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——Police in Solwezi have arrested a Tanzanian national who went on rampage stabbing three people and killing one in Kyawama compound.
North Western Province Police Commissioner, Eugene Sibote, and the uncle of the deceased confirmed the arrest of Jonas Juma, 26, of Kyawama compound.
Mr Sibote said Juma stabbed Frank Mwelwa, 22, in the right ribs with a knife and the victim died on the way to the hospital.
He said the assailant also stabbed and inflicted serious wounds on three other people on the same fateful night.
He named the three that were wounded as Johnson Kachelewa, 22, who suffered a deep wound on the left thigh, Chushi Kunda, 19, who was stabbed in the left should and Sylvester Mwale, who was wounded in the right shoulder.
Mr Sibote said the Tanzanian national is in custody facing a charge of murder.
And Mr Sibote said police officers have also been deployed in Kyawama to monitor the situation after some unruly youths angered by the killing of Mwelwa were reported to be planning to take vengeance against Tanzanian nationals in Kyawama.
“The person who caused the unfortunate death is in our custody. What we are saying is that there is no need for anyone to extend the vengeance to other people just because they are foreign nationals,” Mr Sibote said.
He warned that anyone who will try to cause any confusion will be treated as a criminal and the law will not spare that person as police are aware that some irresponsible people want to create confusion in order to commit crimes by stealing or looting.
And Solwezi District Commissioner, Crispin Likando, visited the funeral house of the diseased and counselled the bereaved family.
Mr Likando urged the bereaved family and the people in Kyawama to mourn the deceased in a peaceful and respectful manner.
He said there is no need to resort to violence against other Tanzanian nationals in the district as the crime was committed by one person that police have arrested.
Meanwhile, the uncle of the 22-year-old-man, who died of a knife wound after being stabbed by a Tanzanian national in Solwezi, is not happy with law enforcement agencies that allowed the killer, who is a prohibited immigrant to roam freely instead of being in prison.
Mr Rhodes Kachelewa, who narrated the circumstances in which his nephew, Frank, died after being stabbed, showed ZANIS documentation that included a police report and a notice of prohibited immigrant to leave Zambia issued to the Tanzanian.
On January 25, 2013, Zambia police issued a police report addressed to immigration authorities to assist a Tanzanian national, Jonas Juma, in anyway.
This is after Juma, 26, reported being attacked by three unknown people who robbed him of his passport and other personal property worth KR 2,300.
And on February 1, 2013, the Immigration Office in Solwezi issued a notice of prohibited immigrant to Juma and ordered him to leave the country within 14 days.
However, instead of detaining Juma in prison as required by law, the immigration authorities let him scot free.
Mr Kachelewa, said he partially blames the law enforcement authorities in Solwezi for the death of his nephew because they had every reason to detain Juma in prison but left him to move freely.
He is demanding to know why the immigration authorities allowed Juma to live outside prison while awaiting his deportation as a Prohibited Immigrant (PI).
And when asked to comment on the matter, North Western Province Police Commissioner, Eugene Sibote, said the practice is that prohibited immigrants are supposed to be in prison.
Mr Sibote said the fact that the PI was out of prison can be explained by the immigration authorities.
“If he had no legal status to stay in the country and was declared PI he was supposed to be arrested and taken to prison. The fact that he was out, the immigration office must explain why they let him to roam free,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from immigration office in Solwezi proved futile as the newly appointed Regional Immigration Officer was reported to be travelling from Lusaka.
