Police summon Mundubile, Makebi over alleged national security threats

25 Views The Zambia Police Service (ZPS) has summoned former Leader of Opposition in Parliament Brian Mundubile and lawyer Makebi Zulu for questioning over alleged links to “serious national security threats,” Inspector General of Police Graphel C. Musamba has announced. In a statement issued Thursday, Musamba said police, working with other Law Enforcement Agencies, have […]

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The Zambia Police Service (ZPS) has summoned former Leader of Opposition in Parliament Brian Mundubile and lawyer Makebi Zulu for questioning over alleged links to “serious national security threats,” Inspector General of Police Graphel C. Musamba has announced.

In a statement issued Thursday, Musamba said police, working with other Law Enforcement Agencies, have been conducting investigations “for the past few years relating to serious national security threats.”

“The Police has invited Mr. Brian Mundubile and Mr. Makebi Zulu for questioning in connection with various crimes to which they have been linked,” the statement read. “To that end, an official call-out has since been served on their Advocates, and we do hope that they will avail themselves on the specified date.”

According to the police chief, the interviews will seek to “establish the link and connection between Mundubile and Zulu, on one hand, and the various alarming activities that have been going on in the country, on the other hand, which have the potential to threaten or undermine national security.”

Musamba added that “some of” those activities “have been conducted on premises owned, managed or linked to Mundubile or Zulu.”

The Inspector General disclosed that the two men “have sought refuge under International Law with a known International Organisation.” He said Government has already engaged the organisation.

“The Government has already communicated with the said Organisation and made assurances that the suspects are entitled to the due process of the law and their fundamental human rights, and that there is no harm intended to be done to them in any way,” Musamba stated.

Police said more people may be called in. “The Police is likely to invite other members of the public who may be regarded to have information that may be of high value to the ongoing investigations,” the statement said, urging the public “to cooperate and help with investigations whenever they are lawfully summoned.”

Musamba warned against non-compliance: “In the event that a person of interest under the said ongoing investigations fails to avail themselves to the Police or responds with threats, violence or blatant attack on law enforcement officers, the applicable laws and proportionate measures will be taken.”

The police also announced a wider crackdown. “The Police is also actively investigating crimes of terrorism and terrorist financing, which are a threat to national security,” Musamba said, and cautioned the public “not to harbour, collaborate or assist persons who are known to be persons of interest to, or wanted by, the Police.”

“Any person or organisation involved in the financing of activities of persons of interest and their collaborators will be deemed as accessories, and therefore, subject to criminal sanctions,” he added.

The statement concluded with an appeal for calm: “We wish to advise members of the public to desist from engaging in criminal activities and remain law-abiding citizens who should maintain peace for the good of the sovereign Republic of Zambia and its people.”