NGO ASKS POLICE TO BAR PUBLIC RALLIES

By OLIVER SAMBOKO THE Christian Coalition on the Copperbelt has appealed to the Police not to allow political rallies in the region following the detection of the Indian variance of covid 19 in the country. In a letter addressed to Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja and Copied to Copperbelt Police Commissioner, Coalition provincial Coordinator, Kelvin Mwilu stated that the church in the region was concerned that allowing political players to hold rallies would spur the spread of the virus. He said political parties can still use other avenues to campaign as opposed to having rallies.   “As  a Christian coalition on the  Copperbelt  Province, we are appealing  to  your good office not to issue permits to  political parties wanting  to  hold rallies in order to prevent the  spread of the Indian variance that has been detected in  Zambia. Political parties can use other avenues to campaign as opposed to having rallies,” read part of the letter to Mr Kanganja.  Zambia already recorded its first confirmed case of the highly contagious Indian COVID-19 variant in a man who recently travelled from the Asian country. And following the surge in the number of cases in India, the country was likely to encounter challenges in the acquisition of AstraZeneca through the COVAX facility due to increased demand in India. The country has to-date recorded 92,520 COVID-19 cases since March of last year.