UPND Attacks Rivals, 21 Arrested In Choma
PRESIDENT Lungu has condemned the violent behaviour by some United Party for National Development (UPND) cadres in Choma where they stoned vehicles and intimidated non-members of the opposition party on Tuesday.
Police have arrested 21 suspected UPND cadres following running battles between the law enforcers and party members.
And President Lungu says he will win this year’s tripartite elections with the 50-percent-plus-one majority vote.
Mr Lungu said it is sad and unfortunate that some UPND cadres beat up some Patriotic Front (PF) cadres in Choma who refused to raise the UPND party symbol when the vehicles which were carrying their leader Hakainde Hichilema and other UPND officials were passing through the town.
The head of State said this yesterday at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport on his return from Eastern Province where he went to inspect development projects and met traditional leaders and PF members.
“It is very unfortunate that some UPND cadres yesterday [Tuesday] beat up some PF cadres who were refusing to raise the UPND symbol when their leader was in the area.
“People should understand that it is a multiparty democracy. We have various candidates with various views. The choice our people make should always be respected. And that choice or support from our people should not be coerced or forced,” President Lungu said.
He said it is very unfortunate that the UPND members have taken the route of perpetuating violence ahead of the August 11 general elections instead of promoting peace and unity in the country.
President Lungu said he will allow Zambians to judge who the anarchists are, adding that the violence in Choma was uncalled for and should be condemned by all well-meaning Zambians.
“They want us to review the Public Order Act (POA). We can review the POA many times but if people don’t want to change or behave in a manner that is acceptable then this can’t work.
“We don’t want violence in this country because this has potential to disrupt the peace and unity that the country has been enjoying over the years and I am therefore calling on the police to arrest all those who were involved in the fracas so that the law can take its course,” he said.
Mr Lungu said as the date for the general elections draws nearer there is need for all political players to preach messages that promote oneness and the need for people to come together in unity.
On Tuesday, Catholic bishops called for tolerance among political rivals and urged political leaders to “commit themselves to a peaceful electoral process and the control of their members”.
In the aftermath of the fracas in Choma, triggered as UPND members waited for Mr Hichilema, the police apprehended 21 people.
Three vehicles including a police Land Cruiser were damaged in the fracas.
The police have further impounded a Toyota Corolla which was allegedly being used by three cadres to cause commotion.
The fracas started when UPND cadres blocked the Livingstone Road and compelled motorists to display the UPND symbol.
“Those who refused had their vehicles hit with any available object.
The situation got out of hand and attracted the attention of Zambia National Service (ZNS) Choma region officers who moved in to help the police quell the violence.
This is according to a statement issued yesterday by deputy inspector general of police for administration Eugene Sibote.
Mr Sibote said police used tear gas to disperse the cadres.
“As Zambia Police, we wish to strongly condemn the conduct of these UPND cadres.
The UPND provincial leadership contacted yesterday declined to comment on the matter and referred all queries to top party officials.
Efforts to get UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa proved futile as he kept rejecting the calls.
Meanwhile, President Lungu is happy with the support he received during his tours of the Copperbelt, Southern and Eastern provinces.
Mr Lungu said the massive support he has so far received shows that he will win this year’s tripartite polls with a landslide victory.
Posted by
peters
January 28, 2016 at 4:34 am
Lets just vote like them thats when they will respect other tribes and party. The problem is with those pipo from other regions giving them suport. Lets teach Teach Tongas to respect other tribes by leaving HH to them
hunter
January 28, 2016 at 5:14 am
Sesheke UPND on line…..even when UPND members are brutally beaten and killed in sinda,vubwi,kitwe,mulobezi,luanshya,rufunsa,livingstone, to mention a few,its only UPND members being arrested,CULPRITS are set FREE-anyway GOD is watching……..pls,almighty GOD hear the groaning of UPND leaders and members like u did to israelites wen enlsaved by Egyptians
kayula
January 28, 2016 at 5:56 am
Why is it that HH always keep quiet when his party is involved in violence? This is the very man who is quick to speak when his pipo are attacked. Lets vote so that some tribes are packed where they belong. Catholic bishops where are you? Muletekenya mukasapota necakutulya
Lucy
January 28, 2016 at 7:50 am
Silly comment from ECL. Very useless president.
mj banda
January 28, 2016 at 8:04 am
How did upnd attack rivals cos it’s only kachemas in choma. Just a useless party and maybe HH wants to start sacrificing human life
Shi mwana
January 28, 2016 at 8:10 am
Iwe chi Kayula, does your tumfweko or ZNBC cover HH and ECL equally? You’re just trying to protect your salary in PF, be sure to be out of your PF employment. 11th Aug 16
swit faza
January 28, 2016 at 8:27 am
Where have you ever heard that it took zambia army,zns or combination of both to stop pf caders? no way….mwaya sana bakachema,we will show you your way…eastern,kopala,nothern lets vote tonga way…HH 19000,EDGAR 900 Southern,we also do the same EDGAR 40000 HH 200
tom
January 28, 2016 at 8:44 am
I instead of insulting each other on who is better o think the best is to subdivide this country so that the Tongas goes their way and bembers goes their ways.
