Chief Government Spokesman Chishimba Kambwili says the special presidential order to the security agencies issued by President Edgar Lungu could be reversed after review on Thursday.
“It would be reviewed tomorrow around 9 o’clock [local time]. But I can confirm to you that all the towns are now calm and business has gone back to usual, and I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt the president will certainly reverse this order that he has given because the situation has calmed down,” said Mr Kambwili in an interview with VoA.
He says President Lungu has the constitutional mandate as the commander in chief of the country’s armed forces to protect Zambian citizens as well as foreign nationals.
“What transpired in the last four days in Zambia was unprecedented where there was this rumour that foreign shop owners were perpetuating ritual killing and some criminals took advantage of that to start looting their shops and threatening their lives. … We tried to use the police, but the situation was not getting under control,” said Mr. Kambwili.
“The problem that we are faced with is a problem that needs quick action. … If we do not control this situation where Zambians are beating up or looting shops belonging to investors, we may end up going back to a situation where the kwacha loses its strength and then the economy would be on its knees,” he said.
“So the president took this decision to try and protect the integrity of the country and of course protect the life and property of the so-called foreign nationals that were being targeted by unruly and unscrupulous Zambians.”
So far the Zambian police have been able to arrest some of the alleged perpetrators behind the attacks and looting of foreign shops in parts of Lusaka.
“So far there have been two types of arrests. Police have arrested 249 people in connection with the rioting and looting, and they have also apprehended 11 suspects who are helping police with investigations leading to the ritual killings that have rocked Lusaka,” said Mr. Kambwili.
“We do not have tangible evidence to back up that allegation. But we have received this information that some opposition political parties have taken advantage to sponsor some youths to try and cause chaos so that the gains that the kwacha has recorded against the major international currencies can be eroded. “But, I think by and large you only issue certain statements to certain things when you have got empirical evidence to back up your claims. But I can say that it is a possibility and there is information to that effect.,” he said.
What? I can not fathom this. Kambwili is talking Rubbish now. How do you link the violence to the Kwacha and opposition. Suppose we say that PF created the problem that they ae trying to solve, shall we be in order?
Kambwili started xenophobia. He declared that Somalis should not make concrete blocks. Only Zambians. According to him the 70 Somalis making blocks are taking jobs for Zambians. Let’s have a government ready to create jobs not fighting for 70 jobs. Abash chimbwili
“…may end up going back to a situation where the kwacha loses its strength and then the economy would be on its knees,”
Mr. Chimbwi, which strength are you talking about with regards the Kwacha? The economy is already on it’s knees and you don’t need to say that will happen.
Zambians wouldn’t be breathlessly waiting for 11th August 2016 to usher in HH and UPND, had the Kwacha been strong and the economy not been on its knees.
I hope the PF have learnt their lesson that you cant slaughter citizens just to try and accuse the opposition of doing ritual killings for political mileage. This culminated into possible loss of control of the nation which made EL to quickly call the army to sort out police work. Next time they will rush to state house with pangas to loot.
When we say Edgar and PF are failures, we are criticized. The Army came out of the Barracks because the PF Police has been heavily politicized and failing in their duties? How can the gruesome killing of citizens continue unabated for a month and you claim you have an IG and a Police service? Police that fail to arrest PF cadres stripping young lady naked in public!!
There goes mbwili trying to find something to blame, for the devaluing kwacha.
He is correct. Mere negative speculation can have negative impact on the Kwacha, any currency….worse physical violation as is the case. Educate opposition colleagues to be careful what they rant in public, overseas that cannot be substantiated just to gain political mileage.
Foolish Lungu thinks that using soldiers will save his regime and quash riots,well he is mistaken big time. He should have consulted KK over this , because KK used police to quash riots then involved the soldiers but it never worked as riots escalated to point where soldiers thought it best to act in the interest of the people and tried to over through him.
It must made clear that the riots were partly caused by ritual murders but the biggest cause of these riots are hunger and general discontent with PF ‘s rampant theft. These riots are food riots masked as Xenophobia. And this is just but the begining of more riots to come.
Lungu if you are listening, get it from me;using hungry police and soldiers who are angry with PF will just accelerate your exit. Get it from me a hungry…
Foolish Lungu thinks that using soldiers will save his regime and quash riots,well he is mistaken big time. He should have consulted KK over this , because KK used police to quash riots then involved the soldiers but it never worked as riots escalated to point where soldiers thought it best to act in the interest of the people and tried to over through him.
It must made clear that the riots were partly caused by ritual murders but the biggest cause of these riots are hunger and general discontent with PF ‘s rampant theft. These riots are food riots masked as Xenophobia. And this is just but the begining of more riots to come.
