Chief appeals for detained boy
… release the boy, you know the suspects
CHIEFTAINESS Mwenda has expressed disappointment at the lacklustre manner in which police officers are dealing with the attempted ritual killing case in Chipili and has questioned the logic behind keeping a 13-year old boy who is a witness, in cells for three weeks.
CHIEFTAINESS MWENDA has expressed disappointment at the lacklustre manner in which police officers are dealing with the attempted ritual killing case in Chipili and has questioned the logic behind keeping a 13-year old boy who is a witness, in cells for three weeks. Speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, senior retainer, Charles Lufoma, said the traditional leadership and subjects were disgusted by what he termed as attempts to force the juvenile to change his statement. Mr. Lufoma said it did not make sense that the boy who was a mere witness had spent almost the whole month in police custody while suspects were bonded without any charge and wondered what investigations police were carrying out when they knew the people behind the crime. “When the matter was reported to the palace, we called for a meeting and called the boy to testify. The boy pointed at the two suspects in the presence of over 200 people who attended the meeting. We then called the police and again, the boy pointed at the duo as being the ones who wanted to kill James Mubanga, whose manhood they attempted to chop. “After the meeting, the boy and his father were summoned to Chipili police station where he gave another consistent statement and pointed at these two people but police did nothing. It was only after people rioted that they detained the suspects and the boy and transferred them to Mansa where they were put in the same cell. These suspects have been bonded while the small boy is still languishing in police cells,” Mr. Lufoma said. He said it was clear that there were attempts to force the boy to give a different statement so that other people could be arrested. “We hear two more people were picked and one of them is still in detention but all this is simply aimed at diverting from the real suspects. Police must not hide in the name of investigating the matter because people know what is going on. People are annoyed here and they must not take them for granted,” he warned. And mother of the detained boy, Elizabeth Chama (Pictured left), yesterday told the Daily Nation that police officers had asked them to surrender her son’s medical documents and suspect that they wanted to use that as an excuse that the boy was mentally disturbed and therefore could not be trusted as star witness in the matter. “My son suffers from seizures and we are sure this information was given to them by the same people they are trying to protect. They want to build a case from there that he is mentally disturbed and cannot be relied upon but medical records show that he is mentally sound. “If he was a mental patient, he would not have been in school and so, they should not even play games over this matter but just own up and arrest the suspects,” Ms. Chama said. Luapula Province police commissioner Elias Chushi has told the Daily Nation to stay out of the case and allow the police to do its job.