The drunken police officer who freed 13 suspects to celebrate New Year: another perspective
By Sishuwa Sishuwa
Much has been said, in both local and international media, about the case of a drunken police officer who freed 13 suspects from custody so that they could go and celebrate the new year. Detective inspector Titus Phiri released the suspects from a police station who were accused of crimes such as assault, robbery and burglary. They are all currently on the run and a manhunt has been launched to find them.
The fundamental issue here is not about the actions of an allegedly drunk police officer who freed 13 suspects from custody on New Year’s Eve. It is about the continued violations of the rights of suspects by the State.
Under Zambian law, the police are required to charge suspects with a known offence and either release them on bond or present them before court within 48 hours. In practice, the police have kept suspects in detention, often without charge, for several weeks and sometimes months. This is not only unlawful but also a violation of human rights.
The more than dozen individuals whom the officer helped to escape were not prisoners but suspects arrested for different offences that are bailable. Why were the suspects still in the police holding cell long after their arrest? Why were they not charged and either released on bond or taken to court where they could take plea and apply for bail? This incident is not isolated. It is part of a wider disrespect for the law by the police, one that has seen individuals being arrested and either kept in detention without being taken to court or taken to court where the state imposes punitive bail conditions.
Take the example of Francis Kapwepwe, popularly known as Why Me. A 29-year old blogger, Kapwepwe was arrested in April 2024 on the Copperbelt and transferred to Livingstone, Southern Province, about 800 kilometres away, where he has neither relatives nor friends. Police stated that although Kapwepwe lives in Kitwe, the person who filed the complaint against him was based in Mazabuka, Southern Province. He was kept in detention without charge for four months and, following public uproar, was finally taken to court in August 2024.
Kapwepwe, an ethnic Bemba, was ultimately charged with hate speech against the Tonga-speaking people of Southern Province. The charge arose from comments he made in a Facebook video that President Hakainde Hichilema, Zambia’s first Tonga-speaking president, had performed so poorly and divided the country to such an extent that voters are unlikely to vote for another Tonga in future. These remarks were interpreted by the complainant, a Tonga speaker, as hate speech, an offence legally defined as the act of expressing or showing hatred, ridicule or contempt for persons because of race, tribe, place of origin or colour. Conviction for hate speech carries a two-year prison sentence.
After he pleaded not guilty to the charge, the presiding magistrate imposed a cash bail of K10,000 and two working sureties as conditions for his release from custody. The blogger has been unable to meet these bail conditions. In effect, Kapwepwe has been in prison since April last year, serving a sentence before trial commences and before he is convicted by any court of law. His case is a perfect illustration of the plight of the poor when it comes to accessing justice in Zambia.
Although their freedom came from an unlikely saviour, the 13 suspects who were freed by a drunken police officer represent hundreds of ordinary Zambians who continue to languish in detention for petty crimes that attract police bond or are bailable. In Zambia, poor people in state custody and even in prisons are treated poorly and ignored by many. The drunk cop has merely opened a small window into these abuses which have been going on for a long time.
The escape episode in question was not prompted by the need to address violations of human rights, but by a lapse of judgment indiced by alcohol. There are avenues available to address violations of human rights. Drunkeness CERTAINLY not one of those avenues.
The quality of schooling dokota Shuwa Shuwa is exhibiting does not tally with the line of argument presented.
Yes, there are long standing systemic challenges within our establishments. For instance, we do not have sufficient numbers of magistrates to deal with cases expeditiously.
Drunkeness is definately not the cure for these challenges. Unless you are the all knowing, highly schooled, but poorly educated dokota Shuwa Shuwa.
Dokota Shuwa Shuwa, show us you are worth the title you carry by providing solutions to challenges your country people are facing instead of justifying inexcusable drunkeness that has led to reduced security within the communities these suspects are hiding. You are blinded by bitterness and malice and conveniently leave out of your twisted narrative the position of the 2 suspects who decided not to run away after the drunken police officer opened the way for everyone to escape. Your misplaced sense of entitlement is not helping you. No one owes you anything. The day you will help a fellow Zambian without expecting anything in return is the day people will listen to your opinion. As for now, you are just another noise maker encouraging lawlessness and justifying drunkeness.
I have always said we have people with PhDs that dont demonstrate or have the ability to think objectively and critically. I honestly urge those that awarded Sishuwa his PhD to think again. A basic empty can just making noise.
Sishuwa you continue to amaze me at how shallow naive and out of touch with reality with things going on in Zambia.
First, the said persons released. Do you know when each of them was arrested? You suggest human rights violation, do you know what they were arrested for?
You live in South Africa where crime is so rife and the cops are so corrupt, one would ask if people even enjoy their lives. In the high density areas where like South Africa crime is high, we have murderous characters called “junkies”, that have been causing mayhem for the residents. How do expect to people get home from work if they are going to be attacked robbed and stabbed by such characters? That is how naive your statement is. These are innocent sould erking a living in Lusaka. And its possible that such characters have been released and are now on a killing spree that may go unreported cause I doubt if Journalists even venture in areas like Kanyama to get a factual sense of their plight of the residents, now the rains have started. To me Shisuwa you are waisting that PhD as you should be writing research papers and or collaborating with other fine minds to research on issues of our past. Yet you venture into issues that you are thousands of miles away and write on topics that you have no factual knowledge but supplied by prejudiced individuals who may have promised you a political position when they “hope to get into office”. Your poor outlook is but selfserving and has no iota on stewardship for the very poor Zambians you want to claim you speak for. Stop thinking you are Zambias saivour, you are far from it
Sishuwa you continue to amaze me at how shallow naive and out of touch with reality with things going on in Zambia.
First, the said persons released. Do you know when each of them was arrested? You suggest human rights violation, do you know what they were arrested for?
You live in South Africa where crime is so rife and the cops are so corrupt, one would ask if people even enjoy their lives. In the high density areas where like South Africa crime is high, we have murderous characters called “junkies”, that have been causing mayhem for the residents. How do expect to people get home from work if they are going to be attacked robbed and stabbed by such characters? That is how naive your statement is. These are innocent sould erking a living in Lusaka. And its possible that such characters have been released and are now on a killing spree that may go unreported cause I doubt if Journalists even venture in areas like Kanyama to get a factual sense of their plight of the residents, now the rains have started. To me Shisuwa you are waisting that PhD as you should be writing research papers and or collaborating with other fine minds to research on issues of our past. Yet you venture into issues that you are thousands of miles away and write on topics that you have no factual knowledge but supplied by prejudiced individuals who may have promised you a political position when they “hope to get into office”. Your poor outlook is but selfserving and has no iota on stewardship for the very poor Zambians you want to claim you speak for. Stop thinking you are Zambias saivour, you are far from it.