KASUNE IS INNOCENT
…I stopped some women to avoid confusion – official
By Adrian Mwanza
MINISTER of Justice Princess Kasune did not play any role in stopping some women from marching during the International Women’s Day commemoration last Sunday, a United Party for National Development (UPND) Keembe Constituency official has said.
Constituency chairman Harrison Kanyama said in an interview from Keembe yesterday he stopped some groups of women from marching to maintain peace at the event.
He dismissed allegations that Kasune, who is Keembe Member of Parliament (MP), was behind the action by the constituency committee.
“I can tell you that she is innocent and whatever happened is because of me trying to maintain peace at the Women’s Day event,” Kanyama said.
It was alleged that Kasune’s supporters blocked women drawn from as far as Ipongo, Itumbwe, Lunjofwa, Chitanda and Namakolongo claimed that they were blocked from celebrating Women’s Day on Saturday at Chibombo District Civic Centre in Central Province.
Others who were allegedly blocked included those from Keembe West Ward, Nyamfula and Mayota.
On Tuesday, Kasune denied instructing the constituency officials to block the supporters of her perceived rivals saying she was not even aware of what was happening.
She accused a certain group of people of making those “false” allegations in order to dent her image for political reasons.
The affected women are reported to be supporters of some of the UPND members who want to challenge Kasune in the August general elections.
Kanyama said his intentions were not meant to sideline any particular group but to ensure peace and tranquility were maintained because had he allowed the groups to go ahead with their march hell would have broken loose.
He said it was unfortunate that Kasune was being accused of fanning the confusion when she had not played any role.
Kanyama said he had initially stopped a group of women who were wearing political regalia branded with ‘Alex Mapushi’ and advised them to take seats in the arena for the sake of peace, and they complied.
He said he was, however, shocked when towards the end of the programme he saw a group of about 50 women disembark from a truck and wanting to march.
Kanyama said he did not know the women who claimed they were from Ipongo Ward but that they insisted they wanted to march even if they were very late.
“I engaged them and actually pleaded with them because the minister was already giving her speeches when they reached while the others were already seated. Now tell me, if I had allowed them to proceed what do you think could have happened? It was going to be mayhem,” he said.
Kanyama said it was evident that the women were part of the forces that were trying to force Kasune out as MP.
He said Kasune did not have any hand in what happened because he was the one who was at the centre of it all.
Kanyama said there were factions that were trying to fight Kasune.
He was not trying to side with anyone but just trying to maintain peace in the constituency as people jostled for political positions.
On Sunday The Mast reported that women were divided on whether male nurses should be attending to expecting mothers during delivery.
Some strongly opposed the practice saying they felt violated when a man who was not their husband saw their nakedness and touched their sacred organs while some supported the idea saying the were more comfortable being handled by male midwives because they were more kind and gentle compared to their fellow women.
