By Agness Changala
President Hakainde Hichilema says the government has signed two pieces of legislation that enable it to try and conclude corruption cases within five months.
And President Hichilema has announced that the government has secured a 49 percent equity partnership in Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) with a cover value of $1.1 billion.
Speaking during the end of the year press conference which was held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, President Hichilema said if one engages in corruption, they won’t have to wait for many years for their matter to be concluded.
“I know there were some who were buying time and were even celebrating that we will wait. We will delay until after 2026, alebwelelapo and they will allow us to continue. There is no alebwelelapo. No alebwelelapo. There is nothing like that. There is no waiting, that’s the point I am making,” he said. “There is no waiting for alebwelelapo. You will be tried now within five months and the case will close.”
President Hichilema said the government is also focused on asset recoveries saying there is value in it.
He said in doing so, there is deterrence and asset recovery.
President Hichilema said they had put in a mechanism to have a proper asset manager so that the properties being recovered do not go to waste.
“We want them to gain value. To gain income. Luckily some of them are occupied already and have rental income. That’s your money,” he said.
On political violence, President Hichilema warned UPND cadres that he will forget them, saying the country did not like violence under PF and it should not be liked under UPND,
“I will forget who you are. I have seen some slippages there, some of our members trying to emulate those bad habits, you will be out of line. The police are instructed, I see the minister of Home Affairs is here and there is no segregation, we need law and order,” he said.
“I see UPND officials there, if you encourage UPND members, I will forget you. My duty is to serve the people of Zambia, that’s our constitutional democracy.”
He also said no one will also be allowed to break the law in the name of a political leader and when the law visits them, they say the democratic space is gone.
President Hichilema urged the civil society not to buy such stories.
“No one should come to you to agitate you to go in the street because their democratic right has been taken away. Yes they have broken the law. No! No! No! Citizens that will not be tolerable. Let’s work within the law. That is how civilized societies work,” he said.
President Hichilema said the law does not recognize anyone including himself as elder in the Church or his wife and children.
The president said land will be taken away from those who got it illegally and it will be given to others.
“It’s being taken away. I have signed a lot of laws on cancellations of illegal land in case you don’t know. I have and when that land leaves the illegal owner, it will be available for citizens,” he said.
He urged Zambians who will be given an opportunity to own land not to sell it to foreigners but another Zambian.
On energy, President Hichilema said the government had diversified the economy and signed a lot of agreements and the focus was now to implement.
He urged Zambians not to resist when they see power being exported.
He said this is being done to bring the dollars in the country.
In agriculture, the president said the country should produce more for consumption, for the region, for Africa and the global community.
He said the government had set a target to produce 10 million tonnes of maize and another target on wheat.
“And to achieve that we want more investments in agriculture. How are we doing it? FISP will continue, with improvements and we have opened what we call the agriculture credit window. NATSAVE, ABSA and many other banks have come on board to support the farmers,” he said.
President Hichilema said there are 2 million plus farmers who need FISP but the government cannot under these conditions support all of them.
He said the government was currently supporting over one million farmers and said the rest are being supported under the credit window.
The President said with the economic difficulties his government inherited, disbursements had started and they want civil servants to begin to produce food.
He encouraged Zambians to engage in agriculture production even when they worked in various offices.
The President said with climate change, irrigation is the answer.
He said agriculture should not be a pastime, but a serious business that creates employment.
He said the government in this season did not import any basal dressing fertilizer, saying all of it was manufactured in Zambia in the two years four months they have been in power.
On the recruitment of health, the President said there are drugs in hospitals which was not the case when his government took over office.
He however, admitted that a lot still needed to be done but that the government was getting there.
The President also urged newly recruited workers to stay where they are posted.
“If you are given an opportunity to work in Chama, stay in Chama. If you leave Chama to Lusaka to see someone, boyfriend or girlfriend, then you are sending a message to us that you don’t want the job. And I am asking the minister of health that at that point we should take away that job and give it to someone else who is willing to work in Chama. This is not a joke. These young people are employed, they go to a location, they register everything, and when they start getting a salary they come back into town, yes it takes two to tangle. Attitude. Where there are no houses, no water, we are putting houses and water so they must provide a service there. Teachers it’s the same. But will also have a policy of uniting families. That’s what we have said already and we will continue but we can’t do everything in one day,” said President Hichilema.
The President also assented to the Access to Information Bill which passed through Parliament into law.
The event was attended by members of the press, some Cabinet ministers, senior government officials and UPND members among others.
And President Hichilema said Zambia expects support from all citizens, and the opposition political parties in addressing the country’s debt crisis, saying this is one area the country must work together.
President Hichilema said the government had done its part on addressing the debt crisis and it was up to the private creditors to do their part.
He explained that 98 per cent of official creditors had signed a memorandum of understanding to restructure the debt, describing the development as a great milestone.
He however, said negotiations were ongoing.
President Hichilema said the government cared less about who caused the problem but wanted to work with everyone to resolve it.
“We know who caused it but we care less about it because we are in it and we are here to solve it. But they must support. If they have suggestions, let them bring those suggestions and we will look at the efficacy of these suggestions. We expect the Church to support and pray for the government endlessly. When we resolve it, we can move resources now just imagine $7.5 billion dollars minus $750 billion, we are talking close to $6 plus billion dollars that we can now put in the economy,” President Hichilema said.
He thanked the minister of finance, his team and other cooperating partners for supporting the efforts.
The President also thanked the people of Zambia for their patience and the pain they were going through because of the delay to address the debt crisis.
He said the government was confident that it will overcome the debt crisis and cautioned that no going back to it.
“We are confident that we shall overcome and when we do, no more debt crisis.
