. Kanganja

By CHILA NAMAIKO –
POLICE have invalidated a ploy by the United Party for National Development (UPND) and The Post newspaper to cause alarm by indicating that foreigners have been registered as voters in a bid by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to rig elections to benefit the Patriotic Front (PF).
Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja said at a media briefing yesterday that reports by the UPND and The Post that some Tanzanians and Malawians had registered as voters were false.
Mr Kanganja said following a report by UPND members Garry Nkombo, who is vying for the Mazabuka Central seat, and his Chongwe counterpart Sylvia Masebo, as well as The Post that more than 500,000 foreigners were allegedly registered as voters, police conducted investigations and established that the said foreigners were Zambians.
“The assertions by Mr Garry Nkombo, Ms Sylvia Masebo and The Post newspaper of foreign nationals having been registered by the ECZ as voters have been found to be false.
“We are warning people involving themselves in such illegal practices that they risk being arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law,” he said.
Mr Kanganja said all those that could have participated in the scheme would be prosecuted as their action had the potential to compromise the country’s security.
In May this year, Mr Nkombo and Ms Masebo reported that about 500,000 foreigners had registered as voters, and in July this year, The Post published 207 names of people purported to be Malawians and Tanzanians allegedly registered as voters by the ECZ in a bid to rig elections.
Police investigations revealed that the said foreigners were Zambians from Chief Chanje, Rukuzye Ward in Chipangali Constituency.
The names were allegedly collected by village head Katamanda, whose real names are Alaina Phiri, after being engaged by two teachers from Katete Primary School, Caroline Zulu Munyumbwe and Chona Malata.
The two teachers were introduced to the village head by Headman Mbobo, whose real names are Tumeyo Mbobo Phiri, a UPND chairperson for Rukuzye Ward in Chipangali Constituency after being promised to be paid K2,500 of which a down payment of K500 was made.
Village head Katamanda thereafter engaged two of her subjects, Mary Manda and Lena Nkhoma to execute this task.
After the investigations, the village heads were arrested and charged with electoral malpractices. They appeared in court on Friday, July 22, 2016.
A manhunt has also been launched for the two teachers who are currently on the run.
“I, therefore, wish to assure all Zambians of our commitment to peaceful, fair, credible and violence-free elections. Let the people of Zambia have trust and confidence in the police,” Mr Kanganja said.
He also said that police had instituted an inquiry into the alleged protests by police officers as reported in yesterday’s edition of The Post.
Mr Kanganja warned political parties against involving police officers in partisan politics.
However, UPND deputy spokesperson Edwin Lifwekelo said in an interview that people should not accuse the party of having supported the officers to protest and display posters of party leader Hakainde Hichilema.
“As UPND, we are busy with our campaigns and we can’t even waste our time to influence those officers to protest against Government. We have more serious things to do than to influence the police,” he said.
In respect of the shooting incident of July 8 this year in which a UPND youth Mapenzi Chibulu was allegedly shot dead by the police, Mr Kanganja said the death was regrettable and investigations were ongoing.