Zambia Army Commander, Geoffrey Zyeele says the Army will deal administratively with the 17 recruits who beat up some residents of Mufulira following a provocation by taxi drivers last week.
Lieutenant General Zyeele says it is unfortunate that the recruits were involved in the fracas but has advised the public to refrain from provoking men and women in uniform especially the recruits.
He said this in an interview with ZANIS in Kabwe today.
“The principle that we have is that we never leave a colleague behind. These guys are young fellows who are just beginning their career who may be excited with a lot of energy and crossed the line in the process,” he said.
LT. Gen. Zyeele however said, the army is investigating the matter and will handle it administratively at the level of recruits.
“This is because they have just graduated from training and they are between a civilian and private soldier, they are just learning the rules of the game. We may understand them though we are not saying that what they did is right,” he said.
And earlier, when he paid a courtesy call on Central Province Minister Mwabashike Nkulukusa, LT. Gen Zyeele noted that Zambia has witnessed a lot of threats to national security citing the issue of illegal immigrants and illegal mining among the major ones.
“We have classified activities happening among our colleagues from neighbouring countries. We are holding some foreigners in our remand facilities. We need to carry out a database to understand how long they have been there and their background. Some of them may be of questionable character and their presence in our facilities may be a threat as they may be contacted by people from outside. We need the information in the interest of national security,” he advised.
LT. Gen. Zyeele also noted that threats to national security come in different forms citing the junkies and climate change.
“We are being told that there will be floods, and floods may come with other disasters. We need to coordinate in areas of preparedness and mitigation,” he said.
He further said timely sharing of information can facilitate preparedness for disasters.
And Mr Nkulukusa bemoaned the increase in illegal immigrants where people are smuggled into the country from East Africa enroute to South Africa.
Mr Nkulukusa added that there is need to enhance security as well as address the issues of junkies terrorizing communities.
