By DELPHINE ZULU and SAM PHIRI –
POLICE in Lusaka have launched a manhunt for suspended MMD national secretary Muhabi Lungu for illegally holding a meeting at his house yesterday against police instructions.

. Lungu

Mr Lungu, who is alleged to be on the run following the illegal meeting, had connived with other expelled MMD members to hold the meeting, ignoring earlier instructions by the police not to do so.
Lusaka Province Police Chief Charity Katanga said in an interview yesterday that her office had launched a search for Mr Lungu in order for him to answer police charges.
“Yes I can confirm that Mr Lungu is on the run, we are looking for him so that we can follow the right procedure. He needs to be questioned and we record a warn-and-caution statement from him to know what transpired, that is the procedure,” Ms Katanga said.
Mr Lungu is being sought for alleged fraud of using MMD letter heads and signing on letters to the police as national secretary, knowing that he and 19 others had been expelled from the party, a fact that was confirmed by the court ruling.
But in an interview yesterday, Mr Lungu denied being on the run but that he had been in constant touch with the police and assured them that he would turn himself in today at 09:00 hours.
“I know the police very well. I had a lot of things to do over the weekend, including taking one of my children to school. I know they want to arrest me but I will be honest that it is common knowledge that I was not prepared to spend a night in cells because I cannot organise sureties over the weekend,” he said.
Mr Lungu could not give any further details as to what led him to go ahead with the meeting amid police instructions not to so.
The MMD media team in a statement yesterday said the meetings were illegal.
According to the statement, the meeting at Chrismar Hotel was disrupted by police but that the group moved to Mika Lodge where they were again dispersed and later reconvened at Mr Lungu’s premises.
The group resorted to sending hired cadres to the MMD secretariat to distract attention and took advantage of this to go ahead with the illegal meeting at Mr Lungu’s house.
The High Court ordered Mr Lungu, his agents or servants not to interfere with the operations of MMD president Nevers Mumba.
Meanwhile, Dr Mumba has urged ‘rebel’ members of Parliament (MP) to form their own political party and stop meddling in the affairs of the former ruling party.
Dr Mumba said he would not allow anyone get to the helm of the MMD presidency using the backdoor method of not following the laid-down procedure of holding a convention every after five years as enshrined in the MMD manifesto.