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Hakainde Hichilema throughout a press briefing at his residence in Lusaka, after profitable the election.
Zambia’s newly-elected President Hakainde Hichilema on Sunday appointed new navy chiefs and changed all police commissioners after promising to finish the earlier regime’s heavy-handedness.
Proper teams accused Hichilema’s predecessor Edgar Lungu of main a “brutal crackdown” on dissent, with police violence claiming no less than 5 lives since he was formally elected in 2016.
Hichilema, who took workplace final week, has been arrested over a dozen instances throughout his political profession and made restoring freedoms a linchpin of his electoral guarantees.
READ | ‘Cattle boy’ millionaire: Meet Zambia’s new president Hakainde Hichilema
In a televised tackle to the nation, Hichilema on Sunday introduced the appointment of latest military and airforce chiefs, in addition to a brand new head of the southern African nation’s defence wing.
“I’m relieving all commissioners of police with speedy impact,” he added, with out offering causes for the replacements.
He additionally urged police to conduct thorough checks earlier than detaining suspects, stressing that “nobody needs to be arrested earlier than investigations are concluded”.
Hichilema beat his long-term rival Lungu in 12 August polls by a landslide of just about a million votes — a victory hailed as a democratic milestone for opposition actions in Africa.
Throughout his inauguration speech on Tuesday, he promised to crack down on political “thuggery” and repression, reassuring impartial media they’d now not face tear gasoline or shutdowns.
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