There was a near riot at Kapiri Mposhi civic center this morning after stakeholders discovered that the strong room where ballot papers for April 23 by-election was found open with some ballot paper booklets missing.
Police had to use teargas to disburse cadres that wanted to met out instant justice to the security guard who was manning the place.
Political
parties and other stakeholders today took to
task Kapiri Mposhi District Electoral officer and
demanded to know why the access room where
the ballot papers for the next week’s elections was
left open over night.
But
District Electoral officer who is also Kapiri Mposhi district Council
Secretary Mpande Hamwende who was at pain to explain to
the political parties said he does not
know who opened the room but assured the parties
concerned that all the papers were intact and ruled out
accusation of rigging.
Mr
Hamwende said he was confident that the papers were intact
and that no box was tempered with according to the
serial numbers issued by the printer in the United Kingdom
and asked them not to panic.
He
explained that the only papers which were opened were the
ballot papers samples which showed all the candidate
and insisted that none of the ballot boxes were opened.
Central
Commissioner of police Standwell Lungu said calm had returned but police was
monitoring the situation.
And there are reports of PF having
imported hundreds of cadres from Copperbelt’s Mukuba ward who are beating
people in Kapiri Mposhi.
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