Police pick up Kalaba in Senanga

…on grounds that he did not notify the police command in the district about his presence despite being informed and shown the Electoral Commission of Zambia campaign calendar which schedules that Mr Kalaba is supposed to be in  the area

Meanwhile, Maxwell Chongu, the Citizens First (CF) national youth chairperson has with immediate effect resigned from his party, withdrawn his candidature for Kafue West Constituency for reasons he calls personal

Saboi Imboela, the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a member of the Orange Alliance confirmed yesterday that Mr Kalaba was picked up by the Zambia police on grounds that he did not notify them that he was in the district.

Ms Imboela said Mr Kalaba was taken to the police station in Senanga despite being informed that he was following the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) campaign calendar.

“We were in Senanga where the CF has just opened a new office and Mr Kalaba was here to commission the office. But the police raided the CF, demanded that Mr Kalaba accompany them to the police. The police are claining that Mr Kalaba should have notified the police about his presence in the district despite having shown the campaign calendar from ECZ,” Ms Imboela said.

She stated that Mr Kalaba explained to the police he was in the district because the official campaign period had commenced and that the ECZ had drawn up a calaendar but that the police officers could not listen and demanded that the CF leader should be taken to the police station.

Ms Imboela has demanded for an explanation from the Inspector General of Police Graphel Musamba on why the police were stopping Mr Kalaba to campaign freely.

She has also demanded that the ECZ should clarify why the Zambia Police were not respecting the campaign calendar for the opposition political party.

“For presidential candidates, they are supposed to be in a province for a maximum of five days. And Mr Kalaba is following the ECZ campaign calendar but he is not being allowed to campaign. We demand that the Inspector General of Police should explain the behavior of the police officers,” she said.