CiSCA Condemns Arrest of Protesting Former Police Officer
The Civil Society Constitution Agenda (CiSCA) has condemned the ‘unconstitutional’ arrest of a former police officer for staging a peaceful one-man protest outside Police Headquarters in Lusaka.
Jeyson Musonda Chipepo, a former police sergeant who resigned from the force last July, took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against violence and intimidation on behalf of the Zambia Police Service.
In particular, he criticised police Inspector General Kakoma Kanganja, whom he described as “the worst IG ever” and accused of being “the real secretary general for PF [Patriotic Front]”.
He was arrested shortly after arriving at Police HQ when a gang of armed officers dragged him into a Toyota Land Cruiser and transported him to be detained at Kabwata Police Station.
CiSCA have now criticised the police’s actions, saying that Mr Chipepo had every right to protest under the constitution of Zambia.
“Mr Chipepo was also exercising his right to freedom of expression as enshrined in Article 20 of our Constitution. The freedom guarantees on the right to say what they want to say and includes the freedom to express one’s opinion on a matter,” a statement from CiSCA said.
The civil society organisation characterised the police’s actions as an “infringement on his rights as a human being” and criticised the government for encouraging arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions by police to support its own political ends.
“CiSCA notes that the Executive and its agents continuously deny its deliberate squeezing of the civic space while we Zambians wake up to and witness these arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions every single day! Explanations of police conducting investigations are trite since Zambia has had a police service since before Independence and we have never seen this rate of wanton deprivation of liberties and extrajudicial killings too!,” the statement read.
UPND Alliance presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema has also criticised the police for the incident, describing Mr Chipepo’s “brutal arrest” as “unjust and uncalled for”. On Facebook he called for the former officer to either be brought before a court or released immediately.
The incident comes in the wake of a rising tide of police violence and arbitrary arrests. On Tuesday police blocked members of the UPND as they attempted to pay their respects at the grave of deceased fellow member Joshua Mutisa at the Kansenshi cemetery in Ndola.
Earlier this week, officers began to arrest members of the Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) following a ‘go-slow’ strike over unpaid salaries.
According to RDAZ president Dr Brian Sampa, doctors are being arrested across the country for their involvement in the strike, including the association’s secretary general Dr Mukula Chikonde. Inspector General Kanganja has even threatened to arrest Dr Sampa himself under the terms of the highly controversial Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act.