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COPPERBELT Police have refuted claims on social media that they stopped Citizens First Party president Harry Kalaba from campaigning in Chingola District.

Copperbelt Province Police Commanding Officer Rae Hamoonga said the allegations are “false, misleading and do not reflect the true sequence of events.”

Hamoonga said Kalaba and his entourage were allowed to conduct scheduled campaign activities “without any interference from the police.”

However, he said that during the campaign the entourage tried to alter the agreed programme by introducing an unscheduled route and additional stopovers that had not been notified to police.

“Police officers on the ground merely advised the campaign team to adhere to the notified programme in order to ensure effective security management, traffic control and the safety of both the candidate’s supporters and members of the general public,” Hamoonga said.

He said the advice was in line with established procedures and was given “solely to facilitate orderly campaigns, not to curtail any political activity.”

“At no time did the Zambia Police Service in Copperbelt stop or prevent Mr Kalaba from conducting his campaigns,” Hamoonga added.

“The campaign programme continued peacefully, and there was no incident in which police officers disrupted or terminated his political activities.”

(Mwebantu, Thursday, 6th August, 2026)