Kamwala Ward Five (5) Councillor Mainda Simata says stringent measures are being put in place to ensure safety and security is enhanced in the community.
Mr Simata stated that Kamwala is one of the places with a serious problem of crime, and measures are being put in place to ensure that there’s an upgrade on the levels of security in the Ward.
He noted that one of the things that is being done is the upgrading of Lackson Makushi Police Post into a Police Station as it is located closer to the boundary of Kamwala, Chawama, Nkuku and Misisi compounds and these are areas with a lot of influx of people that are stealing in Kamwala South.
Mr Simata stated that the project to upgrade the Lackson Makushi Police Post has already been submitted to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development awaiting clearance and approval.
“We are hoping that with that we are going to have more facilities at the Police Station such as armed Patrol Police Officers with vehicles,” he stated
He added that neighbourhood watch committee is being constituting to work in close collaboration with the Police who may not have the capacity in terms of man power and even amenities such as vehicles to patrol and police the entire area, hence, the need for the communities to also play their part to ensure that security within the residents and Wards prevails.
He explained that the neighbourhood watch committee will always be in the company of an armed Police Officer as they are conducting their patrols because in case of any incident or encounter with criminals the armed Police will be able to assist and even when they will be a shooting the Police will be answerable by explain what really transpired.
“These are some of the programmes that we are rolling out to ensure that the levels of security are provided in the community,” he said
Mr Simata has since appealed to the Police to work together with the community through the formation of the neighbourhood watch committee as resources will be mobilised and insights will be acknowledged from successful neighbourhood watch committees such as the Makeni neighbourhood watch.
“We are trying to replicate that success in our community so that our community can be safer especially for people who work late and knock off at awkward hours,” Mr Simata noted
And Mr Simata cited that the Police need to take a hard stance on crime, there has to be a very hard-liner approach not the soft approach to criminals who have been repeatedly found wanting.
“I think that was last year where a story was covered where five people were shot and fortunately enough, they didn’t die but this was an attack by some armed criminals who robbed a number of liquor stores and ended up shooting innocent marketeers in the process as they fled,” he said
“So, this really has put us on a spot as civic leaders because the major cry of the residents of Kamwala Ward Five in particular is that something has to be done heighten the security situation, and as civic leaders ours is about service delivery working together with stakeholders such as the Police in the community,” he noted
Mr Simata explained that there are people in Kamwala South that live in unfinished buildings as founded from the investigations where these people who are squatting in unfinished buildings are also suspects over these thefts happening in the area.
Mr Simata added that it’s not just unfinished buildings but there are also mushrooming illegal settlements or camps especially along the Ring Road where they are people dealing in scrap metal and recycling waste by setting up illegal makeshift houses, and bathrooms, and in the evening or night time one can even see spots of lit fires.
He stated that the community has complained to say these are some of the people that turn into criminals at night, when in the afternoon one might think that maybe they are legitimate business people trying to make a living by dealing in scrap metal and recycling.
“In the evenings as early as 20 hours people are being attacked by these people that have illegally settled and those that live in incomplete building, this is a reported case which I had last week when we had a community programme to try and figure out how we can sort out crime,” Mr Simata said
“I have reported this to the Council but no action has been taken to repossess these places or have them demolished, but I will continue to pursue this matter and I will still engage the Town Clerk to know why action hasn’t been taken this far,” he said
Mr Simata cited this when he made an appearance on the CAMNET TV Breakfast Show.
They claimed pf was violent. Since the violence still exists under upnd, what does that tell you
It’s not just Kamwala, it’s the entire country which is under siege. Kajoba should concentrate on fighting crime instead of spending time on defamation nonsense. There are no police officers in our townships. They are all crowded at the station, at road blocks, at the robots to ambush motorists from whom they extort money.
It’s not just Kamwala, it’s the entire country which is under siege. Lemmy Kajoba should concentrate on fighting crime instead of spending time on defamation nonsense. There are no police officers in our townships. They are all crowded at the station, at road blocks, at the robots to ambush motorists from whom they extort money.
The entire country is under siege