Kamwala, Misisi residents demand intensive police patrols

RESIDENTS of Lusaka’s Kamwala and Misisi townships have called on the police to intensify night patrols to curb the high crime rate in the two areas.
The areas have been experiencing unprecedented levels of crime in the recent past in which the residents have been losing various household goods.
Some of the residents said crime had now become the order of the day as thieves were frequently breaking in people’s homes where they got away with thousands of Kwacha in cash and household items.
John Simumba, a Kamwala resident, said the situation was out of hand as petty thieves and armed robbers were in a habit of even beating up people, leaving them for dead.
Mr Simumba wondered what the police were doing in order to bring sanity to the area because if the situation continued many lives would be lost.
“The police are not doing anything to stop these hooligans because the crime rate in the area has reached alarming levels and if nothing is done we are going to lose more lives,” he said.

Frank Musumali, a resident of Misisi Township, said the situation had become dangerously serious because of the gangs that had been raiding people’s homes.
“Not long ago one gang brutally attacked and robbed a man who was coming from a drinking spree from one of the taverns in the township,” Mr Musumali said.
He said there was need to construct more police posts in Misisi Township because the area was big with a large population which could not be contained.
Mr Musumali said the crime rates were very high because the area only had one police post which could not handle the population.
Police spokesperson Charity Chanda said officers were carrying out patrols from18:00 hours to 06:00 hours. She, however, said that the police had a limited number of officers in the area.
Ms Chanda urged local people to join neighbourhood watch committees to help the police curb the vice.
She said the Police Service had advertised for people to join the police reserve as a way of reinforcing the limited number of officers who were overwhelmed with too many tasks.