“No more and I want to appeal to the citizens of Zambia as you go to vote in 2026, reflect. Don’t take us back to the mess. Look at the price we have paid now. At that point, it doesn’t matter who is a cousin, who is an ethnic group member. Because I see people are parroting ethnicity now as the only weapon against elective office,” he said. “Ethnicity can you eat ethnicity? When someone is stealing do they share with you when they do corruption, do they share with you? They just buy Rolls Royce. Why would a normal person drive a Rolls Royce in this country, how do you service a Rolls Royce and what is the price of the tyre for Rolls Royce? Then you know there is a problem there.”
He said he does not want the Presidential Jet as it is expensive and those he will be asking for money from with an expensive Jet would think he is a fool.
“That’s why I don’t want a Gulfstream. How can I go to the EU meeting in the latest Jet called a Gulfstream costing so much money then I go to the meeting and I am asking for budget support. They will look at me and say this is a fool and it’s not a joke. Some things we should never do. Citizens’ self-control. If the minister doesn’t drive a VX, does that remove a ministerial value in him or her? You go to England, see what the ministers drive there, Go to the UK, and go to Germany see what the ministers drive there. Why are they pretending here? That’s just a piece of metal. I am talking about cost control,” he said.
“I am talking about moving money from $250,000 dollars VX to a car worth $50,000 . We will serve $200,000.”
He said in $200,000 dollars, more kids can be sent to college and more boreholes can be sunk for clinics.
“I must confess inside this issue of VXs was making my colleagues whisper against me. And I am aware and they think I am not aware. I am very much aware but you can’t move me on things. Go and buy your own VX, make yourself happy after you knock off and no one restricts you. I said it in that room, the minister wants a new VX, the army commander wants a new VX, the secretary to the Cabinet secretary wants a new VX, the mayor wants a new VX, and the deputy mayor wants a new VX. You put those figures together, soon you will be talking about $50 million. Let us be prudent as a government and as individuals at a family level. But a tractor instead of buying a VX. Buy a tractor it will bring you more money, you buy a VX, it costs you a lot of fuel,” he said.
President Hichilema said there was no escaping hard work and called on citizens to work hard saying that is the only way that the country will develop.
The President said in order to foster unity, resources were being distributed to all parts of Zambia.
He said if someone wants to run a narrative that there is a favoured region or other regions, they are not being truthful and challenged those saying so to present him with facts.
“Where tell us, give us the facts which region is being discriminated against? Which region is not receiving CDF? Tell me, we will address that issue. Let us keep our country one Zambia, one Nation and one people. The Church, political parties. Civil society, professional bodies let us work to unite our country, let us keep our country peaceful, stable, secure, then we focus on development,” he said.
President Hichilema said the risk to the country is to disintegrate because one wants to be President and because someone who said one can never be President is President today.
“That’s is the only issue that is out there. Because you said some regions can never produce a President and you made yourself believe that was correct. Compete don’t use that sort of uncivilized mind to disturb the country,” he said.
President Hichilema said ethnicity is a thing of the mind.
“We are one people. This country has matured and will never listen to an ethnic agenda,” he said.
President Hichilema said his Cabinet was most balanced compared with the last one.
“Compare it. There are nine ministers from the Northern region, from the Bemba speaking people in a Cabinet of 25 ministers only, there are nine from the Bemba speakers so who has a fair share. So what is the issue and what is the agitation,” he said.
He said some people had accused him of not terminating contracts for people he had appointed but said he had removed some permanent secretaries and the Zambia Air force commander as it was within its Constitutional right.
“The president is not removing people he employed. I have removed a minister. I have removed two permanent secretaries at the Ministry of Mines. I have removed two permanent secretaries from the Ministry of Health and two days ago I removed the ZAF commander. I removed him and that’s my Constitutional right and I know why. I don’t have to explain,” he said.
The President said his government is different and doesn’t segregate against any one.
And the President said The Mopani transaction had been signed, describing the move as good news.
The President said having Mopani, KCM (Konkola Copper Mines) and Shaft 28, the Copperbelt will be back where it should have been and more.
“Today in confirming what had already been announced, the Mopani transaction has a cover value of $1.1 billion. That’s the cover value which will be split between equity and debt in some proportions,” he said.
Earlier, The President said the government had signed an agreement with the International Resources Holding to pump in $1.1 billion into Zambia’s mining sector.
He said International Resources Holding is a strategic equity partner in Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), investing $620 million as a new equity partner, acquiring a 51 percent stake in MCM.
President Hichilema said the government had closed the deal and that the detailed transaction included a $ 400 million shareholder loan to settle existing debts with the Zambian government retaining a 49 per cent stake among others.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema said he does not know the assertions to sideline the Vice-President were coming from adding that she is always acting President when he is out.
He said she has been travelling outside the country to represent him on various assignments.
Nalumango said Zambians should not fight for her because there was nothing to fight about.
She said she willingly and freely joined UPND and offered her support for the party and the President.
“These offices are controlled by law. You make a Constitution and you say it is a people’s document, if it is a people’s document, it is important that you go through it. That is what I would say,” said Vice-President Nalumango. “Sometimes expectation is beyond what is provided for. I found myself, your Excellency in this debate from a very funny angle. But I will tell you if there is any intention to think that President Hakainde Hichilema is not fit, it should be Nalumango, and then you are wrong. Completely wrong. I don’t have to be bought. Just know who your Vice President is. You don’t have to fight for me because I know who I am and I know what I want to do, and I make my own decisions.”
The Vice president challenged those with issues with President Hichilema to come out and tell him.
The President also asked Secretary to Treasury Patrick Kangwa to incorporate the private media on trips undertaken by the government officials.
President Hichilema said the private media will tell the stories from a different angle and this will enable citizens to appreciate what the government was doing from various angles.
