INSPECTOR General of Police Kakoma Kanganja has condemned Patriotic Front cadres who stormed Ministry of Works and Supply offices to harass a woman they accused of belonging to the opposition United Party for National Development.
Mr Kanganja said the conduct by the cadres is uncalled for and illegal as it is not backed by any provision of the law.
In a statement made available to the media, Mr. Kanganja said political cadres have no right or justification to harass government workers under any circumstance.
“It is with great dismay that police have noticed high levels of hooliganism being exhibited by some political cadres under the pretext of politicking.
One such example is a video circulating on social media in which alleged Patriotic Front Cadres are seen harassing a public service employee, accusing them of being members of a named opposition political party,” he said.
Mr Kanganja said if cadres have any grievance against any government official, they should channel such grievances through relevant authorities who should independently assess the complaint and find a lasting solution.
“Cadres should also be reminded that civil servants are qualified to do the work tasked to them professionally hence they should be allowed to work without any harassment or intimidation,” he said.
The IG said his command will not tolerate any criminality perpetrated under the guise of politics and has since advised public officers who may be harassed by cadres to report to any nearest police station for possible prosecution.
“As much as we may all be aware that this is an election year, the Zambia Police shall not tolerate any provocative behavior with the potential to cause mayhem or bring about public disorder.
All political cadres whether from the ruling or opposition political parties should stick to their lane as they conduct their political activities,” Mr Kanganja said.
Meanwhile, the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) has condemned in the strongest terms the conduct by suspected party cadres who harassed a female civil servant at one of the Government ministries in Lusaka Province.
PF Media Director Sunday Chanda said that the party does not subscribe to the bullying and intimidation of civil servants.
Mr. Chanda said in a statement that says the conduct by these suspected cadres is not only intolerable but borders on criminality and has since urged investigative wings to bring the culprits to book without delay.
“His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has repeatedly called for discipline among party members. As such, Patriotic Front will not standby while misguided individuals drag its name into disrepute,” read the statement.
Mr Chanda further said that the actions by the suspected cadres, therefore, do not represent the party’s impression of the civil service.
“The Party considers the civil service as a partner in translating our manifesto promises into concrete programmes of action through improved delivery of goods and services.
“Lastly, we wish to urge all party members to exhibit exemplary conduct ahead of the August 2021 elections and beyond,” the statement concluded.
Well that is a good advice to the criminals masquerading as cadres! Now that you have seen the video and able to identify the perpetrators, move in and make arrests to show that you are serious and mean what you have just uttered. We tired of hearing warnings, we want to see these criminals arrested and prosecuted and show the magnitude that you are indeed doing your work and not just yapping as is the case.
If it were opposition cadres they would be behind bars by now, these are double standards that we are talking about Mr. Kankanja. Arrest those morons forthwith. Lets be serious for once, someone is threatening to burn a government employee alive, isn’t this cyber bullying?
If these thugs had been MMD ,Heritage Party ,UPND or Solcialist Party cadres they would’ve been arrested faster than lightning striking a defec@ting man in the bush.
In UNIP there used to be Vigilantes they used to lift unsuspected By Air Today they no longer exit.Pf caders please you will soon go away like the UNIP VGs.Potical parties it’s high time you tamed your violent caders .
For the sake of sanity those cadres are well known and should have been arrested to deter others with same intention but looking at the trend of political history in terms of harassing civil and non servants no stern action will betaken against the cadres involved. At the rate things are going I can imagine PF cadres being co workers in some govt institutions after consolidating their power after 12/08/21. Its already cast in concrete that ECL and PF will go beyond 2026. The Zambia Police Service PR is on record that police officers are scared of taking action against PF cadres for fear of losing their jobs. Chapwa our daily trails or survival will only be determined by the PF for now and beyond 2026. All those who will try to raise some dust for whatever reason will be dealt with using…
Anyone who confronts an opposition biased civil servant is automatically labelled pf. There is two sides to every story. This woman was busy spreading her upnd hatred within a government building. What did she expect? You cannot take your tribal crap to government buildings and expect to be hugged
KZ it is your own police chief who has identified them as PF cadres. But he only condemns them, and calls it illegal behaviour – and then does do NOTHING. Typical corrupt PF stuff, somebody called the chief for sure to warn him, was it you maybe? Then you are just as bad as he is!
Why isn’t this person behind bars? Why do you warn others and others you arrest or shoot before warning? It is important that law is applied equally! Iam not impressed by this press statement.
That Central Committee snub is still sinking in. Keep on being seen as junior members of the party in your late 40s.
