By Chinoyi Chipulu
PF secretary general Raphael Nakachinda says the leaked audio involving Mafinga member of parliament Robert Chabinga and Community Development Minister Doreen Mwamba confirms the criminality the lawmaker is involved in, supported by the President.
Recently an audio believed to be that of Chabinga went viral, where he was heard having a conversation with a lady believed to be Community Development minster Mwamba.
In the audio, the duo was heard discussing late president Edgar Lungu’s body repatriation saga.
But Chabinga said the recording was a product of AI while some senior UPND officials have also supported his position.
But featuring on the program dubbed The Hot Seat on Hot FM Radio yesterday, Nakachinda said it was an abomination that the President was at the center of this criminality.
“Well, I think it just confirms the criminality that Chabinga is involved in, supported, if not sponsored by, now by his own claim, that the State and the President, the UPND, who have also been trying to exonerate him and cleanse him and want to even turn what is obvious to suggest that this is an AI-orchestrated audio and all the nonsense that Zambian people have been subjected to,” Nakachinda said
He said Zambians should be worried that the entire Head of State would be mentioned to have participated in a process of wanting to bribe judges.
Nakachinda urged President Hichilema to speak to Zambians over his purported assigning Chabinga to South Africa to do the activities that had been revealed in the audio.
He wondered why the President was parading himself when stakeholders paid a courtesy call on him that he had not been moving because he was mourning the late former head of state.
“What kind of mourning is this, where, going by his own words, he says he’s an elder of the Church. I listened to an audio this morning where he was saying to the ones who are swearing in, that we need to be genuine Christians, who do correct things during the day and also correct things at night. Not Christians who do certain things during the day and do evil things during the night,” Nakachinda said. “Mr. President, can you speak to us Zambians over your purported assigning Chabinga to South Africa to do the activities that have been revealed in that audio, to a point where he was expressing that as a Head of State, you are so desperate that you called him 12 times.”
And responding to State House communications specialist Clayson Hamasaka who said none of what was being contained in audio about the President was true, Nakachinda accused Hichilema’s spokesperson of playing to the gallery.
He said Hamasaka could not speak authoritatively about matters that happened after midnight.
“This is Hamasaka, and the phone calls were after midnight. Hamasaka was sleeping at his house. He can’t speak authoritatively to matters that happened after midnight. He knocks off at a particular time. Our working hours in Zambia are eight hours for those who are formerly employed. After midnight, what we know in Zambia is that nibakazizi bamene basebenza (only owls work) after midnight. And you know when I use the word bakazizi, after midnight is a superstition,” he said.
Nakachinda wondered why Chabinga was not arrested for accusing the President.
He said Chabinga had implicated the President in criminality by putting him at the center of the criminal activities hence, he must answer for himself.
“Nobody can answer for him over a phone call between him and Chabinga. Unless Hamasaka says that when the President is making a phone call, they hold the phone together, unless that is the approach, then yes,” he said.
Nakachinda said the people Chabinga mentioned to have been found on the Airlink plane he travelled on to South Africa have confirmed that they were on the same plane with him.
“So, we have even passed the stage of whether the audio is genuine or not. We are at the stage of the fact that the President is at the center of this criminality. You understand? And we can’t have the Presidency involved in criminal acts. It’s an abomination,” said Nakacinda.
