Major changes to the Police command have been made with some Policemen and officers in Southern Province being redeployed following the Bweengwa violence which is blamed on inept and incompetence on the security wing.

But Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja has said the police command has made changes in the police service in preparation for the August 11 general elections.

Mr Kanganja said in an interview yesterday that in preparing to effectively police the August 11 general elections, he had made some changes in the police command from the position of deputy commissioner to ranks below.

He said some police officers from Southern Province had been swapped with those from Eastern Province while others have been taken to force headquarters in Lusaka.

He also said it was not true that the police command had deployed a battalion of police officers to Bwengwa in Monze to harass citizens following the violence that erupted in the area in which Government officers and a ZANIS crew were waylaid, ambushed and abducted.
Mr Kanganja said the changes in the police command were meant to enhance efficiency and that he was going to mobilise police officers across the country to make sure that the general elections were conducted in a violence-free atmosphere.

He said police had the mandate to maintain peace at all times and that he was going to ensure that law and order was maintained before, during and after the general elections.

“In trying to prepare for the general elections, as the police command, we have decided to make changes from deputy commissioner to ranks below. This has seen officers moving from one Province to another and we have moved some officers from Southern Province to Eastern Province while others have come to Police headquarters. This is being done to enhance efficiency so that we should effectively police the general elections,” Mr Kanganja said.

And Mr Kanganja has said the Public Order Act (POA) is not a tool for harassing citizens including political parties but that the law was necessary to protect the rule of law and avoid the breakdown of peace in the country.

He said the Public Order Act was strictly meant to help maintain the rule of law and that the country could easily be thrown into chaos without the law.He said although the Pubic Order Act had been criticised by a cross-section of society, the police command was aware of its provisions and was therefore not going to abuse the law for political expediency.

Mr Kanganja however warned that political parties and individuals who would attempt to defy the law with impunity, they should be ready to face the consequences of their action.
He said where minimum force would be required in the application of the POA, the police would be ready to act to protect citizens and property.

“Political parties should not dare us over the POA because we understand the provisions of the law. We are not by any means going to abuse the POA and infringe on people’s freedoms of assembly and association. If we are dared, we will be able to apply minimum force because we have the mandate to maintain law and order. I swore to protect the Constitution and I live to it,” Mr Kanganja said.

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) cadres who have turned themselves into mercenaries and vectors of violence should immediately be rooted out because they are tarnishing the image of the ruling party and President Edgar Lungu who has been preaching peace and harmony in the country, Kennedy Kamba has said.

Mr Kamba who is Lusaka Province PF youth chairman said a scheme has been hatched by some Lusaka PF youth leaders in which innocent members and loyal leaders are being implicated into violence which he said had resulted into the arrest of 21 youths who have been accused of having been in possession of pangas and knives.

He said the group that has been causing terror at Soweto market and the bus station using the name of the PF was still free and yet those who had been arrested had not committed any crime.

Mr Kamba revealed that a group calling itself America 2 was allegedly masterminding the arrest of the 21 PF cadres who are currently detained at Central Police.

He narrated that on the material day, the America 2 gang organized pangas and knives and loaded the weapons into a bus and later rounded up members who had recently been appointed into position at the Soweto Market branch and ordinary members and forced them into a bus loaded with the weapons.

He said after rounding up the 21, Police were allegedly called and immediately arrested the cadres whom he said had not committed any crime except that some of them had been appointed to take up positions after the suspension of some officials.

And the Patriotic Front has suspended some of its officials in Lusaka . According to letters obtained by the Daily Nation the PF has suspended Lusaka district chairperson Alex Besa, Soweto branch chairperson Joe Chama and Innocent Kabaso.

The trio was suspended on 18th February, 2016 by Lusaka PF district chairman Stafford Kayame.

The letters of suspension indicate that the trio was suspended for allegedly being involved in violent activities.

“The people the police have arrested are innocent and the culprits are still free. The people who masterminded the arrest of our members are those who have been suspended from the party because of their violent activities. There is a gang that has been terrorizing people and harassing marketeers and bus drivers,” Mr Kamba said.

Meanwhile, Nathan Phiri, the PF Lusaka district information and publicity secretary said youths in Zambia should endeavour to defend President Lungu because should the Head of State lose the August election, the ruling party would not be able to form government even if it had the chance of winning more parliamentary seats.

Mr Phiri said President Lungu was the constituency of the PF and that there was need for the Head of State to get maximum support from the youths.

The United Party for National Development (UPND) has described the events in parliament on Thursday where parliament defeated the private members bill on the Public Order Act (POA) as a sham.

In a statement released to the media by party spokesperson charles Kakoma, the party wondered
why the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) was fighting against having this piece of archaic legislation amended.

Below is the full statement

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

PUBLIC ORDER ACT

What happened in Parliament on Thursday regarding the Public Order Act is a sham and the Patriotic Front should be ashamed.

All parties sitting in Parliament have leaders. Those leaders convene meetings in consultation with the leader of the party on what decision they will make on the subjects of discussion in Parliament.

If you recall, when the constitution was being debated, the leader of the MMD, Hon. Mutolo Phiri, made a statement on how they were going to vote, so did the leader of the UPND, Hon. Gary Nkombo.

The leader of Government also made a statement, and for sure the constitution was passed, albeit now they are desperately trying to reverse it after seeing that it is working against them. So President Lungu knew that he was politicking when he made that announcement that he wanted the POA amended.

What happened during the debate of the Public Order Act when a motion was introduced by UPND MP for Choma, Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa, goes to show what kind of Government we have.

This is the same group that pandered on this subject when they were in opposition, but barely a month in Government, they u-turned. The amount of u-turns this Government has made has left the country dizzy.

