By Isaac Zulu
PF members that committed heneaos crime while in government are lucky to have Hakainde Hichilema as Republican President, otherwise they would have been taken to the Hague to answer to criminal charges, says Milner Mwanakampwe.
And Mwanakampwe has stated that lifting the immunity of former president Edgar Lungu without solid evidence to show that he committed crimes that warrant prosecution is tantamount to building castles in the air.
In an interview with Daily Revelation, Mwanakampwe, who is UPND Central Province youth chairman, explained that most UPND leaders suffered political persecution at the hands of the PF regime.
“First of all, they must thank their gods it is Mr Hakainde Hichilema who won the elections as Republican President, who has a big heart and is sober. If it were any reckless person the reckless behaviour of the PF leaders and the behaviour of Edgar Lungu during his reign of Presidency and prior to the elections require all of them to be taken to the Hague. They were reckless and their behaviour, the tendency to commit crimes with impunity was uncalled for,” said Mwanakampwe. “Our colleagues who are now crying or complaining of political persecution should know that UPND leaders were politically persecuted beyond ways. And one example is the President Mr Hichilema, whose house was broken into in the wee hours; they stole money, they stole food stuffs they threw teargas canisters at an unarmed human being and the wife and his children were traumatised.”
Mwanakampwe continued.
“I have in mind many other individuals from the UPND that suffered persecution at the hands of the PF. Honourable (Garry) Nkombo was charged for murder, again, with Mr Hichilema. You may wish to know that myself I was picked from Church (in Kabwe), taken to Kabwata Police and they picked me from Kabwata Police at midnight and took me to UTH mortuary where they left me; only to be picked around 05:00 hours. If that is not political persecution; then I don’t know what. If they were busy killing people and we remind them that umulandu taubola, they want to cry foul and complaining that that is political persecution,” he said.
He observed that Zambians have not forgotten about the criminal activities that were committed under the PF regime.
“Remember we don’t know yet who was behind the gassing incidences – the masterminder – but the police and investigators know, they know who burnt markets, they know who was involved in ritual murders, they know who killed Lawrence Banda, they know who killed Mapenzi Chibulu, they know who killed Nsama Nsama and Kaunda,” stressed Mwanakampwe. “And whoever shed blood, they will never enjoy their stolen money with sheds of blood on their hands. That we shall make sure.”
Mwanakampwe further reminded individuals that are currently serving in the UPND administration to draw lessons from PF members that are complaining of political persecution to avoid engaging in illegal activities.
“And this brings us to those that are now in the UPND, the UPND leaders. They must know that if you get in government, the next thing is to get out of government no matter how much you get drunk with power, one day you will get out of power,” said Mwanakampwe. “And if you steal whilst serving in the UPND, don’t come and cry of persecution when there’s change of government. If you are in the UPND and you want to steal, I can tell you that you are in a very wrong undertaking.”
He also said said that lifting the immunity of former president Lungu without solid evidence that he committed crimes that warrant prosecution is tantamount to building castles in the air.
“If there’s anything that Edgar Lungu committed whilst serving as Republican President, there are satutes that provide for the removal of the immunity of the former Head of State. You don’t just dream and stand up and say today we want to lift Edgar Lungu’s immunity. You have to raise charges which members of parliament debate convincingly. And once members of parliament debate, in their wisdom they will decide whether to remove president Edgar Lungu’s immunity or not,” explained Mwanakampwe. “For now, for people to start calling for the lifting of Lungu’s immunity will be tantamount to building castles in the air. You need to have solid evidence that indeed he committed crimes while serving as Head of State. Otherwise, it will be an exercise in futility.”
He was, however, quick to state that Lungu breached the Constitution by not handing over power to the Speaker of National Assembly during the 2016 presidential petition.
“That is treasonable. That alone warrants the lifting of his immunity if our members of parliament find merit in the allegation,” explained Mwanakampwe. “For now, people can keep on speculating. But for me, I don’t want to be part and parcel of those that are speculating that president Lungu’s immunity should be lifted. It should be done properly and with convincing reasons.”
