Kasebamashila Kaseba
WHY IS STATE HOUSE AND HH MUTE ON 13 ABDUCTIONS IN SEVEN MONTHS AND POLICE IG REFUSING TO REWARD RESCUERS AFTER FAILING TO PAY RANSOM AND THE MINISTER WHO WITHHELD ARRESTED ABDUCTORS’ NAMES BUT NUMBER BLAMED VICTIMS THAN VILLAINS PURPOSE OR FAMILIARITY?
— why is Police IG not naming abductors as UPND cadres or Police family as he named thieves of EL’s televisions as PF cadres? —-
Thursday, 17 March 2022 to Wednesday, 15 June 2022
91 days.
13 weeks.
2 months, 30 days.
4 females abductions.
1 abduction per 22 days or three weeks rate.
Monday, 1 August 2022 to Friday, 30 September 2022
61 days
8 weeks and 5 days.
2 months.
9 females abductions.
1 abduction per six days or one week rate.
State House silence coupled with the confusion of Minister Home Affairs and Internal Security and Police IG seems beyond incompetence to suspicions or conspiracy theories.
The UPND New Dawn Government internal confusion on the investigation and rescue of the abduction of 13 women in Chalala, Lusaka is like the PF government confusion when in 2017 police-guarded government markets, including one of two wings of Lusaka City Market, started to catch fire.
Firstlly, while abductors already identified themselves as abductors with a stated purpose of ransom of K15,000, through their initial and follow up contacts, the Police or the government, neither settled the ransom nor informed the public about its decision nor allowed the public or families to settle the ransom but instead assured the public of around the clock investigations of the abduction albeit at a slow process.
In an abduction is, on one hand, abductors demand ransom and conditions, while on the other hand, police issue wanted persons posters, reward or bounty for the public or community for cooperation with the police or successful arrest of the police wanted person.
As said, the abductors’ purpose was clearly ransom as stated without police wanted person notices or police reward or bounty while it is known commonsense to the police or its VSU or public that abductions, like GBV, rapes and defilements, among other crimes, are by villains who are familiar or related or have history with victims.
Apart from abductors and abductees familiarity or school relationships, the police and the minister omitted the information abductors’ house or family is a police family or familiar with the police or police operations or investigations.
Further, there was no surprise with the police omission of the above, the lack of purpose, lack of a dedicated police special unit, as the C5 anti robbery squad or the lack of leader of the operation or the lack of police wanted person notices or the lack of short code phone hotline or most of all, the lack of reward or bounty or recognition for the public or rescuers for successful rescue of abductees and arrest of the abductors.
Therefore, besides the internal confusion, of delayed reaction, withholding facts or names or failure to say anything new or important, the data analysis from the above is that abductors actually intensified abduction in the period of seven months when the police also intensified its investigations.
For example, the Minister’s statement showed, but didn’t say, that Pamela Chisumpa’s abduction, in April, was not the first but about the third or fourth abduction, in the first phase of four abductions followed by a break of one and half months.
In the second phase of August and September abductions doubled from four to nine.
In the end, the President or the Minister or the IG must review or investigate the police investigatiions or abduction operation that exposed government and police incompetence and failure of the Constitutional mandate (Article 193) of detection and prevention of crime as well as building public confidence or police public (society) relationship or familiarity. Most of all, Chalala abduction was a result of degeneration of the security situation over many years.