GOVERNMENT is disappointed with the action of Copperbelt police officers who warned and cautioned National Restoration Party president Elias Chipimo on suspicion that he was addressing an illegal assembly.
Minister of Home Affairs Edgar Lungu said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the detention and recording of a warn-and-caution statement from Mr Chipimo by police in Kitwe on Thursday “is a very sad chapter in the history of the Patriotic Front (PF) Government”.
“This is very sad… Elias Chipimo is an opposition leader who has the freedom to criticise and advise on behalf of his party without being harassed by the police,” Mr Lungu said.
The audibly upset minister said police are supposed to protect opposition leaders and anyone else with a divergent view as long as such people are responsible in their actions.
“We will immediately constitute an inquiry to find out under whose instructions police officers were acting because it is certainly not Government policy to harass people,” he said.
Mr Lungu said if police had any suspicion that something illegal was going on at Mr Chipimo’s gathering, they would have investigated the matter instead of rushing into warning and cautioning the opposition leader.
[pullquote]“We will immediately constitute an inquiry to find out under whose instructions police officers were acting because it is certainly not Government policy to harass people,” he said.[/pullquote]
He said Zambia is internationally known for its respect for the rule of law and human rights and will not allow a “few bad elements in the police service” to tarnish the country’s image locally and internationally.
“We inherited a system with a lot of bad eggs, not only in the police service but in many other Government departments. But let this be a warning that we will weed them out to clean up the system because the PF Government is a just government,” Mr Lungu said.
On Thursday, police recorded a warn-and-caution statement from Mr Chipimo for alleged unlawful assembly.
Mr Chipimo, who was holding a workshop at Provident Guest House, was picked up by police officers in riot gear and taken to Kitwe Central Police Station.
The opposition leader was only released around 13:00 hours after being detained for over three hours.
Meanwhile, Mr Chipimo has demanded that Government compensates his party KR30,000 (K30 million) following his arrest and disruption of the workshop he was conducting for NAREP officials.
[pullquote]He said Zambia is internationally known for its respect for the rule of law and human rights and will not allow a “few bad elements in the police service” to tarnish the country’s image locally and internationally.[/pullquote]
Mr Chipimo has also demanded an explanation from the Minister of Home Affairs about why Police in full riot gear stormed the venue of the workshop.
“We spent in excess of KR30, 000 on booking the venue, paying for transport costs, fuel and other incidentals. We cannot recover that money now,” he said.
He said the party wants categorical answers from the state on how they will operate as a political party since they are being barred from meeting their own members.
Mr Chipimo, who is a lawyer, has threatened legal action depending on how the party’s demands are treated by Government.
“Depending on how government responds to our questions regarding the manner in which our meeting was disrupted, we will take legal action,” Mr Chipimo said.
He further said if police continue to disrupt NAREP’s internal party meetings throughout the country, the party will take legal action.
Mr Chipimo said while the police were interrogating him, he received overwhelming solidarity from international human rights watch groups.
“Our conclusion is that the action by police in Kitwe was a deliberate desire by an overzealous government official trying to intimidate us,” he said.
He said NAREP has been practising mature politics and does not expect the police on the Copperbelt to behave in the manner they did.
[Daily Mail]
Overzealous cops
Finally someone with real responsibility voices out…i hope it spreads to the rest of the party…just do your work PF, serve Zambia with an open book mentality and the people will notice…it is that simple!
Ka Chipimo, instead of demanding a public rally, he is demanding for ka K30million. That is the sign of destitution. Sue the government and court will decide the compensation. Then donate it to the poor, like HH or Pres Fr. Bwalya.
Nostradamus, you obviously only know Elias from seeing his picture in the media. Chipimo’s residence on Independence Ave. is worth more than ZKR3,000,000 so he can do without the ZKR30,000. He is requesting for reimbursement of money spent on organizing the workshop and out of principle. A public rally is not the same as a workshop. Suing is not always the best as the economic costs to all parties can be great.
Drive, u mean the house belonging to the retired Elias Chipimo (Snr) on independence avenue?
