Government confiscates travel documents from foreign nationals

Home Affairs Minister Steven Kampyongo says government has confiscated travel documents from foreign nationals behind the planned distribution of food hampers at OYDC which resulted in a stampede that left eight people dead and 28 others injured.

The Lesedi Seven, a grouping under the Church of Christ had planned to distribute food hampers to 35,000 people who had been invited for prayers at the Olympic Youth Development Center.

He has assured the nation that investigations into the stampede will be thorough and that the law will take its course.

Mr Kampyongo says the organizers of the event disregarded advice given to them by the ministries of national guidance and religious affairs and community development and social welfare that the manner in which they wanted to distribute food to the people in public was not right.

He adds that the stampede was also partly due to the failure by the conveners of the meeting to observe the provisions of the Public Order Act.

He says the organisers begun the programme earlier than indicated in their notification to the Zambia Police resulting in public disorder before the arrival of the Police at the scheduled time.

Mr Kampyongo states that the unfortunate incident at the Olympic Youth Development Center underscores the importance of complying with the provisions of the Public Order Act.

Meanwhile Mr. Kampyongo says Lusaka province has since January 2017 to date recorded 16 murder cases and eight aggravated cases resulting in five and eight arrests respectively.

QFM