Luapula Province Police Commissioner Hudson Namachila says Chipili independent member of parliament Jewis Chabi who was arrested on Wednesday for pulling down PF flags in Mansa has been charged with malicious damage, released on bond.

He confirmed this in an interview with News Diggers! adding that Chabi would appear in the Mansa Magistrate Court on Thursday next week.

Commissioner Namachila who also disclosed that a number of supporters went to visit Chabi at his police cell this morning, dispelled rumours that protests had broken out in Chipili Constituency following the arrest of the independent lawmaker.

“Yes he was arrested yesterday and he has been charged with malicious damage. We had a complaint against him by the provincial youth chairperson for PF who alleged that the honourable member of parliament went to their site in town and pulled down the PF flags tore them. That same flag has been brought to the police station, we have it in our custody. So we have charged him for malicious damage and he will appear in Court next week on Thursday but he has been released on bond today,” Commissioner Namachila explained.

“I haven’t received any reports of protests because as far as I know we don’t have any such thing and it could not even be true, I haven’t heard of any protests. Of course we received a few members who came here to check on him (Chabi), a few supporters came here this morning at Mansa Central police, they have checked on him and have gone back. There is no protest anywhere,” said Commissioner Namachila.

And Chabi said he did not know that he would go to court for damaging a PF chitenge material said to be valued at K250.

“Yes I was released on bond this morning, there are no other conditions apart from giving them two working sureties and that I should go back to the police on Monday next week. They didn’t mention anything to do with Courts but of course I hear them calling it malicious damage because we uprooted a PF Chitenge which has been mounted at a bus station as a flag, so they said malicious damage to property valued at 250. Now you can imagine; where in this world someone can purchase a Chitenge like that one for PF at that amount,” said Chabi.

“But this is not time for elections or campaigns for the district council to have allowed such a thing to happen because that flag was put at a public station in town and it was causing confusions and you can imagine what could happen if we all did that. But its nothing big, it will all pass.”