ZAMBIA- Home Affairs Minister, Edgar Lungu, says Zambia government will prosecute violence perpetuators regardless of their political affiliation and offices they hold.

He said this while reacting to the internal crises rocking the ruling Patriotic Party (PF) which left at least one person dead.

“The police will not be intimidated by the position of people or the status of people involved in committing crime and will pounce on them regardless of their status or in terms of their affiliation in terms of politics, like a ton of bricks and [bring them] to book,” said Lungu.

Reacting to talks that the ruling party uses violence to intimidate oppositions, Lungu disagrees with the insinuation, saying no one will be spared in the move to stabilize the peace of Zambia.

“We appreciate that the concerns are there and are genuine, and as law enforcement agencies we have taken note of the situation and swung into action. We will bring to book suspected of being culprits, and show of confidence amongst our people. We have deployed as many as possible police where we think there could be [violence],” he said.

About accusation on President Michael Sata’s alleged failure to protect Zambians according to the constitution of the country, Lungu said;

“The preparedness of the police has been evident by the fact that they swung into action quickly and put the situation under control immediately. For me really, there is no need for anxiety among the people in the country. It’s only that there has been this heightened tension based on the fact that this arose from differences among people who belong to the same political party.”

Lungu says that the government is working to allay the fears and anxiety expressed by Zambians due to the infighting within the ruling party which recently turned violent.