Armed Police Storm UPND Offices, Arrest Team Member

Police on Tuesday stormed the UPND secretariat office in Lusaka and arrested a member of the party’s media team, Anthony Bwalya.

The armed officers said they were searching the premises for fake National Registration Cards after Mr Bwalya and his colleague Mubita Nawa appeared on Muvi TV with a stack of NRCs which they claimed were irregularly issued. 

The officers gained entrance to the UPND offices at 14:30 after members of the party’s legal counsel checked they were not carrying any fake NRCs themselves to be planted as evidence.

Mr Bwalya is now believed to be held at Kabwata police station, awaiting processing. 

After appearing on Muvi TV, Mr Bwalya said he had been contacted by the police and indicated that he would be more than willing to comply with their investigation into the fake NRCs.

“The Zambia Police at Force Headquarters have reached out to us through a summon over the issue of alleged illegalities in the issuance of NRCs. We are glad the police have taken up this matter for further inquiry because all illegalities around the issuance of NRCs, regardless of who is behind it, represents an act of premeditated aggression against our constitution, the Zambian republic and the democracy we all cherish,” he said.

“We will cooperate with the police and do whatever they will ask of us in order to deliver justice for all of the Zambian people. But in addition to this step taken by the police, we will be calling for a full scale independent, multi – stakeholder commission of inquiry into how the mobile issuance of NRCs has been conducted,” he added.

Why the police chose to storm the UPND’s offices when Mr Bwalya was clearly cooperating remains unclear.