INEPT POLICE RAPPED
... for failing to control rioting UNZA students
THE inefficiency exhibited by police in handling protests by University of Zambia (UNZA) students in Lusaka yesterday has been roundly condemned.
The students marched from campus into East Park Mall where they tried to break into Pick n Pay.
From East Park they swarmed into Manda Hill Mall unchallenged by police before marching towards the South African High Commission.
Some observers have said the failure by the police to maintain order during the planned protests by the students was a sign of ineptitude.
The students were protesting against the continued xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Police were nowhere to be seen as the students rampaged through the modern complexes.
The situation would have been worse had call boys and street vendors joined the students.
The thousands of students later marched to the South African High Commission where police blocked then from scaling the security wall into the complex.
But they lit a fire under the sign post with the South African flag as police looked on after their feeble attempt to stop them failed.
Leading the condemnation was Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo who had to personally intervene and diffuse an imminent clash between the students and the outnumbered police in order to avoid damage.
Mr Lusambo, who denounced the acts of xenophobia in South Africa, said police should have ensured that students protested peacefully without damaging any property.
Mr Lusambo said in an interview although the country was aggrieved with what was happening in South Africa, destroying property was not the answer.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has condemned the violence in South Africa against foreigners.
He said attacks targeted at foreigners called for urgent collective measures by the South African government and regional bodies. President Lungu said the South African government and the regional bodies should ensure that the xenophobic attacks were brought to an end immediately.
And Bible Gospel Church in Africa (BIGOCA) presiding Bishop Peter Ndhlovu says police should have contained the situation before it degenerated into chaos.
Meanwhile, UNZA Council and management have condemned the action by the students to express their dissatisfaction with the current developments in South Africa.
Council chairperson for the caretaker committee Namucana Musiwa said conflicts were resolvable in all cases through dialogue.
Thousands of aggrieved UNZA students, joined by their colleagues from Evelyn Hone, and National Institute of Public Administration yesterday took to the streets and later stormed the South African High Commission.
On the Copperbelt, South African owned stores were closed in Kitwe and Ndola for fear of being attacked and looted.
Among the shops that have been closed in the Ccentral business districts (CBD) in the two Copperbelt towns were Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Hungry Lion, PEP Stores, Ackermans, Multichoice Zambia and Furn City.
Shoprite Copperbelt regional manager Nancy Chifulo said the stores were following advice from police.
In Ndola, armed police sealed Pick n Pay on President Avenue, which remained closed as a horde of on-lookers milled around the area.There was tension around the area from morning up to the afternoon.