Angry Chingola residents on Saturday afternoon burnt property, among them a presidential holding tent, floor carpet, carpet runners, a presidential portrait, and a police vehicle, when President Hakainde Hichilema visited the district.
President Hichilema had to abruptly cut short his speech in order to find safety at his nearby chair, as stones rained from the angry mob towards the mounted stage he was addressing the rally from.
As the situation worsened, the presidential security detail quickly surrounded the seated Hichilema, who was quickly whisked away to safety from the incoming stones.
According to a police statement that was issued later in the office, the situation arose after police tried to stop a mob that was starting to break into the nearby shops.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga stated that when police officers moved in to contain the situation, the crowd became violent and started charging towards the venue where the President was speaking.
He stated that for security reasons, the President was safely whisked away and escorted to the landing pad at Chikola Secondary School grounds.
“However, the violent mob followed the Presidential motorcade, throwing stones at vehicles. In the process, the police Toyota Land Cruiser was attacked, its windscreen completely shattered before being overturned and set ablaze,” he said.
Hamoonga said Superintendent Lloyd Kanondo, 48, a police officer based at Copperbelt Division Headquarters, who was driving the vehicle, discharged ten rounds of pistol ammunition into the air in an effort to disperse the mob, but to no avail.
He stated that the mob burnt the Presidential Holding Tent belonging to Events Matters Company of Lusaka, including one floor carpet, two carpet runners, one presidential portrait, and one coffee table for Lusaka Provincial Maintenance.
“They also burnt a portable toilet belonging to Chrisai Company of Lusaka and shattered window screens of an Isuzu motor vehicle, registration number CAE 5930, belonging to Mr Chisha Musonda, who had transported the portable toilet,” Mr Hamoonga said.
He said police have since apprehended two suspects identified as Abraham Chilumbu, 24, and Abraham Sichone, 21, a bar attendant.
No matter what grievances citizens may have against the President or any government official for that matter, stoning them should not be among the options. Violence always has the effect of worsening things instead of improving any given situation.
Those who stoned the President and the ones supporting them should both be condemned in the strongest terms, as apart from being a human being, President Hakainde Hichilema is holding a key national institution, the Presidency, which must be accorded all the respect that the office demands. The only solace is that the Head of State was not harmed from the ensuing violence.
Be that as it may, however, there are very important lessons which the President must get from the incident which happened. If adequate intelligence reports had been gotten before he travelled to Chingola, he probably could have avoided going there at all.
It’s also possible that he and the UPND officials could have dismissed information that was not pleasing to their ears and thought they still enjoyed the people’s good graces and would in the same politics as usual fashion politically speak their way out over the hard felt grievances held by the residents over Senseli mine and the burning of the market in Chiwempala.
It’s also probable that Hichilema has been listening too much from himself his own officials, who may not tell him the truth about the actual feelings or situation on the ground, which mostly could be parallel from their own reality. We urge him from now onwards to focus more on paying attention to the real situation that is happening on the ground as opposed to listening too much to himself and the people around him.
Those telling him that everything is rosy and that he will just sail through easily during the 2026 as there is supposedly no opposition in the country, are not doing jim justice. Those who are telling him that he will win but his members of parliament will lose are speaking with tongues in cheek. In short they are telling him that he’s in trouble but do not have the courage to tell it to his face. Clearly, things are not well in the country and there are grievances galore. From the high fuel prices, the high cost of living and failure to get a fair share from the mines, to the acute and crippling blackouts the country is going through, the anger in Zambians is palpable. And the earlier the President and his administration will get moving on these matters with practical solutions the better for them.
If he continues living in his own world where people are telling him that he will win, he will soon find himself in mwamoneni. Because the real opposition in any election is the people themselves. They may just pick at anything that comes along in order to punish him.
Angry Chingola residents on Saturday afternoon burnt property, among them a presidential holding tent, floor carpet, carpet runners, a presidential portrait, and a police vehicle, when President Hakainde Hichilema visited the district.
