Speaker Mutti says laws permit police to arrest lawmakers within grounds of parliament

There are laws that allow the police to enter the precincts of Parliament and carry out their duties, according to the speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti.

This comes after some parliamentarians on Tuesday questioned how the police could breached Parliamentary privileges and arrested a Member of Parliament within the precincts of Parliament.

In her interjection during a debate by Mufulira Member of Parliament, Golden Mwila, who was contributing to President Hakainde Hichilema’s speech to 3rd Session of the 13th National Assembly where he questioned the police excesses and how they managed to enter the precincts of Parliament and attempt to arrest an Honourable Member, Mutti said: “There are laws that allow them [police] to enter Parliamentary grounds.”

Mwila was apparently making reference to police action in trying to forcibly arrest Lumezi Member of Parliament, Munir Zulu, for alleging that the Head of State was going to open and dissolve Parliament due to assumptions that he had started campaigns.

On 11th September, 2023 about four men in civil clothing allegedly manhandled and attempted to arrest Zulu and almost bundled him into a motor vehicle within parliament grounds shortly after President Hichilema’s address.

Zulu is said to have been saved by some Members of Parliament led by the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Brian Mundubile.

The Parliamentarians questioned how the police could breach Parliamentary privileges and arrest a Member of Parliament within the precincts of Parliament.

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