That money must be recovered Nostradamus. You think someone can just throw away KR30,000?
You Edgar let the police do their own thing.How does PF come in with the police ? They cautioned him because they thought it was right.Let them work independently and not under your orders.High time the police started dancing to their own tunes.
@Zebige – Edgar Lungu is the minister of ‘home affairs’, effectively the boss of the entire Police Force. I welcome his sound, mature and intelligent reaction to the unfortunate primitive conduct of our police officers. I just hope this serves as the way forward. The police should be for all irregardless of affiliation.
@ka zebige..`let the police do thier own thing` hahahaha zambia is NOT a police state, therefore the police can NOT do `thier own thing`… that was an indoor workshop for NAREP member, not a public rally!! normally NO permit is required!! that was stupid…. kupusa for the police to detain chipimo
Really ? Ok i get your points gentlemen.This is the true spirit of a good debate.More especially my youngman Ndobo the former tribalist.Mwana i will come to Sverige just keep some blondes for me.Lol
@zebige… mwaiche
No hard feeling! Du välkommen till sverige!! anytime mwaiche, come meet my beer bemba and beer tonga families… common `name` for both families is beer
Ha ha ha.Wonderful ! Can`t wait to meet the family.Fingers crossed 🙂
Ha ha ha.Wonderful ! Can`t wait to meet the family.Fingers crossed.
when was this policy of indiscrimiante harassment of opposition leaders and individual citizens under the guise of public order Act dropped by the PF?
I am sure the mad dog kambwil will disagree with Lungu’s position.
I hope Lungu will not be fired for contradicting the boss
Lungu will not be fired. infact he was in Kitwe and spent a night there when this was happening. This statement is a suspect just a smokescreen to hoodwinck the international community that pf has matured politically. zambians dont be hoodwinked
I think people should not forget that harassment of political opponents was one of the key issues raised against this Govt by the opposition who petitioned the Commonwealth. It is not a coincidence that the PF tone on such callous moves have changed. The report is yet to come but I genuinely believe the PF know that they can no longer abuse the public order act at will. Hence Edgar coming out this way.
Father Bwalya was right when he said they will wake up and stand up ….as clearly there was no opposition before!!
Elias, you lost me with the Brazil trip and flip flopping, kiss ass moves. I am not into second chances to politicians.
yeah thats right. what do you think your colleagues lodged the complaint to the common wealth in south africa for? because they understood the slippery slope nature of what the pf was doing; which you thought were not applicable to you.
anyway, everybody has a learning curve so i will give you this benefit
@Blasted
good point!!!
maybe ni nkongole zaku brazil.. thats why he was detained not public order act
Ha ha not into second chances to politicians yet we have voted the same jokers into power year after year including in by elections! Elias has integrity
Edgar i don’t like this guy.You stop blaming the police.
Is this the latest PF U-turn we are experiencing. First it was Sakeni making sense and now it is Edgar Lungu.
Anyway we welcome this new U – turn , hopefully we see this in many areas and start developing the country from where MMD left off
fwaka, fwaka, fwaka and insanity in not helping PF,,, PF heads are seeing double double!!!!!,,,
Pastor never mumba and president father bwalya need pray for PF
Yippee! Yeah! just imagine! Sense finally lands at PF airport!
The police missed this one, they thought that it would impress the PF govt manje wina anyala!
PF have started campaigning for 2016 so right now they are trying to make themselves look good. Two very interesting ministerial statements in the last week, first it was Sakeni, now Lungu. And for Lungu, he knows that Guy mighty be packing soon, depending on how Zambia and SA resolve this diplomatic issue they are having, so he has to position himself as a potential Veep, by issuing mature statements.
If SA reacts badly, Sata will have no choice but to fire Guy, if he doesnt nomore morningside clinic. And we all know that incase of an emergency, India would be too far, SA would be the first and only choice. Already Scott is suffering from ‘njenjemitis’ (parkinsons disease), so he needs them!
