NUMBER 30                                     AUGUST, 2001

By Delphine Hampande

POLICE officers have been accused of being scared of taking legal action against their fellow officers found guilty of an offence for fear of victimisation.

The officers are said to be shielding the officers found breaking the law by detaining them temporarily and later releasing them without either opening dockets for them or following up the case.

The Legal Resources Foundation has since challenged the police service to fish out all officers operating unprofessionally because the few that were doing so were denting the image of the organisation.

This was revealed in a case in which Sergeant Chiti based at Lilayi Police camp assaulted Silumau Chirwa, a University of Zambia student on June 17 this year, after accusing him of inciting his friends to beat some police officers during a match played at Lilayi Police college between UNZA and Lilayi police.

Silumau said the fight started when a player from Lilayi got hurt in the game and this brought confusion but was sorted out immediately. Lilayi was leading.

He said when the students equalised, they started celebrating running about in the pitch and after a few minutes, he just saw Chiti grabbing him by his shirt and punching him saying that students were becoming stupid just because they won the match.

Silumau sustained eye injuries.

And according to the medical report obtained by the LRF News, Silumau sustained a deep cut on both his eye and cheek.

He said Sergeant Chiti was later apprehended by UNZA security men and later took him to Chelstone police station where he was detained briefly and later released the same day.

Silumau complained that from that time he had been trying to chase up the issue to make the sergeant compensate him for assault to no avail.

Kaunda Square Legal Advice Centre paralegal Adrophine Bubala is handling the case.

IDASA Impressed With LRF

By Madube Pasi Siyauya

The Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)’s rapid expansion programme has been described as dramatic by a consultant from an organisation called IDASA.

Derrick Marco who was in the country on institutional tutoring to LRF last month said in its quest to achieve its goal, LRF has made it possible for very citizen to have access to Law and get justice in abuses of human rights for the people in the rural areas and compounds.

He said the organisation was going through a challenging time to achieve its objectives with limited resources at their disposal.

He said he was particularly impressed with the commitment of staff especially the paralegals that sit in tiny offices.

He said that the commitment of staff is an indication that LRF would make it. He said he saw a lot of potential in LRF to utilise its national capacity to implement additional challenges.

He said an organisation such as LRF is very important in a country like Zambia, which is still undergoing development were people have no economic power to access legal support.

LRF has so far reached seven out of the nine provinces in Zambia.

Widow Wins Back House

By Madube Pasi Siyauya

Dorothy Sichone a widow with four children was assisted by Legal Resources Foundation to obtain possession of a house that was bought by her late husband Derrick Sichone.

Sichone was a lecturer at Kabwe Trades Training Institute and died in May 2000.

Before he was allocated the house, it was occupied by a retired senior lecturer Oswel Belt Mulenga who retired in 1993.

Mulenga thought that he was entitled to purchase of the house under the presidential directive on the sale of government pool houses.

LRF commenced action for possession of the house on behalf of the widow. The order was granted by Justice Tamula Kakusa on May 4, 2001. Sichone took possession of the house July 13, 2001 after LRF issued a writ of possession.

Mulenga had to be evicted from the house.

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