By ADRIAN MWANZA
WILLIAM Banda should know that political power is temporal and therefore should not abuse it because he will land his party and the President in trouble, former minister and Patriotic Front senior member, Professor Nkandu Luo has said.
Prof Luo said that Mr Banda’s antics stemmed from way back and that he had been unrepentant from time immemorial.
She said that he needed to be caged because he was a violent person who had the capacity to cause mayhem in the country.
Prof Luo said that Mr Banda needed to know that political power is not eternal and he should therefore be careful with the comments he made.
“One thing I can tell William Banda is that he should not think that the UPND will be in power forever and think he is untouchable because in a snap it will be all over,” she said.
She said it was unfortunate that Mr Banda was trying to usurp the powers of the police by threatening to deal with people in the opposition.
Prof Luo said that if not tamed, Mr Banda would plunge the country into chaos as he had done in the past when he fanned political violence when he was in the MMD.
She challenged President Hakainde Hichilema to deal with Mr Banda before it was too late since he was preaching intolerance.
Prof Luo said that Mr Banda needed to remember what happened in 2011 when he wanted to flee to Malawi due to his violent conduct when the MMD was in power.
And National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Saboi Imboela echoed Prof Luo’s sentiments that such individuals needed to be caged.
Ms Imboela said that Mr Banda was unrepentant and that he was promoting anarchy in the country. She said it was evident that the threats issued by Mr Banda showed that he was not following the President’s directive of zero intolerance to caderism in the new dawn government.
“Really, this man is a danger to society and should not be tolerated. How can someone want to take over the job of the police and other law enforcement agencies,” Ms Imboela said.
Meanwhile, Zambia Police spokesperson Rae Haamonga said according to CAP 88 section 31 and 32 of the criminal procedure code “any private person may arrest any person who, in his presence, commits a cognizable offence, or whom he reasonably suspects of having committed a felony.”
“Persons found committing any offence involving injury to property may be arrested without a warrant by the owner of the property or his servants or persons authorised by him.”
Mr Haamonga also indicated that section 32 clearly stated that any private person arresting any other person without a warrant should, without unnecessary delay; make over the person so arrested to a police officer, or, in the absence of a police officer, shall take such person to the nearest police station.
He said if there was reason to believe that such person comes under the provisions of section 26, a police officer shall re-arrest him.
Mr Haamonga said the code also indicated that “if there is reason to believe that he has committed a non-cognizable offence, and he refuses, on the demand of a police officer, to give his name and residence, or gives a name or residence which such officer has reason to believe to be false, he shall be dealt with under the provisions of section 29. If there is no sufficient reason to believe that he has committed any offence, he shall be at once released.”
“I want to urge parties taking part in the Kabwata by-election not to engage in violence and report all those that were planning to commit crimes or had committed crimes in the past so that we can take it up rather than taking matters in their own hands,” Mr Haamonga said.
Political Power is temporal, Luo warns Banda
