SOLDIERS, POLICE GRAB KATELE
…Wife fears for his health as he is moved to Mansa
By Mast Reporter
VETERAN politician Katele Kalumba was yesterday picked up from his home in Chienge District in Luapula Province by heavily armed soldiers and plain-clothes police officers.
Dr Kalumba’s wife, Lumba, told The Mast in an interview yesterday he was picked up shortly after 12:00 hours and taken to Chienge Police Station where officers were preparing to transport him to Mansa District.
“They have picked him up and he is at Chienge Police Station in Chienge where they have put him in a vehicle to take him to Mansa and my granddaughter is rushing there to take him his medicine,” Lumba said.
She was, however, concerned that police officers had driven away without Dr Kalumba’s heart medicine, which she said he needed to take every day because of his cardiac condition.
“The medication they have left behind is important. It is non-negotiable for his health. He has to take it every day. This is sad,” Lumba said.
She said Dr Kalumba was in the company of Headman Natende and Headman Semushi when the soldiers and police officers went to pick him up.
Lumba said earlier around 04:00 hours yesterday, the soldiers had gone to Dr Kalumba’s lodge, which is next to his house, in search of him but were denied access by the chief’s retainers.
She said Dr Kalumba was a known chronic patient with heart and cardiac problems, as well as a spinal condition.
“He is a known chronic patient. He has a heart and cardiac issue. He also has issues with the spine. He has a fracture on his leg, which has just started healing but he has to wear a special shoe. For him to travel by road, he will be affected because we always drive him to Mansa and then fly him to Lusaka,” Lumba said.
She was also concerned about an incident involving her son, Akayombokwa Kalumba, who was attacked by an unknown person at a bar in Lusaka’s Makeni Bonaventure using a carpenter’s saw.
Lumba said the attack followed a social media post claiming that Dr Kalumba’s son had been shot dead.
“He sustained a cut and he is undergoing treatment and right now, I’m in Lusaka to see him while all this is happening. I suspect it was a targeted attack. We suspect these are scare tactics and that these issues are related,” she said.
Police spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi and the Luapula divisional command said they did not have any information about the matter.
Dr Kalumba is a critic of the current government who has been speaking out on the arrests and detentions of opposition politicians as well as controversial laws, including the amendment of the Constitution.
