By Isaac Zulu
UPND Lusaka provincial vice-publicity secretary Costain Chilikwazi says Home Affairs minister Jack Mwiimbu must take keen interest in the manner police officers are operating, saying they are violating human rights by holding suspects in police cells for longer periods.
Chilikwazi also urged Lands minister Elijah Muchima to stop the rampant corruption at the Ministry of Lands, which he said has been making it difficult for people to acquire title deeds.
In a statement to Daily Revelation, Chilikwazi charged that some police officers are still violating the rights of citizens.
He said the Zambia Police needs continuous reforms so that officers start to adhere to international human rights standards.
Chilikwazi pointed out that cases of unlawful detention are the order of the day in most police stations.
“If you go to Woodlands Police Station or Kanyama Police Station, you will find that suspects arrested for assault cases have been in detention for more than two weeks or a month without appearing in court, which is a violation of human rights,” Chilikwazi stated. “What we know is that any person suspected to have committed a crime is supposed to appear before court within 48 hours, failure to which such a person should be granted police bond. And President Hakainde Hichilema has been categorical on this issue. The President wants to see that the rule of law is restored and that there should be respect for human rights.”
Chilikwazi further stated that: “I am calling upon the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Honourable Jack Mwimbu and the Zambia Police Command to take keen interest in the way police officers discharge their duties so that we don’t go back to the Patriot Front days where police brutality was the order of the day. In the same vein, I would like to urge Minister of Lands, Honourable Elijah Muchima to take keen interest in the cases of illegal allocation of land.”
Chilikwazi charged that there is still rampant corruption at the Ministry of Lands Headquarters.
He stated that some officers at the Ministry of Lands are engaging in in corrupt activities, which he said has led to illegal allocation and sale of land in undesignated places.
He said the tendency by some officers working at the Ministry of Lands who are colluding with officers at the local authority in illegal allocation of land is defeating the UPND government’s resolve to fight corruption.
“There are a lot of illegalities taking place at the Ministry of Lands Headquarters. Some officers still have inherited the tendency of engaging in illegal allocation of land, even in undesignated places. There’s still rampant corruption at the Ministry of Lands, which has also been making it difficult for people to acquire title deeds. It is disheartening to learn that some people have been pushing the acquisition of title deeds since 2008,” explained Chilikwazi. “The illegalities happening in the allocation of land is defeating the UPND government’s fight against corruption. And this has the potential to make the UPND government unpopular. We know that some individuals working in the civil service are still paying allegiance to the previous regime and are trying to sabotage the UPND administration. But we will not allow that.”