Is this how bad civic education has become in our country – that police have to be taught by a minister how to understand and interpret laws that they should be enforcing? Awe kanshi twalipwa…!
This just shows how uneducated the police are…what rights are they using to harass an assembly which is private. the police are meant to be of service to the Zambian people and service in this case means protecting the right and detaining the wrong. Zambians are becoming more and more educated and if they are willing to be in the colonial days of arresting anyhow and making careless recordings of reputable citizens of the country then the bad eggs are in the wrong department..Maybe journalism will do taking no offense to the profession
I donot blame the police entirely. This government has confused them as they donot know when to act independently.
Bravo Edgar. Some sanity at last.
He has come out like a good guy cause the international community squeezed his drunken balls.
we know that narep is the PF’s youth wing.so the boy is wel protected by sata.but if it was nevers or hh! mmmmm’ kaya!
IwE osaseka nkalamba. Change your blogging name-lol
Interesting turn of events,I thought it was PF policy to harass opposition leaders.So the buck stops at Chipimo does it? Nevers Mumba and HH have been arrested so many times we have lost count.
Police continue to work under a lot of political pressure. They are scared of losing their jobs. Until the appointment of Inspector General is taken away from politicians, the police will continue being unprofessional.
If Lungu’s comments are anything to go by, the pressure was self-inflicted in this case. It appears that this was a case of overzealousness where police acted in a manner they thought would please government. This is why the Police Service needs to be reformed. Some professionalism needs to be instilled. The mentality of police officers needs to be changed. They need to be taught that they must first and foremost operate according to the law and not seek to please the government of the day. This incident can be used as an example and I hope heads will roll.
In Zambia, police only act when there is a complainant as attested by the spokesperson who refused to arrest those gays who wanted to register their marriages at Lusaka Civic Centre. So it is clear that Edgar had nothing to do with this arrest but whether one likes it or not, the instructions came from one of the PF officials. Too bad for the police who operate under illegal instructions and obey them as though they are untrained laypersons. Edgar’s anger has the possibility to make even children think that the job of a police person is for dull people because they are incapable of making independent and professional decisions. The culprit (instructor) should be made to bear the cost of Chipimo’s claim and not tax payers.
Ba Minister, Does it honestly take a commission of inquiry to determine the person that gave the instruction for the arrest? These are the highest levels of inefficiency, ignorance and bureaucracy. All it takes is a phone call to the officer in charge at that time.
Read the article again, I don’t think he said anything about a commission of inquiry. Constituting an inquiry simple means they will make and inquiry and not that they will form a commission of inquiry.
correction: make an inquiry
this lungu is just playing with our innocent minds.the police in this country dont act without the blessing of plot one.Am very sure he knows how it happened and who issued an instruction.So this plobe will just be to cool down the young boy that the so called govt has no hand in it.stop playing with our MINDS lungu!!
This Government is either disappointing or disappointed
That is my worry how do you intimidate those who are helping you govern well the opposition is very important to good governance
While atleast somebody from government has spoken with much sense on this issue of wrongly detaining Elias Chipimo. Thanks Edgar Lungu
Wonder what he would have said if the same ‘workshop’ was organised by Nevers Mumba or HH. Probably the cops didn’t know that the ‘ban’ only applies to Mumba and HH and not all opposition leaders. Somebody forgot to tell them.
I am reading this article correctly? It is like a dream that we finally hear positive and objective advice by government to the police. I hope this is not just a case of having egg in the face and a realization that PF is becoming unpopular because of its draconian rule.
Spot on Minister Lungu.
Those officers need to be made an example of…
Something has happened with PF. After arresting HH, Nevers Mumba and now Chipimo. Then all of a sudden a big U turn from Sakeni – talking sense for the first time and now Edgar Lungu – talking sense for the first time since PF came into power. WOW something is atleast yieding results!
Edga Lungu is a fool. Because its Chipimo who was interrogated for a suspected iligal assembly Edgar Lungu wants to condemn the police because Elias is a pro pf. But when the police detained Nevers Mumba and the crew for visiting the Chief this drunkard minister was quite. so let him not say “we inherited a system with bad eggs” Because they PF are the ones who planted this bad seed of banning opposition political parties to hold public rallies in the name of Public Order act, they have forgotten that when they were in the opposition they were allowed to hold public rallies even if it was not campaign period.
