By Daily Revelation Correspondent
Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis was against made to intervene on behalf of Citizens First (CF) leader Harry Kalaba after police stopped him from entering North-Western Province as President Hakainde Hichilema was in the area.
And Kalaba found other means of getting into the province following the attempts by police to stop him, including checkouts into his vehicle on more than one occasion by the police.
As Kalaba was just about to enter into North-Western Province at Mushindamo checkpoint, on his way from the Copperbelt, he was stopped by the police who told him that he could not proceed President Hichilema was in the area. But Kalaba decided to phone Zaloumis to inform her of the happenings. However, Zaloumis’ aide told him that she was not able to take the call immediately as she was on some panel at some event somewhere.
However, later, the two managed to speak.
Kalaba explained to Zaloumis that he tried to get in touch with her earlier as police had mounted a roadblock around Mushindamo, in North-Western Province to stop him from proceeding into the province.
“That was in Mushindamo?” Zaloumis asked, as Kalaba responded in the affirmative.
“The commissioner said I should not enter North-Western until the President leaves the province and yet the President is in Manyinga,” Kalaba said, as Zaloumis responded saying, “no, no, no. But he’s (President Hichilema) been all over and people have been campaigning.”
She said even when he was on his allocated five-day campaigns in Luapula, the President was also there but campaigns for both camps still proceeded.
She and Kalaba spoke over each other in also agreeing that even during his allocated time on the Copperbelt, the President was also there but campaigns still proceeded.
“No, they are misunderstanding … okay I will get in touch with them,” she said.
She asked if he was in Solwezi, and he said he was just about to enter the town
“And they stopped you when you are about to enter Solwezi?” she asked, but he said he was stopped when he was about to enter Mushindamo and they radioed Solwezi that he had defied them.
“So I am being told the police in Solwezi are waiting for me to stop me from entering Solwezi town,” Kalaba told Zaloumis.
“Okay, okay, okay, I will get in touch with them,” said Zaloumis.
Trouble started when a female police officer at the checkpoint into Mushindamo stopped Kalaba’s motorcade and asked where they were going and the purpose of their going to North-Western Province.
Shortly afterwards she was joined by two male officers who seemed to be her superiors, with one of them identified as Nyorongo asking Kalaba to park by the side of the road. As the vehicles parked, Nyorongo told Kalaba that he could not proceed into North-Western Province as the President was in the area. But Kalaba asked the police officer to mention the exact location of the President’s whereabouts in the province, to which he expressed ignorance. However, Nyorongo insisted that Kalaba would not be allowed to proceed into the province.
At this point, Kalaba got agitated and told the police officer that whether he liked it or not he would proceed into the province because he was Zambian. Kalaba proceeded into his for onward movement into the province. He also threatened to sue Nyorongo in his individual capacity for trampling on his rights.
“Chibeleshi icho ba Nyorongo,” said Kalaba.
As Kalaba’s motorcade was driving off, Nyorongo was heard speaking on the phone with other officers telling that that Kalaba had refused his orders.
Along the way, Kalaba had to find other means of getting into the province, which he managed. But by the time he managed to get into the province time had passed for him to attend to an arranged radio programme he was supposed to feature on.
At some successive checkpoints, the vehicle Kalaba had travelled in up to Mushindamo checkpoint was checked regularly to see the people who were inside but Kalaba was not in any of the vehicles that formed his motorcade.
