•CHONGWE Member of Parliament Sylvia Masebo gestures to police officers at Woodlands Police Station in Lusaka yesterday. Picture by CHUSA SICHONE

By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –

POLICE in Lusaka have arrested and charged Chongwe PF Member of Parliament (MP) Sylvia Masebo with unlawful procession.
However, in the middle of the police formalities, Ms Masebo stormed out of the investigations room at Woodlands Police Station but the police thwarted her plans to abandon the investigations as she was re-arrested and bundled in a police vehicle.
Ms Masebo claimed, when she stormed out of the police station in the presence of her lawyers Robert Simeza and United Party for National Development (UPND) lawyer Jack Mwiimbu that she was going home to collect her drugs.
While crying as she walked towards Saint Mary’s Secondary School to her house in Ibex Hill, she dared the police to shoot her.
Lusaka Province Police Commissioner Charity Katanga said no one was working under instructions to have Ms Masebo arrested but her own conduct caused her arrest.
Ms Katanga, who said Ms Masebo’s standing in society did not make her special, told journalists in an interview that she (Ms Masebo) would be slapped with a second offence of escaping from  lawful custody.
After her court session at Lusaka magistrates’ court yesterday, Ms Masebo took to the street with a group of cadres whom she invited to ‘walk’ her from the court to her house in Ibex Hill claiming she had run out of fuel.
She connected with the cadres who were carrying various placards denouncing the Government through Nationalist Road before joining Independence Avenue towards State House.
The would-be long walk was, however, cut short when Ms Masebo, the former Tourism and Arts minister together with her horde of cadres, were intercepted by a group of police officers led by Ms Katanga at Chinese Chang Shun Restaurant.
The more than 50 cadres scampered in all directions at the first firing of a tear gas canister by the police who intercepted them from the opposite direction.
Police managed to apprehend Ms Masebo and two cadres who had stood by her side despite orders by the police to disperse.
Ms Katanga confronted Ms Masebo who demanded to know what she was doing but she responded, “I am walking home? because I have run out of fuel.”
Ms Katanga directed her to the police motor vehicle that had parked on the walkway.
Upon entering the vehicle, Ms Masebo pointed fingers at Ms Katanga saying, “I have just been hearing, so it’s true you behave like the Inspector General of Police, you will see.”
But Ms Katanga told her, “Let us just go, we will talk where we are going,” before they drove to Woodlands Police Station.
Meanwhile, four other UPND cadres were jointly charged with Ms Masebo for unlawful procession while 20 others are yet to be charged. The Chongwe lawmaker faced another charge of escaping from lawful custody.
Earlier, the Lusaka magistrates’ court yesterday declined to adjourn to September 24, 2015 a matter where Ms Masebo is charged with two counts of abuse of authority of office.
Magistrate Irene Wishimanga instead ordered that trial continues today. This is in a matter involving the cancelation of the procurement tender process of the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and alleged termination of contracts of some ZAWA senior officers without following disciplinary procedure.