DC ORDERED CADRES TO RAPE, KILL ME

DC ORDERED CADRES TO RAPE, KILL ME

…Socialist Party leader recounts chilling abduction, torture during Chibulula ward by-election, Mpulungu DC denies allegations

By Tony Nkhoma

MPULUNGU District Commissioner Gehard Sikazwe ordered that I should be raped, killed and thrown into Lake Tanganyika, Socialist Party (SP) Northern Province Information and Publicity, Namutowe Kafwimbi has said.

But Sikazwe has denied ordering United Party for National Development (UPND) cadres to beat up, rape, kill and throw Kafwimbi along with two others  into Lake Tanganyika during the just-ended Chibulula by-elections.

Narrating her ordeal to The Mast yesterday, Kafwimbi, who is admitted at Senga Hill Hospital, revealed chilling abduction events, describing the scenes as evil and deadly.

She said she was abducted along with two others by known UPND cadres during the Chibulula ward by-elections in Mpulungu on Thursday at the order of Sikazwe.

She explained that the abduction took place around 10: 00 hours after Sikazwe ordered the cadres, who later grabbed her and two others before bundling them into a Toyota Hilux and drove away to an unknown destination.

“While heading to an unknown destination, the abductors demanded K10, 000 from each of us. They were beating us. They told us that they would kill us if we did not give them the money they wanted. That’s how I got my line and sent messages to various people and later deleted the messages,” Kafwimbi said.

She said the UPND cadres were armed with a pistol, stones, and machetes in their vehicle and kept demanding for money from them in exchange for their release.

Kafwimbi said while on the way, they met with a group of UPND members who were in the company of Sikazwe who allegedly ordered them to beat and rape her before throwing them into Lake Tanganyika.

“Upon reaching the tarmac, they stopped. Then the DC and the other UPND special officials started capturing me; they captured my face, where I was sitting in the vehicle. Then he said, can you kill them and throw them in Lake Tanganyika because Tanganyika was near,” she said.

Kafwimbi said Sikazwe allegedly ordered the cadres to do whatever they wanted with them before he could proceed with monitoring elections.

“You can do whatever you want with them, rape her, beat and kill her, and throw her into Lake Tanganyika since it is near if you so wish,” she said.

Kafwimbi said she pleaded with the Sikazwe and the UPND officials to spare their lives but they refused, warning the cadres not to involve police officers from Mpulungu.

“The DC said, don’t take them to Mpulungu Police. The Mpulungu Police Officer in charge is very stupid, very useless. They had to insult him a lot. They had to remove the SIM card from our phones, which they confiscated,” she said.

Kafwimbi said she was whipped badly and developed bruises all over her body.

She said when they approached Senga Hill, someone sent the driver a message warning them that Commandos, a Special Unit of soldiers, was following and closing up on them.

“That’s how they said, there’s another road from Senga Hill, which is going directly to Mpulungu, a gravel road off the tarmac. They started arguing about what action to take against us. As they were arguing, they received another message. They didn’t know where to leave us, whether at Senga Hill Police Station or to take us back to Mpulungu. This was now around 18:00 hours, one of the cadres suggested that we be taken back to Mpulungu using another road, while the others said no, some got scared and complained that the Commandos would find them,” Kafwimbi said.

She said the cadres removed them from the vehicle and beat them up as they attempted to look at the number plate.

“. I was given a slap on my face. That’s how I just bowed. They took me and others inside the police. They accused us of stoning their vehicle and beating people,” she said.

Kafwimbi said officers at Senga Hill demanded to see the damaged vehicle, but to their surprise, nothing was there.

She said the cadres accused the trio of having a gun, which officers searched and found none.

“And they accused me of having a pistol and a knife, which I did not have. The vehicle was not damaged, the one that they were driving. They later dumped us at Senga Hill Police Station. But the officer then asked them what case they had committed. The cadres said we damaged their vehicle, which was not true. The police officer asked them to present the vehicle, but failed since they were lying,” she said.

Kafwimbi said the police officers at Senga Hill rushed them using a Constituency Development Fund (CDF) vehicle to the hospital for medical attention.

But when reached for a comment, Sikazwe denied ordering UPND cadres to rape, kill and throw Kafwimbi and two others into Lake Tanganyika.

“I did not order cadres to abduct Namutowe Kafwimbi, I did not order them to rape, beat, kill her, and throw her in Lake Tanganyika. I did not meet with her. I can only be accused if, suppose, I was part and parcel, or rather, I was at the scene. Now, can that person prove where that person was abducted, was I there, or not?” Sikazwe said.