Mon, 25 Sep 2017 13:50:37 +0000
By Simon Muntemba
MY life is in danger but I will not be silenced or intimidated by the police who are sent by “corrupt” people to silence me, Kabwe PF Member of Parliament Tutwa Ngulube has charged.
Mr Ngulube, who is a lawyer, said heavily armed police officers who tried to block him from addressing Kabwe constituents kept on trailing him wherever he went up to the time he reached home almost mid-night.
And when contacted for a comment, Central Province Commissioner of Police Lombe Kamukoshi declined to make a comment saying she was out of the province.
“I am not in the province, so I decline to make a comment. Thank you,” Ms. Kamukoshi said.
Mr Ngulube said armed police officers on Saturday blocked him from addressing his constituents, saying he should be telling them every time he was in town.
In an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr Ngulube claimed the police were sent by corrupt people but vowed to continue speaking for the voiceless.
He narrated that no sooner had he addressed the constituents of Kafulamase who are faced with evictions from their land, than a contingent of heavily armed police officers arrived on the scene to block him from holding the meeting.
Mr Ngulube said that he tried to communicate to the police commissioner, Ms. Kamukoshi but in vain.
He claimed that Ms. Kamukoshi ignored all his calls and text messages.
“The Police commissioner is under pressure from somewhere. I know that the people who sent the police are some corrupt senior civil servants and civic leaders who are claiming that they have been given small holdings and farms there,
“So in their bid to protect their corruptly acquired land, they are using the police to silence me but that will not happen because I am not going be silenced or intimidated,
“The police were given strict orders to ensure that I don’t meet the people in my constituency, they were trailing me wherever I went up to the time I reached home almost midnight.”
He explained that as a lawyer, he understood law better that as an MP, he did not need a police permit to meet his electorate.
The Kabwe MP also said he will not stop defending the defenseless, poor and old, adding that he was ready to be arrested for defending the poor and to go to jail for fighting land corruption in his constituency.
“You know, Kabwe Central has a lot of problems to do with land. The council is evicting people, demolishing houses and displacing old people. Corrupt people have so far demolished several houses for the defenseless, poor and old people.
“And victims wrote a letter to my office asking me to go and hear their complaints, but when I went to see these people in my constituency, suddenly heavily armed police officers came saying I should be notifying them every time I enter Kabwe.
But I am ready to be arrested for defending the poor and to go to jail for fighting land corruption in my constituency,” Mr. Ngulube said.