Lungu if you are listening, get it from me;using hungry police and soldiers who are angry with PF will just accelerate your exit. Get it from me a hungry…
Foolish Lungu thinks that using soldiers will save his regime and quash riots,well he is mistaken big time. He should have consulted KK over this , because KK used police to quash riots then involved the soldiers but it never worked as riots escalated to point where soldiers thought it best to act in the interest of the people and tried to over through him.
It must made clear that the riots were partly caused by ritual murders but the biggest cause of these riots are hunger and general discontent with PF ‘s rampant theft. These riots are food riots masked as Xenophobia. And this is just but the begining of more riots to come.
Lungu if you are listening, get it from me;using hungry police and soldiers who are angry with PF will just accelerate your exit. Get it from me a hungry…
An economy gone amok. Now it’s soldiers with guns trying to shoot it down.
Calm has not returned to the streets of Lsk Mr Kambwili. These hungry and disappointed people are waiting for security personnel to leave the streets and they will be at it again. Most shops owned by foreigners are still closed and it’s sad that the foreigners we have grown to love and treat as fellow citizens had to spend nights at a refugee camp. Hungry and disappointed Zambians are using this situation as an excuse to steal because the streets which provide them with a means of survival have become mean and unbearable.There is no money in circulation. If it had anything to do with the ritual murders, these irate mobs would not victimise fellow Zambians. As a warning to all of us, this behaviour is an indication of what’s to come just before the polls.
When people are angry not even soldiers can tame them. People have just calmed downed at their will. Remember the so called ‘Arab spring’.
kapena nayo iyi ni global imbwili kuwaywayafye
Ba UPND, even in France and Belgium troops are on the streets
“What transpired in the last four days in Zambia was unprecedented where there was this rumour that foreign shop owners ….”
No Ba Kambwili, it’s not unprecedented. Why does this administration love the word “unprecedented”? Riots and looting shops of people accused of practicing witchcraft/satanism is a common occurrence in Zambia. You remember what happened in Mufulira and Chambishi in the last 3 years or so? So, this is not unprecedented. Hungry criminal elements in society take advantage of such rumours to loot shops and steal. Just cage those criminals.
even in Mansa where they were looting shops of satanists who apparently should then have had the ability to sort out the looters with their satanic powers. Chimbwili should just accept that looting and ritoting is caused by hunger by those lazy ones who were lied to that government was going to address all their problems in 90 days
Try and error governance.
Fellow bloggers and readers just read the comments on ZWD and you will see that ZWD and elements in UPND have been inciting this violence. Best to round these trouble makers and lock them up if they are spweing their evil from abroad best to have them repatriated for Hate Speech. If you haven’t been inciting violence then you have nothing to fear its only the dunderheads that will hate what I have said who are guilty of this crime.
2016 ECL nafuti
How does the truth about missmangment, corruption and failure by PF to manage the country equate to incitement of violence??
Address the cholera, hunger, joblessness, and corruption instead of blaming everyone and every thing for your failures
2020VISIONLESS YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO BE CALLED HUMAN BEING.
@spako/ wanzelu are you not the same s.a.t.a.n.I.s.t that has been calling on people to kill each other..yes you said that in the previous on one of your hate filled posts under the previous heading. This is why anyone that thinks like you and supports what you say can never be normal. You are a blood thirty mad animal that should be caged. It would be immoral to let you chaps rule Zambia.
This storm will settle in time and things will get back to normal.
2016 ECL nafuti
No vision 2020
When was I calling on pipo to kill each other?? There are archives. Show me where.
You see how these PF lie about everything
@2020 visionless Kudos Gen Unpatriotic Senior Panga Thug
This was a salvo fired at RB-Lungu Corrupt PF…..you are on your way out!
KAMBWILI IS SILLY, HOW CAN THE CRY BY ZAMBIANS THAT THEIR OWN BROTHERS AND SISTERS WERE BEING KILLED IN LUSAKA BY SOME DEVILS, YET THE LAW IS NOT BRINGING PERPETRATORS TO BOOK CAUSE THE KWACHA TO TUMBLE? BE SENSIBLE STUPID KAMBWILI. WHY DO YOU ALWAYS BLAME THE OPPOSITION FOR YOUR OWN MISDEEDS? YOU HIRED A LOT OF RWANDANS TO COME INTO ZAMBIA TO CONDUCT CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES HERE. HOW DO YOU CALL A SMALL SHOP OWNER AN INVESTOR? GET SERIOUS KAMBWILI. IN TONGA WE SAY THIS IS MANTOOMBWA. YOU GUYS IN PF HAVE BROUGHT SERIOUS CONFUSION IN OUR COUNTRY, ALL BECAUSE OF WANTING TO CLING TO POWER. YOU ARE POWER-HUNGRY.
