Lungu Fires Police Commissioner Hudson Hamachila

President Lungu has dismissed the Police Commissioner for Northwestern Province Hudson Hamachila after the police force continually failed to secure reserves of illegally mined gold under his command.

The president relieved Commissioner Hamachila at the police headquarters in Lusaka. He thanked the commissioner for his services to the government and wished him well in his future endeavours.

Last week, President Lungu expressed his disappointment that police command in North-Western Province had failed to obtain illicit gold supplies and that people were able to continue mining precious minerals such as gold illegally when these materials are so vital to national development.

The president said police in the region had not provided adequate security to safeguard these precious resources. He consequently redeployed Commissioner Hamachila to police HQ in Lusaka prior to his termination. 

President Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) party recently established a 25-member delegation to investigate the illegal mining in Northwestern Province - a move which has attracted a large amount of criticism from outside the government.

National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Chishimba Kambwili called the plan ‘an investigation of thieves by thieves’, arguing that the PF was not a law enforcement agency.

“Let this matter be investigated by the police independently. Once the police give a report, PF must act on the report of the police,” he said. 

Mr Kambwili said the government’s actions regarding the missing gold were highly suspicious and demanded to know on what grounds Police Commissioner Hamachila had been sacked.

“We need to know who is involved in this and how much plunder they have done because that gold is supposed to benefit all the people of Zambia,” he added. 

Hudson Hamachila