Maravi

Ndola mother, son 13, arrested for ‘red-carding’ Rupiah

Ndola mother, son 13, arrested for ‘red-carding’ Rupiah
By Abigail Chaponda and Kabanda Chulu in Ndola
Thu 05 Aug. 2010, 04:01 CAT

POLICE in Ndola on Tuesday arrested and detained a 13-year-old boy together with his mother for allegedly flashing a red card at President Rupiah Banda’s motorcade in Chifubu Township.

And a man was beaten and left for the dead at Chifubu market after five MMD cadres allegedly mistook the polony he bought for a red card.

The boy, his mother Avis together with two other women, Annie Mbewe and Angela Siachinda were going for lunch when they met their fate.

The boy’s mother told The Post at Kansenshi Police Station, after Ndola District PF officials paid for their release, that she was disappointed with the police for arresting them.

She accused the police of being unprofessional, saying they had all turned into MMD cadres.

“I was going somewhere and my son was following me behind. There were two people who were drank and they started flashing red cards at President Banda’s motorcade. The police ran after us and told us that we were flashing red cards at the motorcade. From there, the police accused us of flashing the red cards,” she said.

“They put me and two other ladies in a van, but when I looked behind, I saw that my son was arrested too. I told the police that my son was young and should not be arrested, instead I told them to arrest me, but they refused and we were arrested and detained at the police. We have been at the police since 14:00 hours on Tuesday.”

She said she was only helped by PF officials who organised a lawyer to have them released.

The boy’s mother said she was disappointed with the police because her son was emotionally disturbed with what they had done and she would ensure that the officers were disciplined.

The boy failed to talk as he broke down.

Lawyer Derek Mulenga of Derek Mulenga and Company said the four were charged with conduct likely to cause the breach of peace.

Mulenga said the four paid K50,000 each as guilty fee to avoid spending a night at the police.

Meanwhile, a man was beaten and left for the dead at Chifubu market as MMD cadres were waiting for President Banda to tour the market.

It was reported that the unknown man bought polony from Quick Save Butchery and when he walked out, some cadres mistook the polony he was carrying to be red cards and started beating him.

“The man was badly beaten, when he was being taken to the hospital, he was almost dead. These unruly cadres beat him because he bought a polony which cadres thought was a red card because it was wrapped in a red cover,” said Chanda Bupe, an eyewitness.

Copperbelt police commanding officer Antoniel Mutentwa confirmed that police in Ndola had arrested ten taxi drivers for allegedly blocking Vice-President George Kunda’s motorcade on Monday.

“We have managed to get 24 registration numbers that taxi drivers were driving when they blocked the Vice-President. They have been charged with disobeying police officer’s instructions,” Mutentwa said.

Meanwhile, President Banda on Tuesday visited four markets in Chifubu Constituency and hundreds of Chifubu residents flocked to get a glimpse of him.

Labels: CADRES, POLICE CORRUPTION, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, RED CARD CAMPAIGN

posted by MrK @ 3:51 AM