Please, remove the soldiers from the streets let the Police continue with such small jobs. Next time you may send them to colleges, schools and universities when it not necessary.
what we are experiencing is the result of poverty and underdevelopment.We have to come with some serious policy to raise the standards of living for our people by enacting legislations that ensure that certain businesses are reserved for our own people.How do you allow foreigners to engage in such businesses as
saloons
bars
selling air time
groceries
taxis
minibuses
salaula
selling vegetables
etc
That should be a preserve for locals.Foreigners are welcome but they should be involved in bigger macro business ventures and partner with locals to reduce poverty and unemployment
Spot on. Foreigners should come for difficult tasks which locals can’t do & this will earn respect for foreigners from the locals as their partners in development. Otherwise giving foreigners simple tasks which locals can do will just keep on fueling tensions. This is what successful governments has failed to understand & the more you advise the more they issue work permits, passports, national registration cards, visas in bunches like flyers & brochures for a newly opened supermarket.
So our police are not well trained to quell out commotion in the country. I wonder why we do not just employ the army to patrol the streets since they seem to be doing the job better than the police force.
When people are angry even soldiers cannot tame them. They have resolved to be at peace on their own accord. Remember the Arab spring.
The Army must take over the government and hold power in trust until the next elections. The country has deteriorated and is in danger of civil war
We are operating in an efficient Market where a hypothesis is created such that publicly known information affect the value of securities e.g shares and market indexes. If there is an announcement of positive information, like the $1.5 investment of Glencore in the mining sector, the kwacha and value of shares go up in the market. If on the other hand there is an announcement of negative information like civil unrests due xenophobic attacks then the kwacha and securities at LUSE loses value. If these problems continue the kwacha will be seriously and negatively affected.
They are fighting war with islamists, totally different scenario.
@Chamz that is meant for you.
kill all these Rwandese.Send back home
@Tutsi Rwanda you are pretending to be another person you are actually Spaka like lilo or wNzelu ..desperately trying to cause trouble in Zambia..an evil s.a.t.a.n.I.s.t from ZWD. You will be dealt with soon by the long arm of the Law. You must really be stupid to think you can continue with that Hate Speech and think you won’t be traced.
Don’t be a darn fool. I can not be a hutu killer.
This hutu killer suits you PF theives ready to cancel elections.
Mulimba,
Its *****s like you who should be locked up. Which civil war are you talking about? These so called foreigners are here because their countries have *****s like you who think every problem should be resolved by violence.
Some of the reading here is very very sad. Honestly guys, how can we advocate for the murder and harm of other human beings. Most of us have at some time studied and worked in foreign lands enjoying the protection of the governments in place there. The problem with our continent and the world as a whole is when good people fail to act. There are elements in our society that are instigating this violence for their own gains. Surely people that have sought refuge in our country should be protected. In the late 80’s it was indians being accused of killing people for organs. We need to turn our attention on our elected officials and use our votes wisely and not be fooled. If they have failed you, vote them out , till you find someone who will deliver as promised. I pray for peace in our…
@wapamission its very sad indeed but don’t be fooled check the digital signatures the “guys” writing this hate speech are just one person using differne t user names: spike like lilo, wZelu, Rwandan Tutsi and other silly names.. It is the same character that has been insulting anything to do with the PF govt, this coward of a cretin is a ZWD/ UPND extremist that wants to start trouble. We won’t allow the devil’s plan to win. God be with us and guide us through this.
Zambians, please kill all these hutus who have been stealing your resources for so many years. They should be sent back home to be killed by PRESIDENT KAGAME who killed 6 million people in Congo. Hutu people are bad.All hutus fugitive should be killed in Zambia
Kill all these Rwandese hutu fugitive living in Zambia. Kill them
You rabid dog!
At times, this spika thing talks sense. This is the first time I have seen such a backward comment. Really disappointing to see people making such primitive comments after seeing on media what the Rwandan genocide looked like. You never know online, you could be talking to/arguing with a teenager who is struggling with raging hormones and is just learning to mast.urbate whose fetish is getting off on hate crimes.
It is not me, it is the hutu killer impersonating me only because I have told him to take his hutu genocide to another site.
Spika, u r a dog for real. Imbwa yapa komboni. You were not born of a woman. You r a demon incarnate.
