Developing story: ‘Yes, I fired warning shots’, M’membe accuses UPND of instigating attacks against his party

Socialist Party (SP) president, Fred M’membe, has cried foul, alleging that he has been framed in the violent incident which happened on Saturday in Muchinda Ward of Serenje District in Central Province.

M’membe who was arrested on Saturday and detained in Serenje by the Police says framing him as a bad person will not work.

He said Zambians must not allow themselves to be deceived that political violence ended with the removal of the Patriotic Front (PF) from government.

“Yesterday, we were attacked, and after being attacked we are now being framed as the attackers, as the violent ones. This is what used to happen under the PF. United Party for National Development (UPND) used to be framed as the attackers when they were the victims,” M’membe said.

Read More:Police detain Socialist Party president, M’membe, after supporters clash with UPND members.

He said he is being accused of assaulting a UPND cadre when he was nowhere near but instead saved a situation that could have ended up with the death of a UPND or Socialist Party cadre.

M’membe has, however, admitted that he fired a few shots to disperse the people who managed to run away and someone would have died if this had not been done.

“Nobody was aimed at, nobody was assaulted by myself. But today, there is an attempt to make me look like a violent person, which I am not. It won’t work. Aba bemba batila Ubujwnjeshi Bwankoko Pungwa Tasakamana. Ubucenjeshi bumo chimo kupusa,” he said.

M’membe said a warn and caution statement has been extracted from him but that the UPND cadres who attacked the party camps were nowhere near the police post or police station.

“They have not been arrested; they are not in any way being questioned. We, the victims, are the ones who are being turned into the attackers. This is the situation we are in. But it won’t work. It didn’t work when the UPND was in opposition. It will not work now with the UPND in power,” he said.

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