LBF
January 28, 2016 at 8:53 am
Fi PF started all these fikaponya fyalifulisha PF party ya fikaponya fulu fika bwalala,ulubuli,insele,utujilijili and what do you expect from such party,Road shedding,poverty, dollar up,cost of living high.People are just straggling to put earns meat on the table.
Sometimes you should be talking time to reflect back no just start condemning anyhow.Every time the PF cadres could fight the rivals,every time they could do that until they (upnd) thought of retaliating.So now because they (upnd) have started retaliating,there now bad and what the PF cadres were doing was good.People lets be fair and realistic.Well it was not ok but you comments should normal.Wooooooo HH come 2016 you will see although MMD immerge Ngwaaaaa….Kuina…..
tom
January 28, 2016 at 9:03 am
I am from chinsali but loved in Lusaka foe almost all my years on this planet earth but my observation on this voting for tongas and bembas is this. You may insult me but the truth mwes to be said. I want to compare civilization on these two regions town by town. Nakonde/chirundu, isoka/mazabuka, chinshali/monze, mpika/choma, serenje/kalomo,mkushi/zimba, shiwangandu/namwala/ itezhitezhi/luano valley. If look and compare the districts and their people with what they do will agree with with me that one tribal grouping is better that than the other hence fight. The other group is comfortable to live in misery and the other says no.
JJ Kalonda
January 28, 2016 at 9:05 am
Tom, the characters that insult other tribes on a daily basis on this platform are the ones to shoot down your suggestion. They injure their own mulamus, inlaws, workers, lovers,children etc by relentlessly making reference to tribe. My suggestion would be that anyone that posts anything with tribal connotations should be arrested. Being a very successful Zambian born from an inter-tribal marriage, I find comments from the likes of peters and mj banda very tasteless. The fact is, whether they shall respond with insults or not, I am capable of offering them better jobs than what Frank Bwalya has given them
Likumbi lay mizhe
January 28, 2016 at 9:32 am
@swit faze why do you people talk about voting pattern only in southern, how did upnd perform in malole constituency. Or why is it that Pf has elected leaders in southern while upnd has none in those areas well known. Painting others as tribal when true tribalism are hiding behind. We all know the true tribalists. Normally people who like seeing faults in others are the ones with big unimaginable faults.
Manix
January 28, 2016 at 9:43 am
UPND cadres have no brains, how do you force truck drivers foreigners inclusive to show your party symbol? What kind of desperation is this, behaving like school children! Is a foreign truck driver going to give you votes? You are emberasssing us as a country thats why we say HH desplays under five type of politics just because ECL went to SP nabo ba HH ati let me go there, we know it is your strong hold but timing matters.Thats why you are giving the police powers to abuse the POA, I suggest we leave POA in its current form. UPND will never form govt because of violence. 11 August its PF all the way.
twaibila
January 28, 2016 at 10:08 am
can anyone displays the map of barlostland? the tribes found in this land should not leave the lozis alone to fight for freedom. the boundary is north westetn, copper belt, part of central, lusaka, southern and western provinces. we the kaondes are ready to fight for our freedom of our land.
we therefore demand the release of the four activist at mukobeko.
Hidden Objects
January 28, 2016 at 10:44 am
Let people who were not there in Choma cheat and lie with their postings or believe what Lungu has said. He said that from without but just heard from his cadres in order for him to be praised. What happened is different from what people are saying here. The riot was ignited by a few PF drunken cadres who started insulting and singing solidality songs for Lungu thereby they went to where the UPND cadres were sitted waiting for HH. One PF cadre threw a cob of maize where the UPND cadres were sitted. Cont….
Hidden Objects
January 28, 2016 at 10:54 am
Cont…
Thats how one cadre went peacefully to the PF cadres and told them to leave them alone because they were not there to fight. Instead of the PF cadres to leave, some left but five of them remained and started insulting HH and saying bad things. Thats how the UPND cadres reacted. Since it was near the Police and the main bus stop, the Police heard the noise and came. All the cadres dispaced as they saw the police coming. Cont…..
Hidden Objects
January 28, 2016 at 11:03 am
Cont…
Instead of the police to teargas the cadres, they started teargassing the bus commuters. When the opposition cadres saw that, thats how one got a teargas cannister and threw it in the police vehicle also they caught two policemen who were severely beaten telling them that what they did was not good because they left who they knew were the causers and teargassed innocent people some with children on their backs waiting for buses. One PF cadre was brutally beaten. Cont….
Hidden Objects
January 28, 2016 at 11:14 am
This continued till when HH arrived and that was after 18:00hrs. The 21 mentioned arrested, some were bus commuters picked at the bus stop. My surprise is, why didnt the police react on the cadres who filled the airport in Lusaka making it difficult for Sampa to land? Does this arresting of cadres meant for opposition only? What if those PF cadres who filled the airport in Lusaka caused those in the plane to bomb the airport, would they be arrested?
