Maravi

PF supporters threaten to beat up Chishimba

PF supporters threaten to beat up Chishimba
By Maluba Jere
Friday October 03, 2008 [04:00]

EXPELLED Kasama Central member of parliament Saviour Chishimba was yesterday almost beaten up by Patriotic Front (PF) supporters for speaking ill of party president Michael Sata. And Chishimba yesterday endorsed Vice-President Rupiah Banda's candidature for the October 30 presidential election.

During a press briefing at Pamodzi Hotel, Chishimba who urged people not to vote for Sata in the forthcoming elections, was interrupted by PF supporters who asked him to stick to the agenda of the briefing as opposed to talking about their president.

An unidentified man walked to the front where Chishimba was addressing the gathering and asked him to announce his resignation from the party and not waste time by attacking Sata.

"Hey! Why don't you just announce your resignation other than talk about the president? Just resign from PF," the man said.

Chishimba then asked his supporters to call the police to help restore order.

"We don't want any of you here. Can you call the police? We have a lot of police officers here. The police is on standby," Chishimba said as he was dragged to the back of the room.

Some people rose from their seats to follow where Chishimba was being dragged to while others tried to leave the lounge but were told by those in charge to remain calm.

A plain clothes police officer then ordered the PF supporters to leave the scene and threatened to shoot anyone who would resist.

The cadres were then dragged and escorted to a vehicle which had posters of Sata on it, although they did not leave immediately.

Some more uniformed police officers arrived at the scene and warned against unruly behaviour.
A few minutes later, the cadres left and Chishimba continued with his address.

And Chishimba said his endorsement for Vice-President Banda was for the sake of peace and unity.

Labels: CADRES, PF, SAVIOUR CHISHIMBA

posted by MrK @ 8:46 PM