By Kellys Kaunda
YOU CAN ONLY ARREST CHUNGU IF YOU ARE VERY ABUSIVE, DISRESPECTFUL, RECKLESS AND CARELESS!
What did Xavier Chungu say on the Zed Podcast? The former Intelligence Chief answered several questions. These covered his childhood dream job; how he was recruited into the service; how he became the Director-General; some generic information about Intelligence work; a few highlights of his work; his legal woes after he left office, and why he wants to run as President.
As a young man, he dreamt of either becoming a commercial pilot or a spy like in the 007 James Bond movies.
He was at St. Clement Secondary School in Mansa where he was identified by the Intelligence community and recruited. He then provided generic information regarding the recruitment process. If, like me, you have formally studied security and Intelligence, you will have learned about this already in your lectures and textbooks.
What did they see in him? He says they simply thought he was suited for the job. As a junior officer, he says he excelled in all he did. He says he clearly predicted towards the end of the Kaunda era that indeed a wind of change was coming and it came. He added that he feels the same way about the August 2026 elections.
When he was offered the DG job when MMD came into power, he says at first he declined. When asked why, first he declined to comment but much later in the program he explained.
He says most MMD officials were angry with the UNIP government and he feared they would want to get back at them using his office which he was not prepared to do. However, Michael Sata eventually prevailed over him and he accepted the job.
On the revelation of the State House tunnels, he says he did not approve of that. He said some MMD officials were overzealous and wanted to accuse Kaunda of anything wrong any chance they got. He described that action as unacceptable.
What about the captain solo coup? Chungu says that was not a coup in the strict sense of the word. Instead, he says that was a rebellion against the Army Commander. He did not elaborate saying thats a story for another platform.
Can elections be rigged? He said it’s quite difficult to rig elections though he said in principle the stuffing of premarked ballot papers could happen. If you are not popular, Chungu said, not even rigging can help you
But he observed that there’s one major worrying trend in Zambian elections. He said Southern Province is a no-go-area for any other political party other than UPND. He says this makes it very difficult to ascertain the genuineness of the votes from there. It’s obvious this observation will not sit well with the UPND.
On whether MMD rigged the 2001 elections against the UPND, Chungu denied this and said Mazoka simply lost that election. Whatever UPND claimed, Chungu says was mere propaganda. He said opposition politicians in Zambia cry all the time and write to everyone in the international community. They do this all the time, he said.
On the impact of his tenure on regional politics, Chungu said he played a part in the political changes that came about in the DRC. He talked about helping to set up Intelligence organizations in other countries, among them, Botswana.
Regarding his arrests, Chungu said he never stole anything just as Chiluba never stole anything. He was incarcerated for 34 months for nothing. He escaped the country through the Congo and moved on to Kenya and the Seychelles, spending a total of five years out there. He survived on the goodwill of friends he had allover the region.
Asked whether he is seeking office because he was once close to the Presidency so he thinks he might as well occupy the seat, Chungu says he was motivated by the amount of knowledge he has acquired about this country. He says Zambia is potentially so wealthy but its leaders have been disappointing. He feels he has what it takes to make a difference.
In a nutshell, this is what the former Intelligence Chief said on the zedpodcast – nothing treacherous, no bombshells, no beans spilled – nothing!
You can only arrest the man if you are very abusive, disrespectful, reckless and careless.