Stay away from intra-party wrangles, Mwanza tells police
By Charles Musonda
THE Zambia Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) has urged the Zambia Police to steer clear of internal party politics and allow competent institutions to deal with them.
In an interview yesterday, ZCLU executive director Isaac Mwanza said intra-party political disputes were matters for the courts and not the police.
“They must really stay away from these matters. We know they can investigate these cases, but the political differences within political parties are subject to the court systems. Those who are aggrieved must go to court and not go to the police service,” Mwanza said.
He was commenting on concerns raised by National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Saboi Imboela that police action to warn and caution her over party leadership wrangles appeared to usurp the powers of the Registrar of Societies and the courts in determining intra-party disputes.
Mwanza said the NDC had been engulfed in leadership wrangles over who the legitimate party leader was, adding that similar disputes had also affected the Patriotic Front (PF).
“The PF had to run to court. So there’s no way that the NDC matter should be handled as a criminal matter because they signed [Imboela and NDC secretary general Mambwe Zimba] a certificate [adoption],” he said.
On Monday, police recorded warn-and-caution statements from Imboela, 47, and Zimba, 43, over allegations of creating a document without authority, contrary to Section 356 of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
Police spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi said the duo was alleged to have provided false information to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) by signing an adoption certificate for James Phiri during the December 2025 Chawama parliamentary by-election on behalf of the NDC.
“This is contrary to Section 18(1)(b) and (2) of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016,” Chilabi said.
He said the matter followed a complaint filed by Stephen Chewe of the NDC, reported on December 23, 2025.
“Investigations are ongoing, and more details will be provided in due course. After the interviews, the duo was allowed to leave,” he said.