Now they are fighting the same legislation that their own President directed then to amend. They are going against their own leader, so why does President Lungu make these pronouncements before lobbying his MPs? Is it that he does it for political reasons?

Why is the PF fighting against having this piece of archaic legislation amended? The Public Order Act is a piece of legislation developed in 1955 and it states “An Act to prohibit the wearing of uniforms in connection with political objects and the maintenance by private persons of associations of military or similar character; and to make further provision for the preservation of public order. [19th August, 1955].” That first sentence presupposes that it’s illegal to be in party regalia.

Why are we then maintaining such a law in a democratic country? This PF Parliament has been a disappointment. This crop of PF MPs must never come back to Parliament as we wait for history to judge them harshly.

Charles Kakoma
UPND Spokesperson

Mr Mutati was invited in his capacity as a member of the COMESA Council of Elders and a former Minister of Commerce.

The conference will hold discussions that are beneficial to the common economic agenda of the continent.

Speaking before living for Cairo Egypt, Mr Mutati said he was proud to be the one representing the country at such an important summit which is aimed at strengthening ties between Egypt and sub – Saharan Africa.

He said it was not the first time that he was representing the nation at such kind a of a meeting and that he will continue to represent the nation when ever he is called upon as they help create investment opportunities in the country.

He said the conference will discuss among other things how the continent can move forward at the same pace in terms of economic development as well as formulate region strategies for developing the continent.

Mr Mutati is hopeful that Zambia will benefit from the conference as Egypt aims to increase its private investment in Africa from $8 Billion to $10 Billion.

The conference was officially opened by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday who said Egypt’s private sector investment in Africa exceeds $8 billion, and Cairo hopes to double its trade with other African nations in the next five years to $10 billion.

This comes in the wake of a front page picture in The Post newspaper showing Rainbow Party General Secretary Wynter Kabimba with his UPND counterpart Hakainde Hichilema shaking hands after a meeting for opposition political parties convened by veteran politician Vernon Mwaanga.

Rainbow Party National Coordinator for Mobilization Robert Chikwelete has explained that the two political parties cannot be in an electoral alliance because they have different ideologies.

Mr. Chikwelete says the party is not in any alliance with any political party and Rainbow Party is not going to form any alliance with anyone during the 2016 general election.

He has explained that the photo referred to was taken during an opposition political party meeting organised by Dr. Mwaanga at which Kabimba read out the communiqué’.

He says the Party will field candidates in all the 150 constituencies.

Mr. Chikwelete says the Party will use its electoral alertness and pro-activity its members applied while in PF in 2011.

Mr Mulusa who was in Choma to check on government projects at the weekend was disappointed to discover that ceiling board from one of the newly built houses was falling apart.

Mr Mulusa who could not hide his disappointment wondered what the building engineer was doing to have allowed such works and also questioned why the chief planner and the building engineer allowed the contractor to use substandard materials.

He also expressed disappointed at the quality of window frames, door frames used in the housing units and wondered why the water pipes were left protruding from outside.

The contractor was not even on site to answer to some of the concerns raise as even the plastering of the walls was amateurish.

“This is not right it’s shocking where is the building inspector because there’s no excuse to allow this kind of work, there should be a good motivation why this contract can’t be terminated because the contractor has no value for money, the celling board is falling apart,” a visibility disappointed Mulusa said.

The construction of the medium cost housing started at the same time with the high cost which were being built by another foreign contractor had been completed and was only awaiting electrification and water installation.

He called on the local contractors to do the level best when they are given such projects unlike the current works being exhibited in Choma.

“ This kind of workmanship defeats the whole purpose of empowering Zambians, the low cost housing being done by a foreigner are far much better than the medium houses,”he said.

Provincial Planner Linda Siwale said government was update with the payment and wondered why the contractor was not completing.

“There is no pending payment for all the houses being constructed here all the payments and certificates were to update, “he said.

Mr Mulusa also toured the high and low cost housing units and also checked the works on the government offices and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation offices.

Earlier before the tour Southern Province Permanent Secretary Sibanze Simuchoba said the delay to complete the government offices and the housing units was a huge cost because the officers were always travelling to Livingstone.

Zambia’s former President, Rupiah Banda in his preliminary statement on behalf of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) observation mission said security forces proved to intimidate and influence the electoral process against providing law and order.

Mr Banda said there was a lot of public mistrust of the security forces who were accused of favouring the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party to the disadvantage of the opposition party.

He said the recently held general elections in Uganda had a lot of reports of malpractices especially against the rights and freedoms of the opposition political parties.

“The lack of clarity about the role of the crime preventers in the electoral process contributed to fear and apprehension ahead of the elections. This was regrettable, particularly given the perception of some members of the public who saw the crime preventers as a militia group established to favour the incumbent over his opposition,”he said.

President Lungu bemoaned the lack of progress with the roadworks.

The Head of State said this when he inspected road works at Kimputubwanga, 10 km from Solwezi district.

The President was accompanied by North-western Province Minister Danny Ngimbu and his Permanent Secretary Ephraim Mateyo, Local Government Deputy Minister Dawson Kafwaya and some senior government and party officials.

China Geo Construction company representatives told President Lungu that persistent rains have affected the progress of road works.

And Mr. Kafwaya informed President Lungu that 13 kms out of 68 kms has been constructed under Lot one, while buildcom has also constructed about 10 km under lot three.

And addressing residents in the area, President Lungu assured them that the road will be worked on and completed on schedule once the rains end.

The President, who also toured Kimputubwanga health post, told the villagers that the Ministry of Health will soon open the health facility to provide health care services closer to people.