Staff Reporter
President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration is a one man, know-it-all government, says Chishimba Kambwili.
And Kambwili said the UPND must report their Central provincial chairperson Albert Chifita to the police for saying that former president Edgar Lungu was held under “state capture” by people from the northern provinces of the country, on account of the votes they gave him in previous elections.
Kambwili also said that he agrees with former permanent secretary (administration) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Ronald Simwinga that President Hichilema lied when he said he did not sanction all the diplomatic recalls.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kambwili started by first addressing the ongoing parliamentary by election campaigns in Kaumbwe, where he is currently at, saying the former ruling party was 100 percent certain of scooping the seat, as they were running against “a party that assumed power through deceit.”
“I am here. We are campaigning we are telling the people the truth. If you tell the people the truth, more especially if you are fighting a government that came into power through deceit, which they have failed to fulfill. You can’t doubt your winning. We are dealing with a government that lied to the people in order to get into government,” Kambwili said. “It’s very easy to defeat them, because there is absolutely nothing which they say which is true. They are changing goal posts. Today the President wants to say that he is going to introduce a system where CDF will start paying for children school fees and he is saying it’s the first of its kind, it has never happened in Zambia. Where I am they say wenye, lies.”
Kambwili said he started the system of using CDF to pay for school fees for vulnerable children in 2007, claiming that over 3000 students have since benefited from the facility in his former Roan constituency, and that his fellow party colleagues copied and implemented the same in their constituencies, including Joe Malanji, Bowman Lusambo, Stephen Chungu and Mulenga Kampamba.
“How can the whole of a president go to a newspaper and say I am going to put more money in CDF so that CDF can start paying for school fees, and this is the first of its kind? Wenye. That’s why we are saying our brother is not bringing anything new to the fold, he’s only doing what he found,” he said.
Kambwili challenged those in the UPND who were calling for his arrest for allegedly uttering tribal remarks to look no further than their own Central provincial chairman, Chifita, who said that Lungu was under state capture of people from the northern regions of the country.
“Me I have said and I want to say it again, the UPND is a tribal party, and they can try to hide as much as they want but truth will always come out. You know a fact is a fact and nobody can run away from a fact. I mean voting regionally is not a good thing at all. I have condemned it and I am still condemning it, but if other people are doing it, why is it wrong that you can ask other people to also do it?” Kambwili asked. “But that man (Chifita) he is saying he (Lungu) was held captive by northerners and all that. That is tribalism that we should talk about. And let’s see Dante stand up to go and report that chairman from Central Province. Let’s see Mulenga the NGO whatever, Mrs Mulenga the wife to late permanent secretary Mulenga, let them, Laura Miti, raise the voice against that individual.”
He said they must not keep quiet just because it was the member of their own party involved in the matter.
“You see in Zambia the only thing that I have noticed which will not make this country develop is we celebrate leaders when we belong to that group whether they make a mistake or not,” Kambwili said. “We have already seen people, when President Hakainde Hichilema makes a mistake whether they have seen that this is a mistake they just want to justify and celebrate him. You are destroying the man right from the beginning. If he makes a mistake please let’s tell him what you are doing is wrong.”
Kambwili said every genuine Zambia should condemn dismissals such as those involving career civil servants, former Foreign Affairs permanent secretaries, Dr Ronald Simwinga and Chalwe Lombe, as these people were promoted to those positions from the civil service, saying other directors in ministries will start getting fearful to be appointed to senior positions.
“Chalwe Lombe is a young man, who has a family to look after. He has a career, he went and studied. His qualifications are relevant to Foreign Affairs. You come and terminate him because he was permanent secretary under president Edgar Lungu,” Kambwili said.
He said he supported Dr Simwinga’s position against assertions from the President that a senior official added to the list of the recalled diplomats and replaced them with his own people, saying he served as Foreign Affairs minister himself and understood too well that diplomats could not be recalled without the President’s authority.
“Expenditure involving foreign service is initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and approved by the President. So how was he able to give them money to travel, settling in allowance and pay repatriation to those who were recalled when the President is not aware who should have authorised?” Kambwili said. “I totally agree with PS Simwinga that what the President said is a total lie.”
Kambwili urged President Hichilema to be cautious as change in the country was not brought about because of one’s exposure to the media, saying he should focus more on delivering on his promises.
He said even the earlier press conference the President called following his return form the United Nations General Assembly, the minister of Foreign Affairs should have been the one to inform the nation through a ministerial statement.
“And even in the ministerial statement it doesn’t divulge so much information, more especially information that is in raw form. For instance if we have got pledges of investment those pledges may be actualized or not, so why would a President come and tell the people that?” Kambwili asked. “At the rate my brother is going, I have nothing against him, in fact I have kept quiet all this long to try and give him chance to settle. But at the rate he is going I fear it’s a one man government, know it all, and he will end up, because when the President appoints ministers those ministers are supposed to be his advisors. But the way I am seeing things the President will advise his advisors and end up advising himself and not them advising him.”
Asked if Lungu will join in the campaigns in Kaumbwe, Kambwili said the former ruling party just lost an election and it would be unfair to expect Lungu to join in the campaigns.
“Let the man rest, reflect and he’s got more than enough emissaries to do this job and we are there to do it for the party. But I don’t think it’s right for him to stand up and come and campaign at the moment,” said Kambwili.
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