President Hichilema had to abruptly cut short his speech in order to find safety at his nearby chair, as stones rained from the angry mob towards the mounted stage he was addressing the rally from.
As the situation worsened, the presidential security detail quickly surrounded the seated Hichilema, who was quickly whisked away to safety from the incoming stones.
According to a police statement that was issued later in the office, the situation arose after police tried to stop a mob that was starting to break into the nearby shops.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga stated that when police officers moved in to contain the situation, the crowd became violent and started charging towards the venue where the President was speaking.
He stated that for security reasons, the President was safely whisked away and escorted to the landing pad at Chikola Secondary School grounds.
“However, the violent mob followed the Presidential motorcade, throwing stones at vehicles. In the process, the police Toyota Land Cruiser was attacked, its windscreen completely shattered before being overturned and set ablaze,” he said.
Hamoonga said Superintendent Lloyd Kanondo, 48, a police officer based at Copperbelt Division Headquarters, who was driving the vehicle, discharged ten rounds of pistol ammunition into the air in an effort to disperse the mob, but to no avail.
He stated that the mob burnt the Presidential Holding Tent belonging to Events Matters Company of Lusaka, including one floor carpet, two carpet runners, one presidential portrait, and one coffee table for Lusaka Provincial Maintenance.
“They also burnt a portable toilet belonging to Chrisai Company of Lusaka and shattered window screens of an Isuzu motor vehicle, registration number CAE 5930, belonging to Mr Chisha Musonda, who had transported the portable toilet,” Mr Hamoonga said.
He said police have since apprehended two suspects identified as Abraham Chilumbu, 24, and Abraham Sichone, 21, a bar attendant.
No matter what grievances citizens may have against the President or any government official for that matter, stoning them should not be among the options. Violence always has the effect of worsening things instead of improving any given situation.
Those who stoned the President and the ones supporting them should both be condemned in the strongest terms, as apart from being a human being, President Hakainde Hichilema is holding a key national institution, the Presidency, which must be accorded all the respect that the office demands. The only solace is that the Head of State was not harmed from the ensuing violence.
Be that as it may, however, there are very important lessons which the President must get from the incident which happened. If adequate intelligence reports had been gotten before he travelled to Chingola, he probably could have avoided going there at all.
It’s also possible that he and the UPND officials could have dismissed information that was not pleasing to their ears and thought they still enjoyed the people’s good graces and would in the same politics as usual fashion politically speak their way out over the hard felt grievances held by the residents over Senseli mine and the burning of the market in Chiwempala.
It’s also probable that Hichilema has been listening too much from himself his own officials, who may not tell him the truth about the actual feelings or situation on the ground, which mostly could be parallel from their own reality. We urge him from now onwards to focus more on paying attention to the real situation that is happening on the ground as opposed to listening too much to himself and the people around him.
Those telling him that everything is rosy and that he will just sail through easily during the 2026 as there is supposedly no opposition in the country, are not doing jim justice. Those who are telling him that he will win but his members of parliament will lose are speaking with tongues in cheek. In short they are telling him that he’s in trouble but do not have the courage to tell it to his face. Clearly, things are not well in the country and there are grievances galore. From the high fuel prices, the high cost of living and failure to get a fair share from the mines, to the acute and crippling blackouts the country is going through, the anger in Zambians is palpable. And the earlier the President and his administration will get moving on these matters with practical solutions the better for them.
If he continues living in his own world where people are telling him that he will win, he will soon find himself in mwamoneni. Because the real opposition in any election is the people themselves. They may just pick at anything that comes along in order to punish him.
Related
You can share this post!
Court orders ZAMMSA, ex-MD to mediate after he sued for unlawful dismissal
REMOVE HH WITH VOTES NOT STONES – DAVIES … the stoning of Hichilema in Chingola must be condemned by all Zambians
Related Articles
Indiscriminate Police checkpoints
Jito’s observation on chaos in Middle East threatening…
Electoral Promises