rampage
Elias Chitenje
Trigger-happy security officers have turned Zambia into a killing field while at the same time stripping civilians of their illegal weapons.
Unofficial sources put the number of suspects gunned down in cold blood by police and other security officers in the past month at more than 20.
The indiscriminate killings reached unprecedented levels in the three weeks since bandits murdered former minister of finance Ronald Penza in his almost impregnable home on November 6.
Police, regarded as highly inefficient investigators, surprised many Zambians by “tracking down” six suspected killers within 10 hours of the incident. They then shot dead five of the suspects.
Witnesses said the suspects were not armed. They said one suspect was chased by several policemen, failed to scale a wall, raised his arms in surrender and was gunned down. Four days later, police shot dead three more people in connection with Penza’s death.
Penza’s widow, Jane, has also questioned the motive behind the killings of the suspects. “Who is going to tell the story now? Because a dead man tells no tale,” she asked.
Mwiya Nawa, a member of the opposition, demanded that the inspector general of police resign. “You cannot have the police killing citizens,” he told Parliament.
The Inter-African Network for Development (Afronet), a human rights organisation, has also urged Zambians to demand the resignation of the police chief.
“The recent shootings of suspects, and those who have been gunned down by way of stray bullets unleashed by trigger- happy police officers, and deaths in police cells, have become a common feature,” said Afronet director Ngande Mwanajiti.
On November 7, 22 wildlife scouts allegedly opened fire on villagers suspected of poaching, and two were killed. The scouts were arrested.
On November 14, a 21-year-old schoolgirl died in a police cell. She was in detention after being arrested for allegedly stealing grade 12 examination papers.
There are large numbers of illegal guns in Zambia, especially AK-47s, which police say were left behind by African National Congress guerrillas. Zambian police have declared a seven-day amnesty to anyone in possession of illegal firearms to surrender them.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Edwin Tembo also ordered police to clear all shops of toy guns and other gun imitations. He said this after seeing a boy brandishing a toy gun as he opened a police post in Lusaka.
Tembo asked police to find appropriate legislation that would outlaw the guns from shops and streets.
Police have already banned the wearing of imitation police and army uniforms in an effort to combat crime.
Minister of Home Affairs Katele Kalumba vows that police will take on the criminals “punch for punch” and will not rest until they are eliminated. “We are at war with crime right now. I will not rest until the thieves are on the run. This I am only going to say once and the rest shall be action.”
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