By GIDEON NYENDWA
YOUTH in Action for Sustainable Development (YASD) has decided to petition the police to look into the 2016 Namwala violence which erupted after the general election and led to attacks and displacement of many people.
YASD executive director Zebedy Lukwesa said that since the police were going back to old cases that had not been clearly dealt with, it would be important that they also investigate the cause of the 2016 Namwala violence so that the perpetrators and the people who were behind that violence could be could brought to book.“There is no way this issue can be overlooked,” he said. Mr. Lukwesa said that they will petition the police to investigate the matter because it was one of the cases that was not properly concluded.Inspector-General of Police Lemmy Kajoba on November 4, 2021 indicated that Zambia Police will use all legal means at its disposal to bring to book persons that have committed crimes in the past but which were not adequately dealt with. Mr. Lukwesa said the move by the police to backdate cases that were not properly concluded was good but it must be applied fairly so that it does not seem as though the police were being used to fight political battles.He said the violence in Namwala was very serious to the point that people had to be evacuated from the district to other areas by the government then.Mr. Lukwesa said that the follow-up of the 2016 Namwala violence would be an assurance that the police were working independently without any political interference.He said there were a lot of cases in the country that needed to be followed up that they would love the police to take up than just following the perceived political opponents of the party in power.Some residents of Namwala were displaced from their homes for either belonging to the ruling Patriotic Front or bearing a name not originating from Southern Province after President Lungu was declared winner of the 2016 general election.
