Police caution protesters

Thu, 28 Sep 2017 10:39:20 +0000

By CHITE MTONGA

CIVIL society organisations planning to hold a demonstration at the presentation of the budget this Friday will be acting illegally, Lusaka Province Commissioner of Police Nelson Phiri has warned.

Mr Phiri said police had received a letter from a civil society organisations giving notice that they intend to hold a demonstration on the 29th of September at Parliament of which police declined to allow due to security concerns.

“Indeed we received a letter from a combination of civil society organisations notifying us that they intend to hold a protest on Friday, when the budget will be presented, but we advised that the demonstration should not go ahead because this might bring confusion. There could be protesters being attacked by counter protesters and things like that, so we told them that  they should put their grievances in writing and present them to the relevant  authorities or schedule this demonstration at a later date if they so wish, ” he said.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Phiri warned that anyone who will decide to go ahead with the protest will be acting illegally and should be ready for the consequences that will follow.

Mr Phiri said that it was the duty of the police to maintain peace and order and as such police could not allow actions that could endanger the well-being of the citizenry.

Mr Phiri said that the timing of the demonstration was not appropriate and police could not allow it to go ahead.

But Alliance for Community Action executive director Laura Miti in a statement made available to the Daily Nation said that the Joint Action for Accountability in Zambia (JAAZ) a combination of civil society organisations will defy the decision made by the police and proceed with the planned protest.

Ms Miti said that police could not decide how citizens exercise their right to be heard as it was the constitutional right of citizens to protest and the duty of the police to facilitate the protest.