Cadres clash over money September 6, 2013 By DOREEN NAWA and CHIMWEMWE MWALE in Katete THREE MMD cadres were on Wednesday night beaten up by cadres suspected to be Patriotic Front members on allegations that the trio was distributing money to voters. The trio included Michael Phiri, the older brother of PF candidate David Phiri, Jeremiah Njovu and Chavuka ward MMD councillor Abraham Zulu. Eastern Province police commissioner Grace Chipalila, who confirmed the incident, said the injured were admitted to hospital and two of them have been discharged. Ms Chipalila said according to the information given to the police, the assault happened near Tikondane Lodge on the Great East Road. “We do not know what happened yet. The victims were rushed to the hospital because of the state they were in. For the two that have been discharged, we would like them to come to the police and tell us what transpired,” Ms Chipalila said. Ms Chipalila said police in Katete received a report of violence between 23:00 hours and midnight on Wednesday. And speaking from his hospital bed at St Francis Hospital here yesterday, one of the victims, Mr Njovu (Jeremiah), said he was attacked along Mozambique Road by people driving a Toyota Corolla around 22:00 hours on Wednesday night. “We were in Chimtende, about 40 kilometres from the boma [Katete] around 17:00 hours when we concluded our campaigns. I was tasked to ferry our people back to their homes. My last trip was to Chavuka ward along Mozambique Road and I was attacked by PF cadres on my way back,” Mr Njovu said. And Mr Phiri (Michael) alleged that his brother, David, organised people to beat him up because he belonged to the MMD. But Mr (David) Phiri said he had no personal differences with his brother and the allegations were not true. “Why should I arrange people to beat up my brother… we have had no personal differences at all. From what I was told, Michael was distributing money,” he said. Meanwhile, Minister of Defence Geoffrey Mwamba has condemned the violent clash in Katete. Mr Mwamba, who is campaign manager for the PF in the Mkaika by-election, said it is unfortunate that the cadres decided to “take the law into their own hands”. The Mkaika by-election fell vacant when former MMD member of Parliament David Phiri defected to the PF. Mr Mwamba said anyone found breaking the law must be apprehended and handed over to the police, as opposed to meting out instant justice on suspects. “What transpired is very unfortunate. I received a report that three suspected MMD cadres were distributing money. Suspected PF cadres apprehended them and started beating them before handing them over to the police. They also took them to the PF candidate’s [Mr Phiri] house but he advised them to take the suspects to the police,” he said. Mr Mwamba called on law enforcement officers to thoroughly investigate the matter. He said the PF administration does not condone violence and that the incident is regrettable and must be condemned. Meanwhile, the Mkaika parliamentary by-election was yesterday marred by voter apathy. Mkaika constituency has 38 polling stations in eight wards. Three candidates contesting the by-election cast their votes but voting in most of the polling stations, which opened at 06:00 hours, was slow. At Omelo Mumba polling station, out of 4,250 registered voters, only 800 had voted by midday while at Chikwanda School, out of 705, only 135 had voted by midday and at Chimtende, 300 had voted out of the registered 1,293 voters. At Kafunkha, 496 out of 1,445 had cast their ballots and at Lukweta polling station, 220 voters out of 730 registered voters had voted while 198 out of 903 registered voters had voted by 13:00 hours at Nthambo polling centre. And 238 out of 771 registered voters had voted at Tosa while 128 out of 483 voters had cast their ballots at Kwenje polling centre by press time. At Chimasuko, only 310 out of 1,025 registered voters had voted by midday. PF candidate David Phiri cast his vote at Chimtende school, 40 kilometres away from Katete town while UNIP candidate Nelson Mwale voted at Chinkombe school and MMD’s candidate Peter Phiri voted at Omelo Mumba school. NAREP candidate Nigel Mpakateni could not vote because he registered in Munali constituency in Lusaka. Proud Ushi Musamba Mumba..
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 21:13:26 +0000
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