Home Affairs minister, Mwiimbu, says police sealed PF secretariat to prevent bloodshed

Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister, Jack Mwiimbu, has said that Police in Lusaka sealed off the Patriotic Front (PF) Secretariat along Panganani Road to avoid a blood bath as result of intra-party wrangles.

Heavily armed Policemen sealed off the opposition PF party secretariat following the internal wrangles surrounding the party presidency.

During a media briefing held in Lusaka on Thursday, Mwiimbu said government had no role to play in the intra-party discussions, or differences within the PF.

He said his Ministry decided to take precautionary measures after it received security reports as to what was going to happen if one of the factions was going to occupy the secretariat.

“We did provide security by sealing off the Secretariat because if we did not move in, there would have been a blood bath between the two factions. I would like the public to visualize a situation where Police did not protect and seal off the Secretariat,” Mwiimbu said.

He said government had avoided to comment on the legality of the general conference which elected Matero Member of Parliament Miles Sampa as president of one faction because the matter was in the courts of law.

Mwiimbu said if protecting the lives of Zambians and property in line with the Ministry’s mandate was wrong, then he took the responsibility because he was in charge of the Police.

“Government was last year sued by Sampa over the issues of intra-party democracy in the PF where he wanted us to act, we did not abide because we new the matter was before the courts of law,” he said.

Mwiimbu said government fairly believed that if a matter was before the courts of law then it was the duty of such a court to deal with that particular matter like the current PF situation.

He said what government was doing, however, was to ensure that the rule of law prevails in the country and those found breaking the law would be dealt with in line with the supreme law of the land being the Constitution.

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