Sun, 25 Jun 2017 10:47:14 +0000
By Prince Chibawah & Mukosela Kasalwe
There is absolutely nothing special about UPND vice president Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) to think that he can visit Prisons at his preferred times because Zambia Correctional Services are regulated by laws, says PF Media director Sunday Chanda
And Zambia Correctional Services (ZCS) Commissioner General Percy Chato says it is the discretion of the Services to deny or grant prison visits to members of the public, says
And the Patriotic Front (PF) said it’s wrong for Godfrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) to think that the Zambia Correctional Services should be allowing him to be visiting incarcerated Hakainde Hichilema at his time of choice because there is nothing special about him.
Mr. Chato told Sunday Nation that it was lawful for the Correctional Authorities to deny or grant prison visits to anyone depending on the given circumstances.
He was reacting to the UPND vice-president who complained that he had been denied permission to visit incarcerated party president Hakainde Hichilema and questioned which law had been applied. The Commissioner General said he could not comment much on Mr. Mwamba’s incident as he was not privy to what could have led the officer-charge to deny him entry and that his office had not received any formal complaint on the matter.
“I cannot comment on that incident but all prison visits are at the discretion of the officer in-charge who can either allow or deny anyone entry. That is within the law,” he said.
Mr Mwamba claimed that prison staff were being hard on him now that he was in the opposition but that was not the case when he was in the PF, adding that he would consult his lawyers on the matter.
PF Media Director Sunday Chanda said the people of Zambia were aware of the ill maneuvers of UPND vice president of trying to antagonize the Prisons authority in order to gain cheap political mileage. “These political gymnastics of Mr Mwamba and the entire UPND leadership are not new to the people of Zambia.
“They (UPND) want to pick fights with every government institutions with a view of gaining political mileage. They will not succeed.”
“There is no value to antagonize Prison Authorities because they have refused to subscribe to the demands of certain individuals. And there is no law which states that the Prisons of Authority should treat certain people in a special way.
