Police deny teargasing Ngonis at Chief Mpezeni failed meeting

Police have denied using tear gas to disperse Ngonis who assembled at Dwankhonzi Secondary School to attend a meeting called by Paramount Chief Mpezeni last Sunday.
Eastern Province Police Commissioner, Eugene Sibote has told journalists that it is sad that wrong information was disseminated that police teargased the villagers.
Mr. Sibote says that no one turned up for the meeting, stating that only police officers who were deployed and school pupils were at the school until 16:00 hours.
And Mr. Sibote says that police had received an intelligence report that the Chewas who were opposing the meeting were geared to cause chaos if the meeting had been allowed to take place.
He said initially, the police had advised the concerned parties not to go ahead with the meeting but police were surprised that announcements were even done on radio stations regarding the same meeting.
Mr Sibote implored the media to get the right information when reporting.
The move by police and Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kasolo to stop the meeting angered Paramount Chief Mpezeni, who accused government of lacking respect for traditional authorities.