By SYLVIA MWEETWA and MILDRED KATONGO –
QUICK action by police officers in Kitwe has prevented the smuggling of more than 500 bags of mealie-meal hidden near Chingola cemetery.
Police have since apprehended one person to assist with investigations.
Kitwe District Commissioner Chanda Kabwe said in an interview that the mealie-meal en route to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was discovered on Saturday.
Mr Kabwe commended members of the public for alerting the police about the merchandise which was hidden in a bush.
“We have declared war against mealie-meal smuggling in Kitwe. The police and the public are on higher alert and those found wanting should be ready to face the law,” he said.
Mr Kabwe also refuted media reports that there was a mealie-meal shortage in Kitwe.
He implored the media to verify their reports.
This was after he conducted an on-the-spot check in various outlets and discovered that the commodity was available.
“I am wondering how the district would have a shortage because on Friday I toured Chimsoro, Olympic and H and M Milling where I found that there was a lot of mealie-meal and there were no queues,” Mr Kabwe said.
Meanwhile, police in Kitwe have retrieved a body of a one-year-six-month-old baby who was dumped in a well in Kawama Township.
Copperbelt police commissioner Charity Katanga said the body was retrieved at the weekend and investigations had been launched.
In Ndola, a 12-year-old boy of Chifubu Township has committed suicide after being accused of stealing K50 by his parents.
Ms Katanga identified the deceased as Patrick Kapotwe, a grade eight pupil at Chifubu Secondary School.
Ms Katanga said the deceased of house number 1258, Bonaventure Teachers’ Compound, went missing after his parents accused him of stealing K50 and was found dead under a mango tree with a rope tied to his neck at his grandfather’s home in Chifubu.
She said the incident happened yesterday around 05:00 hours.
“We have a report of a sudden and natural death in which a boy was found dead under a tree with a rope tied to his neck.
“It is alleged that the boy was accused of stealing money from his parents and that he left home and did not spend a night, but was later found dead at his grandfather’s house in Chifubu,” she said.
Ms Katanga said the body of the deceased was in Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital mortuary awaiting a post-mortem.
Investigations have been instituted.