YOUTH in Action for Sustainable Development (YASD) has decided to petition the police to look into the 2016 Namwala violence which erupted after the general election and led to attacks and displacement of many people.
YASD executive director Zebedy Lukwesa said that since the police were going back to old cases that had not been clearly dealt with, it would be important that they also investigate the cause of the 2016 Namwala violence so that the perpetrators and the people who were behind that violence could be could brought to book.
“There is no way this issue can be overlooked,” he said. Mr. Lukwesa said that they will petition the police to investigate the matter because it was one of the cases that was not properly concluded.
Inspector-General of Police Lemmy Kajoba on November 4, 2021 indicated that Zambia Police will use all legal means at its disposal to bring to book persons that have committed crimes in the past but which were not adequately dealt with.
Mr. Lukwesa said the move by the police to backdate cases that were not properly concluded was good but it must be applied fairly so that it does not seem as though the police were being used to fight political battles.
He said the violence in Namwala was very serious to the point that people had to be evacuated from the district to other areas by the government then.
Mr. Lukwesa said that the follow-up of the 2016 Namwala violence would be an assurance that the police were working independently without any political interference.
He said there were a lot of cases in the country that needed to be followed up that they would love the police to take up than just following the perceived political opponents of the party in power.
Some residents of Namwala were displaced from their homes for either belonging to the ruling Patriotic Front or bearing a name not originating from Southern Province after President Lungu was declared winner of the 2016 general election.
indeed, this case needs to be followed to its logical conclusion. Red Cross should be involved to help in identifying some of the victims so that they can come forward and give their own account of what happened. That sad episode in the political history of our country should not be allowed to die a natural death. I salute Mr. Zebedy Lukwesa for his courage and the Youth in Sustainable Development that are involved in the attempt to revisit this case. Please, Mr. Lukwesa, find out from Red Cross where the victims of the 2016 Namwala massacre were re-located to.
One or two huts got burned……….
Otherwise the purported namwala violence was pure PF lies and propaganda………
Like the lies of the bwengwa kidnapping where highly trained UPND commandos kidnapped PF and GRZ journalists…..
Or the lies about a bemba teacher murdred in savonga …………
Or the burning of that old lieing VPs compound in Western province, only to discover it was drunk PF caders in a bungled attempt to implicate UPND……
Faka pressure young man so that we can see what Kajoba is made of.
Faka pressure young man so that we can see what Kajoba is made of
This is fine with me. In fact the Zambia Police should also be petitioned to look into the “Chavura the Ugandan” incident. He was caught fiddling with Electoral Commission of Zambia servers in broad daylight as election results were being announced. There were many witnesses to the incident and there is even video footage.
Umulandu taubola- “a case never rots” they must be brought to book.
I urge Lukwesa to invite submissions through his NGO from those that lost their members of their families beginning with 2015. These must include the names of officers that were handling their cases. We know some senior police officers that have frustrated investigations into these cases. They must be exposed without any further delay. We’ll now see who has been at the center of tribal politics. People will understand what we mean when we say the UPND mission is to execute selective justice. There’s no country that Bally is uniting
Nice one, follow up the cases for the citizenry to appreciate accountability by those who engage in atrocities or malicious propaganda that are injurious to general well being of society! People must learn to be factual and sensitive to peaceful coexistence and conducive environment promoting Ubuntu!
Not just this case from Namwala, but all other cases that have not been properly concluded, issues of gasing and other atrocities the were committed in the past.
Those whose bouses were burnt are supposed to report to the police and give names of the people they suspect.
Do you think the lungu regime would have left this stone unturned if it had any truth to it ??????
The Lungu regime was a brytal corrupt regime out to crush any opposition……and they did , most of the time……..
If there was any truth to this so called namwala violence , the lungu regime would have made arrests and justified their brutality to the world…….
Lungu didn’t act on the case because he was afraid of being accused of ethnic cleansing. If he had acted just like now when people don’t want to acknowledge the occurrence, things would have gotten out of hand.
#10 Deja Vu
December 27, 2021 At 8:54 am
“Lungu didn’t act on the case because he was afraid of being accused of ethnic cleansing. If he had acted just like now when people don’t want to acknowledge the occurrence, things would have gotten out of hand….”
Lungu was dismissing all people from the South from GRZ positions………..
What afraid of being accused accused of ethinc cleansing ??