By NATION REPORTER
ATRIOTIC Front (PF) presidential aspirant Chishimba Kambwili has appealed for a speedy trial for the party’s former deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri who has been incarcerated since February.
Mr Kambwili called on the police and other security wings to heed the President Hakainde Hichilema’s clarion call of not arresting people without first investigating cases thoroughly.
He said Ms Phiri who had been charged with former President Edgar Lungu’s barber Shebby Chilekwa for the murder of a UPND cadre, Mr Lawrence Banda in Kaoma.
Mr Kambwili said Ms Phiri was suffering because despite being arrested her trial had not yet started five months later.
“My appeal is for the police and other stakeholders to ensure that they first investigate the matters before effecting arrests so that they do not infringe on people’s human rights,” he said.
Mr Kambwili said the police and other investigative wings should not take the pronouncements by President Hichilema with a pinch of salt by not arresting individuals before concluding investigations.
He said it was prudent and long overdue for the police, security wings to ensure that they did a thorough job before making arrests.
Mr Kambwili said Ms Phiri needed to be tried in a court of law unlike the current situation because her human rights were being infringed.
“I can assure you that Ms Phiri has suffered and that if people don’t like her, they should think of her family who are also suffering,” he said.
Mr Kambwili said that he was however sceptical about the president’s pronouncements as they were just lip service.
“For me I do not believe a word he said and to be honest don’t expect anything tangible despite such pronouncements being made,” he said.
He said that he was just creating an impression for people to be swayed and to keep up appearances but in actual sense he was not even acting on them.
Mr Kambwili said that the statements and reality on the ground were not correlating because the police were not following such pronouncements.
Meanwhile, Ms Phiri’s lawyer, Charles Changana said that they had written to the Judiciary to ensure that they speeded up the process because she had been in detention from February without her trial commencing.
He said he was optimistic that Ms Phiri and her co accused Shebby Chilekwa would be put on the cause list by July.
Meanwhile, Mr Kambwili said he commended the ratification of ACC chairperson Musa Mwenye and Director General Gilbert Phiri because they were men of integrity.
Mumbi Phiri suffering – Kambwili
