FRED M’MEMBE ARRESTED AND CHARGED
Police in Lusaka have formally arrested and charged Dr. Fred M’membe aged 64 of Plot 7345 Nangwenya road for the offence of Libel Contrary to Section 191 of the Penal Code Act Chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.
Brief facts of the matter are that the accused on June 6,2023 with intent to defame, did publish an article and circulated it on social media to say that fired cop dies of depression and further did allege that the deceased Mr, Moses Kabamba a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police who was a Divisional Criminal Investigations officer for North-Western Division, had risen Blood pressure and died after he heard that the Deputy Inspector General of Police for Operations, Mr, Milner Muyambango had refused to obey instructions given by the Solicitor General Marshal Muchende, to introduce back on the payroll, retired police officers as a way to have their matter settled out of court.
The suspect has been detained in custody and will appear in court soon.
Police have further administered a warn and caution statement to Dr. Fred M’membe on an alleged offence of Communication of certain Information contrary to Section 4 Subsection 3 of the State Security Act Chapter 111 of the laws of Zambia.
Brief facts of the matter are that Dr Fred M’membe with other unknown persons did receive classified information that the Chairpersonship of the Central Joint Operations Committee has been changed, which information he posted on July 21, 2023 on the Facebook page called Fred M’membe an act that contravenes the State Security Act Chapter 111 of the laws of Zambia.
Rae Hamoonga
POLICE SPOKESPERSON
On 6 July 2023 Fred M’membe posted the following:
FIRED COP DIES OF DEPRESSION
Mr. Moses Kabamba, an Assistant Commissioner of Police and former DCIO for North-Western Division who was fired by Mr Hakainde Hichilema, died of depression in Lusaka on Sunday.
The late officer’s BP rose after he heard that on Friday last week Mr Milner Muyambango DIG OPs had refused to obey the instructions given in writing by Solicitor General Marshal Muchende to introduce back on the payroll the affected officers as a way to have the matter settled out of court.
Injustice and lack of compassion kills and it has killed Mr Kabamba.
May his soul rest in eternal!
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party
On 21 July 2023 Fred M’membe posted the following:
CONFUSION REIGNS AT THE DEFENCE FORCES
Secretary to the Cabinet Mr Patrick Kangwa has appointed Mr Friday Nyambe, the Director General Office of the President Special Division, as chairman of the Central Joint Operations Committee (CJOC) with immediate effect.
The Duties of the President and Commander-in-Chief are never shared or delegated, not even to the Vice-President. It is only the President who has authority over matters of deployment of the Defence Forces and their officers. CJOC was a creation of the Zambia Army and Zambia Police. Never in the history of Zambia, or any other defence force in world, has this happened.
The CJOC in Zambia consists of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, the Secretary, and members from other government agencies with work related to fields of border protection and inland security.
The collective body of the CJOC is headed by the Chairman (or Vice-Chairman in the Chairman’s absence), who sets the agenda and presides over meetings. Responsibilities for members of the CJOC are to take precedence over tasks of national security as a team. The Chairman of the CJOC is the Army Commander, the principal military adviser to the President, Ministry of Defence, and the Defence Council. However, all CJOC members are by law military advisers, and they may respond to a request or voluntarily submit, through the Chairman, advice or opinions to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.
The executive authority of the CJOC in Zambia has never changed. It is as designed the world over. In World War II, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff acted as executive agents dealing with area commanders, but the original National Security Act of 1947 saw the Joint Chiefs of Staff as planners and advisers, not as commanders of combatant commands. In spite of this, the 1948 Key West Agreement allowed members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve as executive agents for unified commands, a responsibility that allowed the executive agent to originate direct communication with the combatant command. Congress abolished this authority in a 1953 amendment to the National Security Act.
Today, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have no executive authority to command combatant forces. The issue of executive authority was clearly resolved by the Goldwater-Nichols DOD Reorganisation Act of 1986: “The Secretaries of the Military Departments shall assign all forces under their jurisdiction to unified and specified combatant commands to perform missions assigned to those commands.” The chain of command runs through the President to the commander of the combatant command.
In Zambia, the security system has a solid foundation dating as far back as the first and second Republics. Dr Kenneth Kaunda laid a very strong foundation, which has proved extremely effective in the absence of a unified command.
It is important to mention here, or educate Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his team, that powers vested in the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces and are for the President only.
Mr Hakainde Hichilema should learn to consult from the elders before attempting to change traditions that have kept the Zambian nation together. National security instruments of power are never shared anywhere in the world. The Minister of Defence, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and Secretary to the Cabinet, have no power to issue orders or instructions to the Defence Forces. When this happens, it marks the beginning of a downfall and break down of systems.
Disorganising the Zambia Defence Forces is a very serious weakness on the part of the Presidency. We advise Mr Hichilema to put his house in order and not to allow any person to abuse or take over his responsibility as Commander-in- Chief.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party
