By Mubanga Mubanga
Socialist Party chief advisor to the party president, Brian Hapunda, says President Hakainde Hichilema should not be scared to declare his assets unless he has something to hide.
Recently, State House Chief Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka said there was no law which required President Hichilema to declare his assets.
This was in response to Dr Fred M’membe, who urged President Hichilema to emulate Liberian President Joseph Boakai, who fired senior government officials for failure to declare their assets on time.
In an interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, Hapunda said President Hichilema could only fail to declare his assets if he had something to hide.
“So we still call upon President Hakainde Hichilema, if he indeed is a leader that that Zambians should trust, not to be scared to declare his assets. This is the man who promised to rule this country, respecting the laws of the country and also respecting the moral fiber of our society,” Hapunda said. “And he must not fear to declare his assets, unless there is something that he is doing secretly. But it will not be hidden forever. Soon he will be out of office and will be accountable to Zambians.”
Hapunda said even if there was no law which compelled President Hichilema to declare his assets, he could do so out of moral persuasion for Zambians to hold him accountable.
He added that a lot of African leaders took advantage of the lack of laws requiring them to declare their assets, in order to amass wealth so that when they left office, they could lie about the money they had before becoming presidents.
Hapunda further said “when the Socialist Party comes into power in 2026’, it would lobby Parliament to enact a law on the declaration of assets.
“Yes, as the Socialist Party that is forming government in 2026, we shall lobby that when we form government, we shall ensure that we have laws that ensure that, or rather the old law must be enacted to ensure that leaders, public offices, constitutional office holders declare their assets when they are assuming office,” said Hapunda. “Because we believe in transparency and that there is no need for leaders to hide their assets unless they are planning to steal and loot our public coffers.”