Hidden Objects
January 28, 2016 at 11:26 am
Cont….
Doesnt this mean alerting danger in our country? Where was the police to teargas the cadres who had no authority of entering the airport without permission? Does it mean staff on duty did not see these cadres? Doesnt the government see that this makes it easy even for an enemy to attack our country because they would not know who an enemy could, the person would come in the name of PF, ba president batituma, clad in PF t-shirts as if its true. Pliz, lets be alert war is coming from our ruling party.
mj banda
January 28, 2016 at 11:39 am
Iwe hidden objects, learn to have facts before you post. That happened in Ndola not Lusaka. Upnd cadres daloooo
ps
January 28, 2016 at 11:43 am
its global, it is happening in china. we know wat is happening, pf ar idiots, y not tell regstra to diregstra all oposition bcoz u want 1 party rule and u hav the power. y always sending police to beating the oposition. chapwa
mulenga
January 28, 2016 at 12:05 pm
its good to hear that upnd cadres are condemed for their riotius behaviour but ve not heard any one condem the pf cadres who attacked the upnd cardrs
Hidden Objects
January 28, 2016 at 12:09 pm
Mj Banda akalumba kakakulya bumo bushiku. Wechikopo niwebo pantu uliwamailo tapali nefyo wishibe mwana wandi. Muleipushako abaliko lintu ba KK balelwila ubuntungwa, nangu Lungu wine taishiba nangu chimo kano nga ali niwishi. Nganachilufyanya pakulemba tekwebati ndi UPND iyoo…mulekwatako umuchinshi ukalenga ukatuke nawiso. Ulemu atate niwabwino osati kutukwana kapena kupusika iyayi, izo zilibe ncito. Muzikambako dzanzelu nawo adzanu ampudzila kwainu mwanva tu? It does not mean all of the people who post on this site are your age. Careful, you can be traced so easily and have nowhere to hide. Watch your tongue dear.
mj banda
January 28, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Iwe hidden objects, you are the one to be struck by lightening 7 times. Maybe u are the one who is young, watch your writing young man. Be careful next time. My God is very powerful compared to to your god.
Wenho!
January 28, 2016 at 1:23 pm
@peters, your comment is the worst of all commemts posted here. Change for better man i know you are below 40yrs. Swine.
one zambia
January 28, 2016 at 1:42 pm
what hidden objects is saying seems to make sense than the crap written here. The publisher seems to be siding with the ruling party. Moreover we all know the recent behaviour of our police force not service anymore. They should know that their tym is up. Some of you this country will be small for you when HH wins. MMD used to underrate Sata but when we Zambian voted for him, they saw the man being inaugurated. PF’s term is up. They have KILLED our economy.
ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION
January 28, 2016 at 2:35 pm
It makes me sad to read how we Zambians love to insult each other based on the tribe or religious affiliation.
ZAMBIANS WE CAN CHOOSE FRIENDS BUT WE CAN’T CHOOSE OUR NEIGHBOURS.
ITS SAD TO SEE THE PRESIDENT OF ZAMBIA AND BEHAVING LIKE HE IS ONLY PRESIDENT OF PF.
HIS SILENCE HAS BEEN DEAFENING ON THE VILOENCE PERPETRATED BY PF IN NDOLA AND SINDA UNTIL WHEN HE HEARS THAT POLICE PROVOKED THE CADRES WHO THEN RIOTED.
Chipumba Chankala Poipa
January 28, 2016 at 2:39 pm
Imwe bantu, if this violence is not checked Zambia will be another one of those countries where people will be seeking for political asylum in other countries. Careful with the way we take peace for granted. Make peace with one another and campaign in a manner consistent with good value.
Chipumba Chankala Poipa
January 28, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Meant good values.
tonga man!
January 28, 2016 at 4:54 pm
pf for ever!pf in bemba land ni 98%
sunta sunkutu
January 28, 2016 at 9:45 pm
Raise a upnd flag in northen, luapula, muchinga and eastern provinces, they’ll just look at u in amusement, think u are mad and leave u alone. Raise the upnd flag in in lusaka, copperbelt and most of central province, they just look at u pissed then give u the one figure salute “up yours”. But go to southern province with yo mmd, pf, or fdd flag. Soon as u leave for southern, will already start planning yo burial. The people who gave lungu a thunderous welcome in southern province are the good ordinary pipo, its cadres of upnd who believe they own southern, therefore no other party shud flash their symbol in their domain. Lets crush these blooody baboon cunts once and for all. Lets make sure after chagwa, our next president shud be lozi, given lubinda frm pf. Lets see how these cretins will react.
KAKOMA
January 29, 2016 at 1:39 pm
By mistake upnd wins 11 AUGUST 2016, God forbid, we non tongas wil b beheaded! for ethenic cleansing!