JACK Kalala says if UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema travels to Muchinga Province, as per ‘police’ call-out, he will be giving credence to the collusion of the Zambia Police and the PF.
He says the police are not above the Constitution [and] PF is not above the Constitution. Constitution
During the Levy Mwanawasa’s presidency, Kalala was the special assistant to the president for policy and projects implementation and monitoring.
Around 17:30 hours on Friday, two plain-clothed police agents arrived at the UPND secretariat in Rhodes Park in Lusaka, to deliver a call-out for Hichilema.
Hichilema is wanted by Muchinga Province Police Division in the provincial capital, Chinsali.
But Kalala who called The Mast on Saturday said: “I’m urging that HH should not travel to Mpika.”
“If they (police) want to interview him, let them do a virtual interview. He did nothing wrong! We saw pictures of PF cadres with stones and blocking the road and there was even a video to that matter,” Kalala said. “So, what I’m saying is that HH should not travel to Mpika, because he did not commit any offence. I’m urging the police to be professional in their work. They are not employed by [home affairs minister Stephen] Kampyongo or by [President Edgar] Lungu.”
He said police officers were employees of Zambians, “and not employees of PF.”
“So, they should be professional and impartial in their work. We saw a video when HH was going to Kasama; he was blocked in Mpika by PF cadres and police did nothing [to protect him],” Kalala noted.
He cautioned that if the police were not careful, “they are going to put this country on fire, if they continue to take orders from Kampyongo.”
“You see, the First World War was started by an isolated incident and it engulfed the whole world. This can happen to Zambia; just one small incident can put this country on fire,” Kalala explained.
“The police should stop harassing an innocent person. We have had PF cadres attacking the [Lusaka] Central Police [Station]. What have the police done to PF cadres? Nothing! How can such a thing happen in a country of laws? Yet an innocent person is always summoned by the police! Are these PF police or they are Zambia Police?”
He emphasised that Hichilema should not travel to Chinsali.
“He shouldn’t! Otherwise he will be giving credence to this collusion of the police and PF cadres. He was being blocked throughout his way and today he should be told to go to police! How? Summoning him to go to Mpika because Kampyongo has directed police to do that!” Kalala exclaimed. “HH is a Zambian citizen who has the right to move freely to go anywhere he wants to go. He is a political leader and he has a constitutional right to mobilise for his political party.”
He added that the PF, in collaboration with the police, had no right to stop Hichilema from exercising his right of movement.
“The police are not above the Constitution [and] PF is not above the Constitution. Not even Lungu and Kampyongo are above the Constitution. No one is above the Constitution,” Kalala said.
“HH is not a prisoner! He is a taxpayer…The salary that Kampyongo and Lungu get, HH is a contributor as a citizen. So, he is their employer and let this sink in their brain. They should not harass him.”
Meanwhile, Kalala has tipped UPND cadres ‘to block’ Hichilema from travelling to Muchinga Province.
“He is being summoned by PF! UPND cadres should block HH…They should not allow him to travel to Mpika. We don’t want him intimidated. We don’t want any politician to be intimidated in this country,” noted Kalala.