We need to review police training to include studying human rights. In Finland even security guards learn human rights so that in the course of their duty they know how far they can go or not go. Colonial police systems were designed for brute force, so they needed more physical police with less reasoning. Now we are in a different era. We need cops who understand human rights and the law itself, goddamnit!!!
As much as I think it is in order to punish these cops fairly, I think they are just a symptom of a larger system mal-function, and they are also somewhat victims of that system failure. As long as governments employ under-educated cops and does not consider their fluid intelligence, this type of thing wont stop. I mean, in Zambia it is still normal for a cop to slap you. They are trained for aggression, not intellect, so it is the system here, not the individual cops. Lets change the training system and the job definition…
As for Elias, this seems to me a mature reaction…
Beerman wulwisha chani
It is very true the inherited bad eggs in the civil service are bent on tarnishing the image of the PF government. The public order nonsense must be scrapped from the new constitution. It has brought enough embarrassment to the government. First it was Nevers Mumba and HH being cautioned arrested and later released on Nole proseque. The police must first establish the authenticity of the offense before levelling charges against a suspect. Nole proseque smacks of indecision and corruption. I don’t want to hear that nonsense again. If you arrest a person prove that the person really committed an offense and let the court s of law sent that person to jail without favouritism or interference. Ine nalanda epo mpelele.
no wonder kk said zambians forget easily…you want to praise lungu for such mere rhetoric..is it not the same govt which has been following HH and nevers mumba.HH has been arrested many for such meetings..even his indoor meeting were blocked a while.nevers was on the copperbelt for holding similar meetings as well including visiting the markets.lungu is just trying to make up as he has seen that zambians are now waking up..after all who does not know that narep is a branch of pf,you think you can fool us
no wonder kk said zambians forget easily…you want to praise lungu for such mere rhetoric..is it not the same govt which has been following HH and nevers mumba.HH has been arrested many for such meetings..even his indoor meeting were blocked a while.nevers was on the copperbelt for holding similar meetings as well including visiting the markets.lungu is just trying to make up as he has seen that zambians are now waking up..after all who does not know that narep is a branch of pf,you think you can fool us
It is very true the inherited bad eggs in the civil service are bent on tarnishing the image of the PF government. The public order nonsense must be scrapped from the new constitution. It has brought enough embarrassment to the government. First it was Nevers Mumba and HH being cautioned arrested and later released on Nole proseque. The police must first establish the authenticity of the offense before levelling charges against a suspect. Nole proseque smacks of indecision and corruption. I don’t want to hear that nonsense again. If you arrest a person prove that the person really committed an offense and let the courts of law send that person to jail without favouritism or interference. Ine nalanda epo mpelele.
Two PF ministers talking sense consecutively i.e. Sakeni and now Lungu?. There is definitely something ‘wrong’ in PF. Something big going on. Pass the popcorns….
If the gvt does not provided a clear policy direction, this is what happens. What is also confusing is that this has been happening for sometime now and the gvt has been watching to extent of arresting NM and HH under similar circumstances.
Ba kaboke insala
So the police officer who decided to detain Chipimo should be identified and fired. that will end this whole episode…
you want to praise lungu for such mere rhetoric..is it not the same govt which has been following HH and nevers mumba.sata even said said he now loves the public order act.HH has been arrested many for such meetings..even his indoor meeting were blocked a while.nevers was on the copperbelt for holding similar meetings as well including visiting the markets.lungu is just trying to make up as he has seen that zambians are now waking up..after all who does not know that narep is a branch of pf,you think you can f**** us
We warned you that the entire world has now come to know that Zambia is another North Korea as a police state. Realising this has been known by UN, AU, EU and other International bodies, PF govt has embarked on limit damage crusade by blaming its politicised institutions- police, ACC, ZRA, who are still under dictator’s instructions to cramp, arrest and charge any opposing group to PF govt. That is where Chipimo Jr has met his fate. This will take a long time for re educating govt bodies that have been bewitched by PF govt.
