Tue, 05 Sep 2017 10:23:44 +0000
By Bennie Mundando
STONES flew, weapons of all kinds were unleashed, as innocent residents scampered for safety after an atmosphere of terror and panic reminiscent of the 2016 campaign period precipitated in Chilanga on Sunday after UPND hired thugs vented their anger on innocent residents after their rally flopped.
The UPND rally is said to have been a total failure as not even the hired cadres from Lusaka and surrounding areas could draw a reasonable crowd. This forced organisers to cut short the event which was scheduled to run until late afternoon.
The hired thugs then allegedly vented their anger on the residents whom they indiscriminately attacked for not pitching up for the much-publicised rally.
As they entered the residential area, they bundled anyone they could lay their hands on, and beat them up, leaving a number of them hospitalised.
Narrating the ordeal to the Daily Nation yesterday, Chilanga Patriotic Front ward youth chairperson Augustine Zulu said no one followed the UPND to the rally or provoked but angry cadres started beating people without a cause.
Mr. Zulu said the incident left many people in Chilanga shell-shocked as the UPND were allowed to publicise their rally without any interference.
They met no opposition from other political parties who may have wanted to disrupt the UPND meeting but wondered what motivated the attack.
“We never went to the UPND rally. Out of anger that their rally was poorly attended, they entered into the residential area and started beating up people. They went to our office and smashed window panes. It must be put on record that those people who attacked innocent people in Chilanga do not stay here,
“The UPND hired thugs were ferried from Lusaka and this means it was a planned move to come here and cause havoc for reasons best known to themselves,” Mr. Zulu said.
He accused the UPND of courting political violence and they had continued from where they left off last year where they hacked people at will on account of not belonging to their political party. “If this is the way UPND is going to do politics, they risk going into oblivion because no one would want to be associated with this kind of barbarism,” he said
