UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says the Zambia Police Service must come clean and tell Zambians who Kabaso ‘Spax’ Mulenga has killed.
The Choma Central UPND member of parliament also says it borders on national security that theft of thousands of Zambia Police paramilitary uniforms at the Service’s Quarter Master stores in Lusaka have been kept a secret.
Meanwhile, Mweetwa says schemes by the PF to arrest UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema are still actively underway.
Commenting on the murder-accused Spax, Mweetwa said the UPND was concerned with the way the government was handling current issues in the country, especially related to gassing.
“A few days ago, a well-known Chingola resident and businessman popularly known as Spax was arrested by Zambia Police and they indicated to us that he is being held for the offence of murder and to be found wearing certain uniforms that are military-oriented,” Mweetwa told journalists at his party’s secretariat in Lusaka yesterday.
“The question that begs an answer is who has this Spax killed for him to be charged with the offence of murder? At every stage when the police have arrested any person of political consequence or even any ordinary person who has committed the offence of murder in this country, they have told us who the victims or victim are.”
He asked the Zambia Police and the government “who has Spax killed?”
“We are raising these questions because we are concerned that as a result of this gassing, has government now started arresting people anyhow? Is it that people are being arrested for gassing but they are being given different charges or offences to cover up for the gassing?” Mweetwa wondered. “You can’t arrest someone, charge him with the offence of murder [but] you are not telling the nation that this person killed this or the other person. Government has to come out clean on this one. The rule of law does not allow arbitrary arrests!”
On Monday, police announced that Spax had been warned and cautioned for murder and also unauthorized use of military uniforms.
Mweetwa, a lawyer, noted that in the absence of the responsible institution telling citizens who Spax killed, “some people will begin to conclude that he’s just being arrested for nothing.”
“Let government come out clean! People are already beginning to speculate arising from the fact that this particular individual has been seen at various fora rubbing shoulders with President Lungu, with various ministers and with various PF high-ranking officials,” he said. “We do not need speculation and at the same time, we do not want to politicise this matter. That’s why we are saying can Zambia Police tell us who is the [murder] victim so that we remove the veil of speculation and politics on this matter. Issues of criminality should be left to the justice machinery to roll on and move so that justice can be delivered.”
Mweetwa also asked the government and the Zambia Police why they had been quiet on criminal activities taking place within the Zambia Police Service.
“We are informed that thousands of Zambia Police paramilitary uniforms, a few weeks ago, were stolen from their Quarter Master stores on Mungwi Road. Genuine police officers intervened to stop this theft of paramilitary uniforms that we are informed were bought some time at the close of last year from Israel,” Mweetwa revealed. “We are told quite a colossal number of paramilitary uniforms went missing at the Quarter Master and these people who were involved were caught in the middle of the night loading those uniforms in private vehicles. Why has Zambia Police decided to keep it a secret when they know that in this modern era of technology it’s difficult to keep secrets?”
He asked the government to redeem itself from the allegation that: “paramilitary uniforms are being looted and they are keeping it a secret.”
“These issues border on national security. We do not want this uniform to end up in the hands of cadres. Genuine police officers like myself who were trained don’t want to see people who have not been to training wear that uniform. That uniform is dignified…” Mweetwa said.
The lawmaker also indicated that despite reduced cases of gassing around the country, “we are calling on government to indicate to the nation when citizens can resume normal lives – when families can go to bed knowing that they will wake up tomorrow without being gassed.”
He charged that the UPND leadership was aware that those in the PF are not sleeping.
“They are continuing to craft schemes to have HH (Hakainde Hichilema) arrested. So, our membership should not go to sleep,” Mweetwa said.
“The schemes to implicate HH in some form of criminal activity to see him behind bars and ensure he is not on the ballot in 2021 are under active consideration by the PF right now. That’s the information we have.”
Meanwhile, Mweetwa complained that the government was failing to pay parliament workers, “those who are working in constituency offices right across the country – 156 constituencies.”
“Members of parliament have support staff who run those constituency offices. It is now three months and the government is failing to pay those workers of Parliament. Those workers have families; how would they send their children to school and how would they feed their families? PF has failed the people of Zambia,” lamented Mweetwa.