Wrong decision to order the army against it’s citizens… they are trained to deal with rioting citizens. Problem is we have a politicized and ill trained police force who can’t do the job they were trained for.
What will happen next time if the army say no to such orders? Or if they went on a killing spree themselves? You will have a situation where you are trying to investigate the so called ‘ritual’ k!lling of one person but with 10 people de@d from the army shooting.
Our Police should have been in the forefront to address and assure citizens that they were swiftly investigating the murders; that they have increased patrols and vow to bring the culprits to book. Don’t they even watch shows like CSI or Criminal Minds to learn a thing or 2? So what happens now if the…
No Police force fails the job world over. Police is military in nature and are at the center of security business. Except that they use civility and cautious conduct when dealing with civilians as is their custom. But during war they do shift posts and become military because the enemy is no longer a civilian but militant like. In the context of the recent riots, it was just a click of a button and you would have seen blood shed and blame for use of excessive force on unarmed civilians. The matter is a subject for debate thanks the situation is calm. But watch how international forces co-exist and quell riots not with buttons, but properly armed.
…So what happens now if the ritual murders don’t stop?
some people should never open their mouths but anyhow its their right.
Divide and Rule, I am sure you know you have no point. The situation in Zambia is worse with rioting all over the place. The point is if need be, soldiers must be deployed. You have no point
Managing a run away economy by the barrel of a gun. It’s the Lungu style.
THE REAL ISSUE, ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT MUST JUST DEPORT ALL RWANDANES, BACK TO THEIR HOME.
Imwe, there is this guy called Collard who calls on all call in programs on radio. Whatever topic that being discussed whether non political ena kwingishamo ama politics. He always says its because of bad leadership. He was cut twice on QFM today because of being out of topic. Ala the guy irritates me. He prays HH. HH is his god. He thinks HH will change things overnight. This guys will commit suicide if HH loses. Awe sure takwaba. Mumwebeko nga mwalimwishiba mwe!
@Obtala thank you, its good to know there are more normal thinking Zambians like you that visit Lsk Times..my point exactly UPND has mentally unstable extremist elements within it that are a danger not just to Zambia but even to themselves. Take for instance some of these UPND extremists like Spika like lilo, wzelu also pretending to be a Rwandan this blogger is the same person with the same digital signature. This is what we are faced with and these signs begun to show up after PF won last years elections. We remember those evil statement from disgruntled UPND losers. Now I hope people are begining to see the dangers posed by United Party for National Destruction-they are plain and simple evil to the core.
What digital signature you ignorant PF theif, just because some one blogging from the same country copies someone’s name ati same digital signature. Stop being so thick.
There is a hutu extremist killer blogging from the UK who is not happy with me for telling him to leave zambians alone.
Ba Collard bena awe mwe! He wants to blame everything on the government. Alefwa government ilemutwala namukunya sure. Learn to work hard my friend. Government wont do everything for. Ulefwaya na condom balekufwika
Kikikiki. Imwe ba Obatala, tapali problem nga bamufwika condom ba govt. It means he’s special and they are trying to protect him. The govt cannot afford to lose collard. Nga afwa, who is going to take the valued place of this most bitter critic? Kikikiki.
On a serious note, yes he goes off topic and ends up sounding like the Biblical clinging cymbal.
But ba Kambwili bakopo zoona. Do you have to be so blunt?
@Ghost Rider, kansi you heard him also
It is good that this is happening in Lusaka where the president and his mnister stay.This is called failed state no justification.
Our lord help this country as we are doomed under this leadership.We have never seen such things in the history of this country.
Strong hold of poverty,ritual killing,looting and loadshelding.
ZAMBIANS I M NOT HAPPY REASON OUR INNOCENT FELLOW ZAMBIANS ARE BEING KILLED,SKINNED,PARTIES REMOVED NO ONE MAKES NOISE OR OFFER HELP TO THEIR FAMILIES ,WHY NOT BALANCE THIS NOISE BETWEEN LOOTERS AND RITUAL KILLINGS THE PAIN IS BIG.SOME OF THESE ARE INVOLVED AND A WAY TO GET INFORMATION SHUD BE DEVELOPED TO STOP RITUAL KILLINGS.TAKE THESE TO REFUGE CAMPS AND SEE IF THESE KILLINGS WILL NOT STOP
Unprenseted indeed by pf killing a mosqueto or an ant using a big stone yaba its funy in zambia
Its unconstitutional to deploy the army on the streets to police civilians without declaring a state of Emergency in Zambia. The Army is trained to shoot and kill and not to do Police work. There were no valid reasons to deploy the Army on the streets.