Chiluba’s campaigns for Rupiah provoke anger

Chiluba’s campaigns for Rupiah provoke anger
By Abigail Chaponda in Ndola
Mon 01 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT

Frederick Chiluba's campaigns on the Copperbelt for President Rupiah Banda have provoked anger as some unknown people on Friday attempted to set ablaze the Bank of Zambia Guest House where he lodged.

A source close to Chiluba confirmed the incident in an interview and suspected opposition Patriotic Front (PF) cadres to be behind the attempt. The source said the suspected cadres threw a 2.5 liter container of petrol on one of the thatched structures and the roof caught fire.

The source said nothing was damaged apart from the burnt roof, as the guards quickly managed to put out the fire.

“We know that it is cadres from PF who did it. They are scared that Chiluba might influence people to vote for President Rupiah Banda. Now they even plan to kill, they will not succeed because we are ready for them and if they think that MMD is playing, we are ready for war,” the source said.

“Police officers came to inspect the premises and they have been there the whole night and they found a 2.5 liter plastic container of petrol. We are just glad that amateurs carried out this operation because the former head of government would have died. We are not happy over what happened. It is unfortunate that such violence can happen in this day and era.”

The source also revealed that officers from Office of the President have been instructed to investigate the matter.

And sources from one of the security wings of government confirmed the incident but said investigations were still going on and no official report has been issued.

Meanwhile police sources confirmed that someone reported the matter to Ndola Central Police and officers were sent to Bank of Zambia Guest House to verify.

“Someone reported the same matter at this police station but a docket has not been opened because we are still investigating the matter,” the police source said.

And Copperbelt commanding officer Antoneil Mutentwa could not be reached by press time as he was attending a meeting in Kitwe.