A Catholic Priest has demanded that President Edgar Lungu must stop police brutality.
Commenting on the recent controversial actions by police to arrest, charge and use force on citizens for various reasons, Fr Kennedy Chola has also called on the organisation named “Christians for Lungu” to advise the President to put an end to police brutality.
And Fr Chola has questioned Vice-President Inonge Wina’s failure to condemn police’s inhuman treatment and brutality on Komboni Radio director Lesa Kasoma Nyirenda.
Fr Chola wondered why the Church was silent on the police brutality going on in the country, including some Church groupings that campaigned for President Lungu such as Christians for Lungu.
“We must put it on record that this brutality can no longer continue in a country we call a Christian nation, where we even have those calling themselves Christians for Lungu and they are ‘praying’ for the President. Tell the President to stop brutalising the Zambian people, especially our women,” Fr Chola.
“We say President Lungu should stop brutalizing our people because he is the Commander-in-Chief of the (armed) forces, supervisor of the defense chiefs, including the police. Where is his authority? Why is he allowing the police to be so brutal on innocent citizens and defenseless women like Lesa Kasoma?” Fr Chola asked.
“Just last week, we saw very gruesome and barbaric acts of violence where defenseless citizens were beaten in Luanshya, pulled from a moving vehicle by the police. This is not what we want to see in our country. President Lungu can do better and promote peace. We can’t be beating, killing our own citizens without any shame. It is a shame on the President,” Fr Chola said.
Fr Chola also questioned the morality of Vice-President Wina justifying police brutality.
“Surely, can the Vice-President justify that barbaric act? Even if the woman was wrong, the police have no right to beat her in a manner they did,”
“We are left to wonder, maybe these barbaric acts have the full blessings of the government. But violence is violence, it does not matter who is involved so long they are citizens of this country. The police need to protect and not harm citizens. These acts have demonstrated that there are levels of dictatorship at play,” he said.