Zambia’s president fires army chiefs in rare military sackings

Lusaka. Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Monday sacked the army commander and his deputy, a rare firing of the top military brass in the country.

He did not give reasons for removing Lieutenant-General Paul Mihova but cautioned his successor, William Sikazwe, not to abuse the authority of the office and to respect the hierarchy.

“(The) Zambia army is renowned in Africa and beyond to have very disciplined officers and I expect you to continue maintaining that discipline,” Lungu told the new army boss shortly after he swore him in.

“Remind the men and women in uniforms that discipline is about respecting the hierarchy of power.

“I don’t expect anybody to abuse that power of responsibility,” Lungu said during the ceremony broadcast on state radio.

Mihova was appointed head of the army in 2011 by the late president Michael Sata.

His deputy, Major-General Jackson Miti, was only recently appointed to the second most powerful position in the army.

President Lungu has been accused of cracking down on dissent since winning a contested election in 2016. Elsewhere, police in Sierra Leone fired tear gas and rubber bullets at supporters of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party, injuring one, during protests following the arrest of a former minister for alleged corruption. “Dozens of people were arrested during the protest for disorderly conduct at the headquarters of the opposition APC party on Monday,” police said. (AFP)

“Police fired teargas canisters into our party office and one of our supporters was severely wounded”, Karamo Kabba, a senior APC member told AFP, adding the protest had been peaceful.

“We are not inciting anybody to perpetuate violence against the Government, but we are against ‘witch hunting’ of former government officials”, APC secretary general Alhaji Osman Yansaneh told AFP.

Former defence minister Paolo Conteh was arrested Friday but released on bail Monday, police said.

The Minister of Information and Communication Abdurrahman Swarray in a statement accused former president and APC head Ernest Bai Koroma of inciting tribal violence.

“It’s an irresponsible statement by the APC calling for tribal violence in the country”, The Minister of Information and communication Abdurrahman Swarray said.

Conteh was detained along with Sannah Marrah, the defence ministry’s former director general, at the Criminal Investigation Department on Friday.

Both face charges, the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commission said.

The commission added officials are investigating allegations of corruption over procurement of military vehicles, uniforms and rice in 2015 in a procurement contract worth a reported $10 million.

On his release, Conteh was received by jubilant opposition party supporters holding placards and singing political victory songs in the capital Freetown.