Police seize National Registration Cards from Sr. Chief Musele

Police seize National Registration Cards from Sr. Chief Musele

 

Solwezi, January 9, 2015 ZANIS—Police have seized 584 National Registration Cards (NRC’S) belonging to some people in Senior Chief Musele’s area in Solwezi District which were in the custody of Senior Chief Musele.

 

North -western Province Commissioner of Police Eugene Sibote told ZANIS today that Police acted after a tip off from an anonymous caller that some people risked being disenfranchised in this month’s Presidential by- election due to the fact that their NRC’S were in the custody of the Chief.

 

Mr. Sibote who dispatched his officers to Musele area after an investigation found that the Chief had been keeping the NRC cards since 2008 in contravention of the law and infringement of people’s rights.

 

He stated that by keeping the cards since 2008, the Senior Chief had disenfranchised people from voting in the 2011 elections and violated their rights to ownership of their cards.

 

Police were told that Senior Chief Musele was demanding K50, 00 or a chicken from each person whose card he was holding on to before he could release it to the individual.

 

The Police Commissioner revealed that Senior Chief Musele was keeping the cards after they were handed over to him by the court following a dispute between him and a village headman only identified as Lubango who had collected cards from people so that he could change them to bear his name instead of the Chief.

 

Mr. Sibote said Police have warned the Chief against taking the law into his own hands adding that no one was above the law, even traditional leaders were not exceptional.

 

He said starting next week, Police, together with officers from the National

Registration office will go to the chiefdom to hand back the NRC’S to the owners.

 

ZANIS / ENDS/HM/MCM———————————-MCM