PEOPLE’S Democratic Party (PDP) president George Mpombo says his son has allegedly committed a heinous crime that cannot be tolerated.

And police in Ndola have warned and cautioned Mr Mpombo for alleged failure to secure a firearm.

Mr Mpombo said this yesterday at Ndola Central Police Station where he was summoned for questioning in connection with the firearm that his son allegedly used to shoot dead his 17-year-old lover, Ruth Phiri.

Mr Mpombo admitted that the firearm that his son allegedly used to murder Ruth was his, but that he stole it from the house.

He said his son’s action of allegedly murdering his lover cannot be tolerated by anyone and that the law should take its course.

“The boy is my son, but he has committed a heinous crime that cannot be tolerated. The gun he used is mine but I did not realise that my son had stolen it from the house. I had no idea that he was even being interrogated by the police on Tuesday over the missing of the girl.

“I cannot condone a crime that brings the sanctity of life into disrepute. All I can say is that the law must take its course because every human being deserves to live and if they die, they should be buried in a proper manner,” Mr Mpombo said.

Clad in a black suit, Mr Mpombo arrived at Ndola Central Police Station around 09:30 hours and the interview lasted about 2 hours.

And Copperbelt Province commissioner of police Charity Katanga said Mr Mpombo was warned and cautioned for alleged failure to secure a firearm but that investigations into the matter are still under way.

“Yes, Mr Mpombo was summoned to appear before police officers in Ndola for questioning over his failure to secure a firearm. But I can’t state whether he has been charged as we are still carrying out investigations into the matter,” Ms Katanga said.

It is alleged that Mr Mpombo’s son, on January 11, murdered Ruth after she informed him that she was pregnant by him.

The teenager is alleged to have subsequently beheaded Ruth and buried her body in a shallow grave, a kilometre from Chiwala Secondary School in Masaiti.

The teenager then went and dumped Ms Phiri’s head in a bush in Ndola’s second class area of town.

Meanwhile, Ruth’s uncle, Henry Milanzi, says the family is shocked by the gruesome murder of their daughter.

Mr Milanzi said it is unimaginable for someone to kill a fellow human being in such a manner.

He said in an interview yesterday that some parts of the body were missing as they had been eaten up by animals because the body was buried in a shallow grave.

“The family is so devastated at this death. The boy killed her all because she told him that she was carrying his pregnancy and because he wanted to conceal it, he had to kill her in such a way going to an extent of even cutting her head off using a hoe,” Mr Milanzi said.

Local Government Minister Stephan Kampyongo says he did not instruct the Kitwe City Council to demolish the houses in Mufuchani area in Kitwe.

Speaking when he featured on radio Phonix’s Let the People Talk radio program Mr Kampyongo wondered how he could issue a directive to demolish houses in just one area when illegal buildings had been constructed in other areas.

He accused some officials within the local authority of trying to use his name to clean the mess they created by themselves.

The Minister explained that the only instructions he left was that the local authority should take care of existing interest and for those who had just started to construct houses on illegal land to be stopped.

He wondered why councils continue to let people construct when it is better to stop them before they start constructing than demolishing after people had finished.

“If I was going to order demolishing of houses thousands would have been demolished. I would have started at Kafubu because all those houses built there are illegal structures. Here, there are illegal structures in Kamfinsa why would I just order the demolition in just one area, moreover I was sorting out the same problem with people of Mindolo why would I create another problem again,” he said.

Kitwe City Council 2 weeks ago swung into action and demolished over 10 houses which were built on illegal land in Mufuchani along the Kafue river.

Meanwhile the Minister has distanced himself from the Nkana Play Park land saga.

Commenting on the developer who claims to have been given title to the Play Park,Mr Kampyongo said he will not be part of the development which disadvantages local people.

He said Col. Panji Kaunda who is in the Copperbelt will be able to look into the matter and clarify the issues with the local authorities.

A Clergyman has called on politicians in the country to stop blaming the police for enforcing the Public Order Act because it is not the police who enacted it.

Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia Board Member Rev Aaron Chilujinka has said that politicians should stop blaming their failure to repeal the Act on the police who just enforce it.

He said it is not the duty of the police to change the POA but politicians who fail to repeal the law in parliament.

Rev Chilujinka who was featuring on 5FM’s the Burning Issue radio program together with ruling PF aspirant for Kasama Central Kelvin Sampa and opposition UPND aspirant for Kafue Saboi Imboela said it will be prudent for political players to push for the repealing of the Act instead of blaming the police.

He said whether bad or good the police have the duty to enforce the law hence should not be blamed for doing their job.

He said the Republican President swears to uphold the law and one of the laws he swears to uphold is the POA hence politicians should not cry but rather act to repeal the Act.

And UPND aspiring candidate for Kafue Saboi Imboela said the party in government does not want to repeal the Act because it works for them.

She said the PF had back tracked on their promise to repeal the Act which they promised to do when they were in opposition and are now using the same law against the opposition especially the UPND.

