘You cannot force people into submission while yourself have always failed to submit that you are at fault.’

    But your statement is contradicted by a majority vote that placed MMD into office. The section of the disgruntled are the people saying that. It matters not what they say as long as they are the minority. Simple majority rules in Zambia.

  40. The Bembas are the only ones protesting Sata’s loss and they want to pretend that others are also doing the same. This is typical Bemba mentallity. You Bembas, why cant you learn from others.

  41. #55. What you are saying is nothing but showing your level of ignorance. Remain where you are. You don’t seem to know that the copperbelt is not just for the bembas. Have you heard riots in the other parts of the country? I forgive you because you were born yesterday. Just because somebody speaks Tonga, Bemba, Nyanja does not mean that they are Tongas, or Bembas. Do you know that there is more Nyanja spoken in Choma town, and very soon it might surpass Tonga? Wake up. Don’t leave is tribal glass house!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  42. It pays to plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. Yes steal people’s cash, but never steal their vote or their choices. Doing so is stealing their children’s futures, their happiness and their had fought for civic rights. Bembas might be labeled tribal, but Zambians know who is tribal. If Kenyans can be immature due to stealing their votes, probably those in power are playing with fire. One day the bottom will fall off. Zambia is playing now, but it will pay later.

  43. Iwe Chewe

    The Copperbelt Province is easily acessible by people from Luapula nad Northern Provinces. The opening up of the mines in the 1920’s and the jobs resulting ther of opened a door for people closest to the mines. Bembas and lundas are the majority on the copperbelt.

    The same can be said of Lusaka. The attraction of empolyment opportunities and other affiliated benefits presented the Easterners a clear opportunity. This explains why Bemba is spoken on the copperbelt and Nyanja in Lusaka.

  44. #58, ignorance is bad. Sata is in Lusaka and the unrest in Kitwe is due to the police trying to stump on freedom of speech after stumping on freedom of choice. The priest did not ask for the protests, but people are watching this govt and soon the govt will learn that it was on the wrong. So, leave Sata out of this. Use your logic. Your popular, Sorry, unpopular govt is trying to impose itself on the people. Well done MMD. More police on the CB, more govt expenditure. Poor Zambia.

  45. Kalos

    It is clear that you believe that elections were rigged. It must be clear to you as well that I believe that elections were free and fair supported by the declaration of a free and fair election by independent election observers.

  46. Kalos

    You stand together with your thousands (PF) supporters. I stand with my thousands, slightly more (MMD) supporters. So far the MMD suppoters have shown great restraint and have not agitated any unnecessary retaliation.

  47. #59, What kind of analysis is this? Is this a joke or just some kind of lack of Zambian migration trends? By the way I have never seen people called Nyanja in Zambia. Probably the word cosmopolitan and metropolitan might help our friend to know about how the line of rail is formed. Probably you think the all copperbelt is Bemba and Lusaka is what again? Sad Commentary.

  48. Kalos

    Please note that silence does not mean acceptance of defeat. Silence may be a sign of great restraint and discipline. It may mean that peace must be give a chance and the only way possible is to remain silent inspite the unjustified rantings.

  49. Kalos

    Thanks for your low rating of my simple minded analysis. So how do you explain the Bemba language domination on the Copperbelt and Nyanja in Lusaka?

  50. Kalos

    The railway line was mainly built to serve the interests of the white settlers in the then Southern Rhodesia and Southafrica. The proceeds from the mines found their exit through this railway line.

  51. Kalos

    Anyanja (lake or sea people) are found in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. There is now a mixture of several languages in ‘Nyanja’ including Zulu (Ngoni). The Eatern Province people completely understand this language and thus the reason why Easterners are referred to as Nyanjas.

  52. What you should ask yourself is what is the explanation of Nyanja in the police force despite being well balanced? How come Kaonde or Luvale or Lamba does not dominate Chingola or Chililabombwe? It is simple, you ask those that have embarked on researches on linguistics, they will tell you that some languages are disappearing and very soon few languages will be spoken on this earth. Come on, don’t try to digress our discussion. Sata is not the one who started the unrest. People did. Probably tired of stealing their votes and choices.

  53. Kabonde is trash! Does he know that the presence of the police in numbers does not actaully work to bring peace and just ignites the peoples’ suspicion that there is something these guys are hiding or trying to suppress. Don’t think that you can stop people by the use of force. It is sad to have guys who are in high offices who dont even know about mob psychology.
    You will never suppress the freedom of speech ba ngwele.

