STAY IN YOUR LANE
…Army must deal with foreign enemies, embattled Zyeele schooled
By Adrian Mwanza
NEW Heritage Party (NHP) president Chishala Kateka has accused Zambia Army Commander Lieutenant General Geoffrey Zyeele of hijacking the role of the Zambia Police Service by meddling in internal security matters.
Kateka said yesterday Lt Gen Zyeele must apologise to Zambians for usurping the constitutional powers of the police to maintain law and order by involving the Zambia Army in civilian policing.
She said the Zambia Army should be dealing with external security and not involve itself in internal issues because that was the work of the Zambia Police Service and other internal security wings.
“If the powers that be think the police are not doing their job there is need to be retrained. Even the tone used by the Zambia Army Commander Geoffrey Zyeele was uncalled for as fumigation and extermination was used to describe cockroaches and vermin,” Kateka said.
She was speaking when she featured on Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk.
Earlier this wee, Lt Gen Zyeele raised a national uproar when he revealed that President Hakainde Hichilema, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, had instructed the army to exterminate illegal gold miners in various parts of the country, which citizens have strongly condemned as an order to kill unarmed civilians.
But Kateka said the army was not the institution mandated by the Constitution to deal with internal issues like illegal gold mining.
That was the job of the police.
Kateka wondered if Lt Gen Zyeele considered the illegal miners as vermin because the term was “very derogatory”.
She said internally, the army was not the first line of defence as that was the job of the police.
The miners were desperate to make a leaving because the social and economic dynamics were against them.
“The Army Commanders statement entails that the lives of the miners do not really matter, because you only fumigate vermin and cockroaches,” she said.
Kateka said the consequences of using the army on civilians were serious.
She however said she was happy with the manner Zambians had handled the issue.
Kateka said civilians were now analytical and had therefore raised some serious issues concerning the issue of illegal miners.
She urged Hichilema to clarify the matter because most people were misconstruing the information.
Ms Kateka also said it was unfortunate that the issue concerning the President’s leave was shrouded in secrecy when it was an issue of public domain.
She said there was nothing wrong for an individual to go on leave but that it was surprising that the matter was being treated like a secret.
“Look even if the President gets sick it’s normal and should not be a secret. Even if it’s leave people get tired and should just say ‘look let me rest’,” Kateka said.
Meanwhile, Kateka says the country is in a serious transfer window for politicians since it is heading towards elections.
She said that there was need for politicians to work together and include people with brains that could stir the country to great heights.
