‘Lundazi police’s action to teargas our meeting will not stop nor discourage me from going ahead with my vision as a major player in the country’s political arena’’ MMD president Nevers Mumba has declared.
He said the former ruling party was prepared to pay the highest price to bring change to Zambian politics.
Dr Mumba said this after police tear-gassed MMD members at a meeting in Lundazi.
He said the MMD would not be destracted from its programme of reorganising the party at the grassroots because of fear of being intimidated by the police.
“We condemn this barbaric act by an overzealous police officer who was obviously acting under instruction. Our team was tear-gassed while we were having a peaceful meeting in Lundazi.
“My special assistant Clement Chendela Siame was arrested and has spent a night in police cells. We are neither surprised nor discouraged by this stone-age politics,” Dr Mumba said.
He explained that as a party, they were prepared to face any form of intimidation in order to change Zambian politics.
And Zambia Police public relations officer Rae Hamoonga admitted that officers in Lundazi used force after allegedly meeting some resistance in dispersing an illegal political gathering chaired by the MMD president.
Mr Hamoonga said police did not receive any notification of the meeting and efforts to peacefully disperse the crowd failed, compelling the officers to use force.
“The MMD president was in Lundazi where after paying a courtesy call on Chief Magodi decided to hold a political meeting at Gomani Hall without notifying the police.
“And when the police tried to peacefully disperse them, they resisted which made the police use force to disperse the gathering at that meeting,” he said.
Mr Hamoonga explained that police were professionals who were trained to use necessary means of action and that the use of teargas at the MMD meeting must have been ‘‘a necessary evil’’.
The survivalists . . . . .
Looks like the Independence erra.
Sad days… with our today conference centers, schools, churches we can’t have people meeting in bush, without toilets!!
@Nostr….
…you are very funny…what do you mean when you say…’meeting without toilets….’???…kikiki… there are more toilets there than in any building they could have held it…
This is very sad for Zambian politics. Now back to KK pre independence days where they met in the bushes to hind from the Colonial masters. Zambia will soon be liberated from Lungu and PF. Kanganja shall regret the 3 pieces of silver he is getting from PF today.
Rae Hamoonga. Was the meeting conducted in a peaceful manner and didn’t the ZP do the policing of the meeting? Its your foolish action that are de-campaigning PF
What ECL and PF are doing will soon backfire. This era, people holding indoor meeting in the bush?
Ba Mumba naimwe, let your legal team challenge the police arbitrary actions through the courts of law than to hide in the bush. This is 2015 for gods sake and not 1915! This country is for all of us and when you hide in the bush like Mushala, you are making the police more big headed. Besides there are wild animals in Mambwe and you are putting the lives of your members at risk.
You have spoken facts.
But even if you are working according to the POA and you find people peacefully having a meeting does it make sense for you to violently disperse that meeting? PF thinking is really stone age, Nevers is 100% right here. Don’t give up Nevers, apparently as Africans we are cursed with this type of mediocre leadership that some people here seem to believe is doing the right things even calling their friends names for complaining against this kind of injustice against fellow citizens.
Pastor Nevers Mumba holding meetings in the bush! Nothing is hidden in Gods eyes. He thought he can have meetings without anyone seeing him. Political power is sweet. You can do anything. What is remaining is for Pastor Dr. Nevers Mumba to become a rebel.