‘GBM must comply’

THE Ministry of Home Affairs has said Kasama Member of Parliament Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba is not above the law and as such should not dictate conditions to the police on when he will appear before them to answer assault charges.
Meanwhile, Mr Mwamba has insisted that he has never refused to appear before police to answer to the Charges.
Home Affairs spokesperson Moses Suwali said Mr Mwamba, who is popularly known as GBM, must realise that he is not above the law despite his status in society and that he should comply with police instructions.
Mr Suwali said in an interview that it was actually in the best interest of Mr Mwamba to avail himself to the police to clear himself against charges that he assaulted Collins Mundai, the operations manager at one of his companies, Arizona Marketing.
“There are no sacred cows. When any one is found wanting and commits a crime, no one is above the law. Government has repeatedly said that no one is above the law. If he’s eluding the police, it means he’s guilty of something. But he is not supposed to dictate conditions to the police.
“The only thing we can ask Mr Mwamba is to own up. If he keeps running it means he’s guilty, if he’s not guilty let him go and answer the charges leveled against him,” he said.
Mr Mwamba was summoned to appear before Matero police last Tuesday but rescheduled it to Friday and still failed to appear because his lawyers who should have accompanied him were reportedly attending a court case.
On Saturday, police searched his Kabulonga residence but the search drew a blank as he was reportedly on the Copperbelt.
In an interview yesterday, Mr Mwamba said he has never refused to appear before the police but that he did not want to present himself alone without his lawyers Sakwiba Sikota and Makebi Zulu who were attending a case in which they are representing former President Rupiah Banda.
“I have never refused to appear before the police. I know their game plan; they just wanted to embarrass me. Why should they look for me like a needle instead of pursuing people who have murdered some of our own PF members in cold blood?” he asked.
He said his intimidation by the police was a temporal setback which he will soon be overcome because God always fights all the battles with his enemies which is why he always overcomes them.
The former defence minister yesterday posted on his Facebook wall that he was ready to face the police and bragged that he was a brave warrior who was ready to go to jail.
He was also quoted on Muvi TV claiming that an agreement was reached between police and his lawyers to skip Friday’s scheduled appearance at Matero police to allow for his lawyers to be available when he appears today.
Mr Mwamba wondered why police officers went to the extent of searching for him at his residence as if he was a murderer. He added that the whole episode had nothing to do with his failure to report to the police but that he was being victimised for resigning as defence minister.
But Mr Suwali defended the actions by the police whom he said were merely carrying out their duties vested in them by the constitution and called on Mr Mwamba to use his status in society to lead by example.
“In fact, the higher the status, the more obedient society expects from such people. We expect people of higher status in society to be more observant of laws than to be eluding the police,” Mr Suwali added.
He said the need for social justice could not be over emphasised, especially in pursuit of fair justice since the law was always objective and not subjective.

Times of Zambia