Stop masquerading as freedom fighters - Walamba

By MUYANI SHINJABALE

ANDOLA magistrate’s court has heard that a 16-year-old boy punched a teacher, who was in the process of stopping him from smoking a prohibited substance.

Presenting written facts in court, a state prosecutor said the teacher, Paul Bwalya, had received information that there were some boys who were smoking in the school premises.

On February this year, the boy assaulted Mr Bwalya a teacher of Kansenshi Combined Primary and Secondary School, thereby occasioning actual bodily harm.

The boy has admitted the charge and appeared before Ndola Magistrate Ben Akende.

The court heard that during the time he committed the offence, the boy was in the company of other teenagers and all of them are not pupils at the institution.

When Mr Bwalya accosted him, the boy refused to comply with the instructions to stop smoking in the school premises and instead punched him just above the right eye, inflicting a cut and bleeding.

The offender later ran away but was apprehended by some members of the public and taken to Kansenshi Police post.

Mr Akende adjourned the case to Thursday next week while the boy was remanded in custody.

THERE are too many people masquerading as freedom fighters and this is making it difficult for stakeholders to identify genuine ones, veteran politician Timothy Walamba has said.

Mr Walamba complained that he had been receiving information about a new association of freedom fighters which had been approaching the Chinese asking for help.

He said those masquerading must stop immediately.

The former Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) President advised stakeholders to seek clarification with Freedom Fighters Association led by Sikota Wina.

Mr Walamba, who also served under Kenneth Kaunda as UNIP members of the central committee, suggested that genuine freedom fighters in other groupings should come together and hold elections so that the Freedom fighters could come up with one association.

He was speaking in an interview in Kitwe yesterday.

"As freedom fighters, we know each other and so if some people are masquerading as freedom fighters, we will be able to know them. We need to identify who are genuine freedom fighters and get rid of masqueraders.

"If we have another association which has genuine freedom fighters, then we should come together and hold elections so that we make it easy for government to help us,'' Mr Walamba said.

Mr Walamba said he was in support of the sentiments by Copperbelt Province Per manent Secretary Bright Nundwe that government would start screening freedom fighters. He said the move would help to identify genuine freedom fighters and make it easy for government to support senior citizens who participated in the liberation struggle.

"We would like to revive the ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ motto which is aimed at promoting unity and peace in Zambia,'' he said.

And Mr Walamba said politicians and traditional leaders who were bent on dividing the nation were enemies of peace. He said he had observed with disappointment that some politicians were putting their personal interest first and issuing statements that had the ability to divide the nation.