By Agness Changala
‘Save Zambia Mass Rally’ is unstoppable because we have already notified the police, says one of the organizing committee members Saboi Imboela.
And Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga questioned if they had complied with the formalities.
Over 13 opposition political parties have planned to hold a mass rally on the Copperbelt which will take place at Freedom Park in Kitwe on December 09, 2023 from 10:00 hours to 18 hours dubbed ‘Save Zambia rally.’
When contacted by Daily Revelation Newspaper to find out if the opposition political parties had notified the police of the intended rally, Imboela who is also NDC president said the organizers had already written to the police.
She said the team wrote a letter to the police last week and only needed to notify the police.
“And as you know the Constitution is very clear and we are also guided by the Christine Chilundika case. You are supposed to notify the police and not get permission. So what you are talking about in terms of formalities from the police asking if we have done that, the letter we wrote to the police already,” Imboela said.
Asked if there was a response from the police to their notice, Imboela said she needed to check with her colleagues in the committee.
She however said, “For me when it comes to rallies, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, we are supposed to notify the police, okay. A minimum of 7 days and we have done that. So that’s the only obligation that we have.”
She continued: “Ivo vokamba ati (those things to saying) permission no you are granted you can go ahead no yes is unconstitutional. Us we have done what is constitutionally required of us and we have notified the police.”
Asked what will happen if they encounter what has happened to other opposition rallies, where the police have stopped or offered alternative dates to hold rallies, Imboela said, “The police all the time say they don’t have manpower. You know, but they should know that amongst ourselves, as political parties, we do have man power to man the rally because we don’t even need their man power okay, they normally give this excuse to say they don’t have manpower and yet when you go ahead, by the time you reach the venue, they have more manpower than anything else,” Imboela said. “So they always have enough manpower. I know they may say we don’t have manpower but we do have manpower and we are going to go ahead with the rally and soon we are all travelling to the Copperbelt for the rally we are prepared for this.”
She said if the police turn up in big numbers to try and stop the rally, they will be turned into the audience to be talked to.
“If they are going to come in big numbers to stop the rally, we are going to talk to the police themselves. They will be our audience for the rally. The audience will be the general membership. If they come in big numbers, they will be our audience. We want our rally to be there” said Imboela.
And Hamoonga said he tried to call the officer he needed to talk to on this issue but he didn’t manage.
He however, said the police were yet to study the matter.
“I tried to call the officer but I was not able to talk to him. What I can tell you is that we are yet to study the matter,” he said.
Asked if the police had received the notice, Hamoonga said, “I am yet to confirm if we have received the notice and will be able to look at it on Monday. Today is a weekend. I don’t know if we have received it or not.”
He however, asked if they had complied with all formalities.