  54. When a nyanja speaking person says ‘ngi funa ku yenda’ or ‘Nayenda ku khaya’ he can easily be understood by a careful Zulu or Khosa speaking person. The initial missionaries for instance in Northern Malawi and eastern Zambia (Ngoni areas) first communicated thier message in Zulu which was completely understood. In this very day for your information, you will find complete Zulu hymn books used in parts of Zambia and Malawi. A lot of what is spoken as Nyanja, Tumbuka has alot of Zulu in them.

  55. I propose that LT should one day post an article on Languages and the issue of trying to reflect on the national intergration which was started during the time of KK’s “One Zambia, One Nation” motto. It is sad that slowly are beginning to see some heads of tribalistic snakes now coming up.
    The issue of tribal appeasing should be long gone.

  56. #71, thank you for accepting that some languages are dying. The fact that I have to go to the palace to find some language answers your question. Go to Lusaka, try to find anyone speaking Ngoni, or even the Lusaka language of Soli, Swaka you will be amazed at the rate these languages are dying. Go to Luapula, believe me, you will not find one person speaking pure Lunda or Ushi. Talk of Lambas, I don’t even know if that language exists any more. So, acknowledge the changes and stop factoring in your tribal biases in debating issues. Sata is not Bemba.

  57. #53 Mugungulu H. Mwanga, and the others i prayed for and before you changed your blogger name from meastro , all you do is show your hatred for the Bembas , please if they have wronged you in anyway forgive them and God will forgive you. Remember the greatest commandment is LOVE FOR GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOUR.

  58. I was just trying to answer your question. The points still explain the relevance of the issue at hand, Bemba speaking people are pro PF and mostly concentrated to the Copperbelt, Luapula and Northern Provices. That is not Zambia speaking, it is a voice of the disgruntled PF prone bemba speakers in Kitwe.

  59. Kalos

    What I am saying in essence is this: Dont try to pretend that the whole country is unhappy with the MMD governemt. Dont think that your position on this matter is necessarily the position of others. That is simply not true. Just because the people of Kitwe are not happy does not mean that the people in Kasempa are equally not happy. This is simple logic. The election results are indicators of the public sentiments. Kitwe people clearly showed how they feel but does not mean that the people in livingstone feel the same.

  60. To go further, 5000 ngonis lost thier lives fighting the British incursion on Chipata. It has never been the spirit of Ungoni to be dorminated apon. They fought to their death. The British eventually managed to subdue the Ngoni but with much loss on thier part. The result of this well recorded battle was a concession treaty be tween the Ngoni and BSA. Fort Jameson (Chipata) became the capital of the then Northwestern Rhodesia which encampased the present Eastern, Northern and Luapula Provinces. A white priest imposed himself without a fight apon the Bemba’s Kingdom.

  61. How does the Bemba issue come in? You people surprise me.If the elections were rigged we shalln know no matter how long it takes. MMD came to power with the help of riots in Kitwe as usual. KK did not want blood shed so he conceded to early elections even though he had 3 yrs to go. No body refered to Bembas as trouble makers. Now we put you in power you start saying all sorts s*** about us as if we are not part of this country. Next you will want to anhilate us.

  62. the powers that be:
    why deploying 600 ba buju in kitwe when there’s no crisis in this country, let them concentrate on feeding their starving villagers than harassing innocent priests.

  63. The deployment of over 600 police officers to curb the riot in Kitwe was not justified. MMD wants to turn the county in to a police state to suppress the will of the majority. They are failures as far as we are concerned. The rioters behaviour of Kitwe residents was sparked by the general disatisfaction on the out come of the oct 30 elections in which RB mysteriously emerged winner. In our honest opinion, elections were rigged from Shang’ombo and the like bcoz ECZ allowed voting on wrong dates instead of simply discounting those constituencies. Suppose those areas were PF strong hold, ECZ would ‘ve stopped the elections immediately. Shame to u RB& corrupt ECZ. Viva Micheal. C. Sata & PF.

  64. Zambian Tonga ladies prefer Bemba guys to their own because of what you #81 and 82 have said. They know it that Bemba men do no believe too much in polygamy life style.

  65. #64 Anonymous be free from the colonial inferiority, When did Zambia monitor elections in the UK or USA? Sata is a gentleman and he doesn’t subscribe to violence .He is on record to tell people not to engage in violence.Zambia should by now be able to conduct their own affairs.

  66. # 81 & 82 George Kunda will never be Bemba.He is Lala.Stop dreaming with your petty tribalism.It is such attitude that put pipo off.It will actually take a very long time for a bemba to rule Zambia

  67. Without the Bemba Cha Cha Cha Zambia could not have seen Independece when it did.It took Bembas using violence and thats when the White man realised things were serious!!The same happened to Kaunda!!

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