WE WERE NOT AWARE OF PF CADRES UNRULINESS AT COURT – POLICE COMMISSIONER…ask PF SG ‘why this behaviour from your cadres?’
Lusaka Province police commissioner Nelson Phiri says police were not aware that Dr Chitalu Chilufya was appearing in court today, neither were they aware of the presence and unruliness of PF cadres at the courts.
According to the Daily Revelation, Phiri was asked where police where to have allowed PF cadres to take over matters at the court, making it impossible for Dr Chilufya to take plea over the corruption allegations against him.
“There were cadres? Which case is this?” Phiri responded when asked about the cadres unruliness and why police allowed such a situation. “Courts run as courts and that case is not really in the hands of the police it’s with ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission). We didn’t have information that that case is coming today. Yes.”
Put across to him that his claim about police being unaware meant that the gathering was also not ‘permitted’ by the police, Phiri responded: “No, if it was sanctioned it means police should have been there.”
Asked what the police would do then since they did not sanction the gathering, Phiri told this journalist to launch a complaint as a member of the public.
He said questions on the cadres presence at the courts should in fact be channeled to PF secretary general Davies Mwila and not the police.
“Can you as a member of the public launch a complaint because we don’t know what happened there, police were not there. Now I don’t know, in fact these kind of questions you should have been putting them with the leadership. If they are PF cadres, the leadership of the party, the Secretary General,” Phiri said. “Listen! The party secretary general if you call him and ask but why this behaviour from your cadres? Yes. So if you can help the police because we were not there to see what happened.”
Phiri claimed that usually if there were cases of interest which police were handling, they usually took precautions in case people may want to disturb the situation, but police were not handling this particular case involving Dr Chilufya.
“We did not know that Dr Chilufya today is appearing in court,” Phiri said.
Asked on complaints from the public that the police were always known to exhibit their muscle if the gatherings involved opposition gatherings, while cowing against ruling party gatherings, Phiri said such insinuations were bad, highlighting the case involving Justice minister Given Lubinda, where the police had always ensured the atmosphere at courts was calm.
But as opposed to Dr Chilufya, Lubinda is actually the main complainant in that case against his own cadres, while in Dr. Chilufya’s case it is the people who are the complainants.
“And the people that are following hounourable Lubinda are not opposition, they are the same PF cadres . But we make sure that the situation was controlled,” said Phiri.