Temporary ban on political rallies

Zambian police said on Thursday they had banned political rallies in light of a solar eclipse on 21 June and an Organisation of African Unity summit in July, Reuters reported. Opposition parties immediately rejected the ban as illegal and said they would ignore it. Police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba said rallies were banned between 15-26 June and between 2-10 July - because Zambia did not have enough security officers to monitor rallies as well as police the two events. The first solar eclipse of the new millennium and the first in Zambia for 380 years will be seen across Zambia, as well as Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Madagascar on 21 June. “We need to mobilise all police officers available for the two events. That’s why we have to scale down on other activities that can be rescheduled, such as rallies,” Kajoba said.