Maravi

Lusaka cops operating without tear gas

Lusaka cops operating without tear gas
By Ernest Chanda
Wed 01 Aug. 2012, 13:00 CAT

POLICE in Lusaka have been operating without tear gas, police sources have disclosed. But home affairs minister Edgar Lungu refused to confirm or deny the story saying the issue borders on a matter of intelligence. The sources disclosed that Lusaka police have been carrying out their duties without tear gas, a critical component used in cases of riots or violent protests.

"…The issue is that we have not had any tear gas for some time now. If you remember, that beating of the UPND cadres when they protested was as a result of lack of tear gas. Ordinarily, we are supposed to use tear gas to disperse people but we did not have so that (the beating) was the only alternative," the sources said.

"Also if you remember the Kanyama fracas between residents and police where the people started throwing stones and police also reiterated by throwing back the stones? It is because of not having tear gas. But an order has now been made."

Kanyama residents recently tried to mete out mob justice on a suspect and got further incensed when the accused was protected by police. They then started throwing stones at police officers who reiterated by throwing the stones back at the angry mob.

But when contacted for comment, Lungu said he could not comment much on the issue because, according to him, the information bordered on national security.
"By the very virtue of my position I cannot tell you 'yes' or 'no' because that borders on a matter of intelligence.

If I said to you that they have teargas you would be wanting to know the quantities, when was it last ordered, and so on and so forth. You can tell the story the way you know it but I cannot comment whether it's true or not because I'll be prejudicing our state security," he said.

Lungu also threatened that the source of the information needed to be dealt with because such information did not need to be revealed to the public.
"If I tell you that we don't have, people will become funny and they'll provoke the police. If I tell you we have, people will want to know how much, so I cannot comment.

Your source is actually breaching his oath of office. If I knew him I would deal with him because you don't reveal such things to the public. I know you have your own way of getting stories but this one I can neither deny nor comment because it borders on security," said Lungu.

Labels: POLICE

posted by MrK @ 2:32 PM