RESPECT OUR SPECIAL FORCES – KATELE

RESPECT OUR SPECIAL FORCES – KATELE

FORMER Minister of Home Affairs Dr Katele Kalumba has poured scorn on Zambia Army Commander Lieutenant General Geoffrey Zyeele for publicly announcing the deployment of special forces (commandos) to areas where people are illegally mining gold.

And Patriotic Front (PF) presidential aspirant Makebi Zulu has strongly condemned recent remarks made by Lt Gen Zyeele regarding illegal miners.

Dr Kalumba said in an interview at the weekend it was wrong for the Army Commander to announce the deployment of elite soldiers because it was supposed to be a covert operation that should have remained a top secret.

“For me, as a former member of the Defence Council, I feel it is wrong for the Army Commander to announce the deployment of special forces. This is top secret. It is a covert operation,” he said.

Dr Kalumba said Zambia’s military doctrine was not a single published public document, such as those of major powers, but derived from its Constitution, legislation and defence policy statements.

The army was not supposed to be unleashed on civilians unless there were special circumstances that threatened state security.

He said it was the job of the police to stop illegal mining and not the army. What Lt Gen Zyeele was doing could cause chaos in the country.

“The primary role of the Zambia Defence Forces is to protect and defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Zambia against external aggression, as this is the standard principle for nations,” Dr Kalumba said.

The military had no direct standing mandate to police such activities as internal economic crimes like illegal mining, timber lumbering and many others.

Dr Kalumba said, however, said there were exceptional circumstances where the military might become involved if such activities degenerated into a national security concern.

He cited Article 116, where the President could invoke the same law to deploy the military in cooperation with the police service to preserve public security and enforce the law in situations where the police capacity was overwhelmed.

The Defence Forces were not a police force to administer economic crimes.

“Its involvement is exceptional, conducted jointly with and in support of the police and typically requires high-level authorisation,” Dr Kalumba said.

He said the Property Protection Police, a specialised unit within the Zambia Police Service, whose role was defined and distinct from both regular police duties and military functions, should have been engaged instead of the army.

Dr Kalumba said Zambia’s military doctrine was conventional with a primary external defence force and lacked the mandate for policing internal economic crimes.

“Military involvement in economic crimes only occurs under exceptional, legally defined circumstances through joint operations where the Zambia National Service (ZNS) is often the lead military component acting in support of the police to address large-scale organised crimes,” he said.

And PF presidential aspirant Makebi Zulu has condemned Lt Gen Zyeele over his statement on illegal miners.

Zulu, a renowned constitutional lawyer, described Lt Gen Zyeele’s statement as unfortunate, irresponsible and disturbing which lacked professional military judgment.

He said threats or any use of terms such as “exterminate” and “fumigate” in reference to citizens was dehumanising and dangerous.

“Such rhetoric evokes memories of atrocities like the holocaust in Germany and the genocide in Rwanda. Zambia, as a nation that upholds human rights and the rule of law, must never normalise such expressions,” he said.

The Mast