HAKAINDE Hichilema has described the killing of a UPND supporter and a State prosecutor allegedly by police officers as executions.
The UPND leader says people do not need bullets in their heads but food.
Zambia Police, with pungent weaponry, shot dead a State prosecutor, Nsama Nsama Chipyoka, and a UPND supporter of Kanyama in Lusaka, Joseph Kaunda.
Reason? UPND leader Hichilema was being questioned at police headquarters.
Police officers killed the duo just outside the National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) offices and there was a ‘holiday’ in the nearby government offices, including at the Old Cabinet wing where home affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo’s office is.
The body of Joseph was perfunctorily put in a Kabwata police van and driven away, probably to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) mortuary.
A short while later, a group of journalists and some UPND officials went to where Nsama’s body lay.
Police forensics went to where Nsama’s body was and combed the scene.
According to an eyewitness who sought anonymity, Nsama, who was in the company of a friend, met his fate at Cabinet Restaurant, situated near the corridors of the NPA offices.
The source said Nsama was sitting at the restaurant with his friend, waiting to be served food.
“(Nsama) was seated at the restaurant with a friend. It seems police who were all over the area perceived them to be UPND cadres. So, one of them just fired at the man and he fell in a pool of blood. It shocked all of us who were there and we could not believe what had happened,” said the witness.
“The man (Nsama) was just sitting with his friend, suddenly we saw him drop dead and blood coming out. That’s how some of the people ran away, some were wailing.”
Mobile footage, which went viral soon after the shooting incident, shows colleagues weeping hysterically and calling Nsama by name as they touch his motionless body on the ground. In the footage, Nsama appears to have sustained an upper chest wound.
Before media attention shifted to the deaths, police officers, armed to teeth, threw tear gas canisters and journalists and a group of UPND supporters at the High Court roundabout were chocked.
In the meantime, a Zambia Air Force (ZAF) aircraft frequently flew past the police headquarters.
The same plane, at some point, was hovering atop Hichilema’s residence in New Kasama.
Hichilema arrived at police headquarters at 10:45 hours and only left the place at about 14:55 hours.
Traffic around Ridgeway was steadily building up by nine hours and the presence of heavily armed riot police was visible on every juncture in the area.
Tokyo Way, the road that leads to Hichilema’s residence, had an adequate number of officers lined up to beef up security.
Police had summoned Hichilema for interviews over a farm in Kalomo and was interviewed for over five hours.
Police warned and cautioned Hichilema for the offence of conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code, Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
“It is alleged that Mr Hichilema, who introduced himself as a community worker based in Lusaka whilst acting together with other unknown persons, fraudulently purchased a property, Sub-division “A” of farm number 1924 in Kalomo district belonging to the late Samson Siatembo, purporting that at the time of purchase, the Administrator of the property in question consented to the sale by appending her signature when in fact not. This is alleged to have occurred at unknown date in 2004,” said police spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo after the interview.
This is the same case that Hichilema is appearing in the High Court for.
After he was let to go, the opposition leader was driven to the party secretariat where he addressed his supporters, thanking them for their solidarity and taking a risk that should never have been there.
He said the police sent a call out like they have done many times.
He said officers inside police headquarters who interrogated him were very professional.
“Conducted the interview in a professional manner. We gave them answers that we believe they were looking for. It’s left up to them to remain professional to assess our answers against the false allegations, the persecution as reported by those who have been and continue to look for trouble instead of looking for good in this country,” he said.
He encouraged officers at force headquarters to continue doing their work professionally.
Hichilema said he was concerned about the conduct of police officers outside that police headquarters.
He said all the way from residence, police were waging war against citizens.
“They were using guns, heavy machinery against citizens. That’s not what a country that is led properly does against citizens. Amidst hunger, the police outside, clearly, were acting under instruction from someone to injure people and as a result a lot of people are injured and to kill people…” he said. “As a result a number of people have been killed and if you check the manner they have been killed, all of them shot in the head by snipers, by specialist people. You don’t lead a country like that.”
Hichilema said people do not need bullets in their heads but food as families were going to bed without food.
He promised to deliver food to the people not bullets, guns and heavy machinery.
Hichilema wished well the people injured by their own government using guns that were supposed to protect them.
“Worse still, a number of people have been killed, we don’t know how many because of the manner these executions, I call them executions were conducted. We are aware that among the dead is our member, supporter, Joseph Kaunda who was shot in the head, intentionally, he was shot to be killed…. Another individual we are aware has been killed is a government worker, a prosecutor Nsama Nsama, who has left young children, killed by his own government, a government that he works for,” Hichilema said.
He offered condolences to the families of Kaunda and Nsama.
“Your death will not be in vain. There will be change of government come August 2021. It has to be so. We can save many citizens from being killed. We have lost too many already,” he said.
“Today was not a day to kill citizens. You call me to the police station, I oblige like I always do, why kill citizens? That’s failure of leadership. Let’s nurse the injured, let’s bury the dead with full knowledge that if fonse fikapwa (all this will come to an end) very soon.”
Hichilema said time for citizens to unite had come. “This battle is not UPND versus PF, the battle is for the good people of Zambia against the bad people who are in PF…the killers,” he said.
Hichilema promised to provide quality leadership and to restore rule of law and “not that nonsense we saw today”.
Party national chairman Mutale Nalumango said there was no need to shed blood of innocent people just for the fear of Hichilema.
She accused President Lungu of shedding blood just for fearing Hichilema from being on the ballot paper.
He declared that Hichilema would be on the ballot and he would win.
“Tampeni ukulonga (start packing), this is not governance, this is total failure,” Nalumango said.
She also urged the police not to be used.
She said it was such behaviour that late Michael Sata used to say they were used like dogs.
She reminded the police that they went to school and were trained on how to police crowds.
Nalumango said her party was mourning with the families that had lost loved ones.
“The instigator of what is going on, the instigator of calling our President, you have blood on your hands. Is it [Chilufya] Tayali, is it [Edith] Nawakwi, there is blood on your hand,” said Nalumango.