….arrest them, don’t just talk and “condemn”. That will show us that you are serious about law enforcement.
The IG didn’t deserve an iota of contract extension and the President knew. He is just waiting for the expiry of the short stinch. IG has failed lamentably
Now you know who sent those cadres. Akanwa kamilandu kaluka fye amafi akene. We are waiting for action and not bushi Mumbi.
It’s not enough to condemn PF Cadres for this harassment. There are videos on this issue so these PF Cadres should be arrested and prosecuted. ZPS should stop this selective application of law. If it was UPND Cadres who had done this they would have been arrested by now. No wonder Citizens’ Confidence in ZPS is very low due to the Politicisation of the Police. Kanganja should sort out the mess b4 he retires from ZPS.
Let the victim lodge in a complaint to the police.
It is just 500 meters from Police Hq.
If this happened in Shangombo and it was UPND cadres, the Zambia police would have been there by rocket.
This why am not a fan of communist and socialist ideologies, because the party vigilantes are the jurors , what the difference between these cadres and hitler’s gestapo ? anyone they not in good books with or a different opinion they will blame and accuse as working against the state, We got lead of UNIP because of the economy and its vigilantes.,# DEJA VU
In the whole of his statement he doesn’t once mention that these people will be arrested. All he does is to call on the victims to make a complaint to the police. Whether there will be further action or whether it will just fizzle out is anyone’s guess.
Condemning after having been granted permission by Monday Chanda to say something to the effect in order to save face. Hollow and ridiculous!!
All PF Cadres have been oriented to behave like these thugs. The fish rots from the Head downwards. So Kanjanja condemns the PF thugs but doesn’t arrest them. If it were UPND Cadres they would have been arrested already. By the way I.G Kanganja what happened to the Assasin of Nsama Nsama and Joseph Kaunda? We last heard a Constable had been arrested for the murders and he appeared in Court but has since disappeared from the Media Radar. Nothing will happen to the PF unruly thugs. Lets wait and see.
Awe mwee!
Twachula no butekobu. Lord where did we go wrong? It is time to bring fire upon the evil doers. In the name of Christianity, even the Lord himself got furious by turning down tables in the temple and called king Herold a very strong name as Fox. There are ferocious wolves in this country who when not tamed well and vaccinated by removing them with a ballot on the 12 August, Zambia will be rabbitic and every one will suffer rabbis and no cure will be available. So Lord Jesus be closer and hear the cry of your people because we are now leaving like the Babylonians who forced the Israelites to sing a song in the foreign land. Our mother Zambia is under captivity.
Where a Crime is committed the Role of ZPS is to arrest and charge the suspected Criminals and send them to within 24 hours. Mr Kanganja should do that instead of just condemning the suspects. Kanganja is always quick to act where UPND Cadres are involved. There is just too much State Sanctioned violence and lawlessness among PFCadres. These PF thugs are acting on orders from the PF Leadership. That is Sishuwa Sishuwa was right in predicting turmoil after the August 12 Elections.
Who ever recommended KZ to be Lungu’s advisor doesn’t like him and just wanted to capture him.
Prosecute and lock them up !!
The behaviour of these group is intolerable they have no rights to harass anyone at all cost, the behaviour is very cowardish with no concept at all. whoever, these ppl are not patriotic they need to be investigated and bring them to justice. and another thing is that this cadre shenanigans should be looked into or just abolish the system altogether because the system is unjustifiable no one understands this pathetic institute, I should call it to exist, the ppl who are under this system have been manipulated by most leadership for their safety and protection interest because it’s either they don’t understand politics or manipulation is the core issue of all this. By the way, the ppl harassing that woman should know that this is a democratic country ppl are allowed to express their…
Waste kind of intimidation. God help Zambia for once more as we approach the elections.
Kaizer, Your thinking is a total shame and a big insult to the majority good thinking Easterners… Grow up your venom is so cheap.
Stella Libongani was wiser than this man.
Kanganja is saying nothing new. The fact is ZPS has been politicised and the PF Cadres and thugs are untouchable. They will just pretend to arrest them and then release them according to the “catch and Release ” Policy of the PF Govt. Kanganja is powerless to control these PF Cadres and thugs. Recently PF Cadres invaded a Police Station and beat up Policemen on duty .What did Kanganja do? Those PF are free and roaming the street. PF Cadres are powerful. They can beat up Ministers,threaten domestic and foreign judges, insult foreign Govt’s,threaten Civil Servants etc and they will not be punished for this behaviour. The level of lawlessness among PF Cadres is terrifying. With Elections on August 12 coming the situation will be worse. The only way to stop this PF Cadre lawlessness is…