She said the violence towards the UPND from the PF had escalated and that the church should try to help by talking against the violence.

She said the PF are throwing insults at the opposition at will but that the Church has not acted like they used to act when PF was at the receiving end of the insults and violence from the then ruling party MMD.

She said if the violence continues the opposition will be forced to react as it is within the rights to defend themselves.

Meanwhile Kelvin Sampa the Kasama Central aspirant on the PF ticket refuted claims that the ruling party was perpetrating violence.

He said there might have been pockets of violence in same places but that the PF is a peaceful party and does not encourage violence from members.

Mr Sampa said violence should be condemned regardless of who is the perpetrator and that political leaders should assume responsibility of the actions of their cadres.

U.S. Embassy Chief of section political and economic affairs, Andrea Tomaszewicz says his government is happy with its projects done in the country particularly in rural areas saying that are now being opened up to economic development.

Ms.Tomaszewicz says the American assistance to the Zambian government in the area of women empowerment and sanitation programmes have been successful.

She says this partnership with the Zambian people is aimed at alleviating poverty that are now being opened up to economic development
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ZANIS reports that the US envoy was speaking in Choma yesterday when she called on Southern Province Permanent Secretary Sibanze Simuchoba.

She is in the province to assess the various economic development programmes in water and electricity management as well as possible U.S. investment opportunities.

And Mr Simuchoba urged the southern Water and Sewerage Company, ZESCO and other stakeholders to utilize the interaction with the Embassy to help find solutions to the water and electricity challenge the country is facing.

Mr. Simuchoba said it is for this reason that the province welcomes the visit of the American Embassy officials as the interaction will be of mutual benefit especially that the US support is supplementing government development programmes.

He said the visit to the province will also help identify areas that need attention especially in the energy and water sector.

Mr. Simuchoba is optimistic that this visit will help attract more support to the province.

Renowned Constitutional Lawyer John Sangwa has charged that the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission is far much better than the current amended constitution, reports Pan African Radio Journalist Hermit Hachilonde.

Speaking during the Press Freedom Committee of the post held at Southern Sun Hotel in Lusaka, Mr Sangwa said the Technical committee was just amending some clauses without thoroughly examining and analyzing them.

He said the Technical Committee started amending some clauses that were flawless because they were not dedicated, adding that their review was not even effective.

Sangwa further notes that the the constitution is not only about the 50 percent + 1 vote threshold clause which he says seems to have cheered some sections of society adding that the clause is just a fraction of the entire document.

“When you keep on talking about the same things over and over and you even start amending things that were okay, if you look at the draft of Mung’omba Commission,  it is far much better than what came out subsequently. I know a lot of people are excited about 50+1, but the constitution is not just about the 50+1”,  John Sangwa said

Mr Sangwa also observed that the document which president Lungu recently assented to is largely deceptive and is fraught with numerous lacunas.

He cited the preamble which he said is at variance with the way  the document was adopted. According to the preamble of the amended law of the land, the Zambian people solemnly adopted and give to themselves the constitution, which the legal mind says is a lie because there was no referendum in Zambia.

Mr Sangwa further said that the preamble was enshrined in the country’s supreme law in anticipation that the document was to be subjected to a referendum, hence the stakeholders who were responsible at that stage left it without identifying that problem because they were too much in hurry and not serious at all.

“This document contains lies, there are some things that are actually not true, the first thing that is more obvious is that you just look at the preamble, the most important thing is at the bottom where the preamble says we the people of Zambia solemnly adopts and give to ourselves this constitution, now the question is that, is there any truth in that?  When did the Zambian people give themselves a constitution? John Sangwa said
He also identified a lacuna in article number 7 which he feels was detrimental to the country’s judicial system which was instrumental in upholding Justice for more than a century now.

Mr  Sangwa also observed  that Zambia is still using the old framework of the defective 1991 constitution, adding the recently amended document will enable politicians to have leverage to continue the usual political rhetoric of enacting a new constitution once voted into office.

“The amended constitution has given fertile grounds to the next president to continue promising the Zambian people about the new constitution” John Sangwa said

Mr Mungo who was a guest at the interactive radio program, The Lusaka on UNZA radio, said it is only the youths who can bring an end to what he termed ” traditional politics” of character assassination, name calling, violence and insults.

He said it is high time that young people become the bearers of massage of hope by engaging one another on how the country can be moved forward through sharing of ideas regardless of ones political affiliation and not tools of violence associated with the youths in politics.

“As youths we have got the responsibility of passing the values to the next generation. We need to get rid of these tradition politics of character assassination, insults and violence, we need to move from these tradition politics to modern politics were tolerate other people’s views which by the end of the day we gives various ideas on how to develop this country,” he said.

And Mr Mungo has called on youths to join politics and help move the country move forward and that youths must fight for their place in politics because the old politicians will not give it them for free.

He said for him to join politics no one forced him but he saw it fit because he wants to be part of the people who are going to move the country forward and that he will fight for his place in politics with expecting any favours from any one.