This is the selective justice father bwalya is talkin about. While others such as nevers and hh are detained for the same charge and no minister issues a statement to comdenm the police, when elias chipimo is nabbed, the police are roundly comdenmed. looking at the strong language comin from kambwili, father bwalya is next. fr. bwalya will not be given chance for his yellow card business. this even pre- empts the supreme court judgement on the constitutionality of the POA. this law is achaic and is abused by police illiterates. so a precedent has been set.
When the government does something good, it deserves to be commended. And I think this is the case here. It will help the PF to know what people want. The PF has some unfounded fears that when the opposition is allowed to hold rallies, they will become more popular than PF. But that is not the case. Zambians are mature enough to choose the leader who is making sense. So bravo Hon Lungu. Shame the doubting Thomases.
As far as I’m concerned these utterances by Lungu and Sakeni are a confirmation of confusion that’s going on in the PF government. They are nothing to write home about. The law is being selectively applied here. If its PF youths holding a workshop or demonstration, no Police. If its HH and Mumba meeting village chiefs, come on Police arrest them! If its Chipimo, Police why did you arrest him? If its Fr. Bwalya, Sakeni says leave him alone, but Kambwili says Fr Bwalya is mad! Total confusion Baaba! Let this public order act be applied equitably or get rid of it. Period!
Sanity is finally being restored.someone somehow somewhere has awaken from slumber,they have realised that pipo are furious with what has bin happening laterally.
politics are like familly ,the eat together,and after finishing they go on streats to insult each other but still come back in the evening to eat together and slip under one roof.Ff party has become the party for thurgs and old minded and imblogio and inane pipo.Chipimo do your best.
Lungu, please don’t play innocence! That’s hypocritical, just acknowledge that your government has failed to run the country.
politics are like brothers and sisterz in a familly ,they eat together. After finishing they go on streats to insult each other like ‘yo mum has got a big ass,’ 4geting that they belong together, and still come back in the evening to dine together and slip under one roof.Ff party has become the party for thurgs and old minded, imblogio and inane pipo.Chipimo do your best.
If PF Ministers start behaving like Sakeni and Lungu in the recent past .Maybe I’ll go back to my party PF.Otherwise Kambwilli is very premature and lacks vision.I thought Kambwili would make a gud president alas the man has no substance.The only hope in PF is Lubinda and other unkown figures. Fuel prices has affected evrything.Transport has increased.From Lsk-Luapuala(kashikishi)=Kr200.From 150 to 200 is not a joke.Everything is expensive.Awe Ba Sata mwafilwa ukuteka icalo.Tatwakalelya donchi Kubeba.Kwena efyo ifintu fileya PF can’t win 2016 if not careful.When u start insulting the church,Ubunga and fuel prices then expect things to turn very fast against U.Please look 4 people 2 help U govern Zambia.We still love U Ba Sata.We still think U’re a man of Action.Why why nomba??????
If Edgar is sincere in his statement, then the police were being to eager to please their perceived masters-the pf. But alas! it has backfired, as the Edgar attribulated words are surely from Sata being upset about the whole incidence or playing to a galary knowing they can kill two birds with one stone.
first bird is disrupt the meeting to confuse oppositon
second bird is condemn police to appease international community and shocked citizenry.
WHAT INQUIRY WHEN YOU KNOW THE PROBLEM ALREADY. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND RESOURCES. POLICE WERE ACTING TO IMPRESS THE BOSS?? PF, HOPE YOU DON’T GET FORCED TO U TURN ON YOUR STATEMENT.
Was this interview done by two way Radio? The report states: “The audibly upset minister …”
Ha ha ha! Visibly he wasn’t upset but audibly he was.
The have now released that PF is self destruction mode..
Unfortunately its too late
For the second time someone is sober!!!
30,000??? so little. thats change for us in china.. atah!!!