Thu, 11 Jan 2018 09:54:46 +0000
By SIMON MUNTEMBA
POLICE have been accused of sweeping dirt under the carpet and shielding some prominent figures in an alleged theft case of 670 x 50 kg bags of relief maize from a Food Reserve Agency (FRA) depot in 2016 in Shangombo.
This is despite the matter being reported to Shangombo police station and police service headquarters.
This development has been disclosed to the Daily Nation by Shangombo District Commissioner Lawrence Nyambe and former Sinjembela Member of Parliament Poniso Njeulu.
However, Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said her office has not yet been provided with the details of the alleged theft case.
Ms Katongo referred all queries to Western Province Police Commissioner Charles Lungu who when contacted demanded a written query through a phone text message or WhatsApp.
However, a query sent through his WhatsApp was ignored despite showing that he read it and successive attempts to get in touch with him proved futile as phone calls went unanswered.
Captain Nyambe alleged that on August 9 and 10, 2016, hordes of suspected Shangombo UPND cadres led by one of their leaders broke into Shangombo FRA depot after threatening a security guard with a gun and allegedly got away with bags of relief maize meant for vulnerable people in the district.
Capt. Nyambe explained that as district disaster management unit chairperson for Shangombo, he together with a security guard who was on duty at that particular day reported the case at Shangombo police station for possible prosecution of culprits who he claimed are known, but nothing has been done.
“Despite the case of well-known UPND cadres led by a well-known leader being reported and investigated by the police at Shangombo and police service headquarters, no one has ever been arrested,” Capt. Nyambe said.
And former Sinjembela MP Poniso Njeulu said it was disappointing that when inquiries were done to find out how far the case had gone, the police were not giving satisfactory answers.
Mr Njeulu said that when he tried to inquire with police service headquarters, he was told that a report concerning the theft was concluded and forwarded to the office of the DPP a long time ago.
He, however, said contrary to what the police told him, the office of the DPP refused having ever received a report of stolen relief maize from the police.
He added, “Now questions which many people are asking themselves are, where is the report of the stolen maize and why is it that the well-known thieves who stole 670 x 50 kg bags of relief maize have not yet been arrested?”
Mr Njeulu said the people of Shangombo want justice to prevail by asking the authority to make sure that the well-known individuals are brought to book.
