Lungu harassment claims anger Hichilema
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema this afternoon showed glimpses of anger as he responded to accusations that he was harassing his predecessor Edgar Lungu.
The President said he had no intention of harassing anyone, pointing out that despite all the harassment he and other UPND members were subjected to during their opposition days, he ordered his supporters not to take revenge after being declared winner of August 2021 vote.
During a press conference at State House this morning, President Hichilema denied harassing Lungu, saying the former Head of State was living peacefully and was even freely jogging on public roads.
The President asked if anyone had seen pangas (machetes) being sharpened on roads from the time he became Head of State.
“My brother is free. If there is anyone tampering with his freedom, I will be the first one to step in to protect him…,” President Hichilema said.
Despite the massive defeat at the 2021 polls, Lungu is scheming to contest the 2026 general election as PF presidential candidate after his associates convinced him that he was the only one capable of defeating President Hichilema, if an election came even today.
Since then, Lungu has been making strategic public appearances and calculated social media posts to win support.
During his seven-year reign of terror, Lungu had at his disposal ruthless party thugs whose job description was to distribute skull-cracking and face-deforming beatings to dissidents and other citizens who did not approve of his style of governance.
Last month, Lungu’s personal barber Shebby Chilekwa was even convicted and jailed for shooting dead a UPND supporter during a 2019 by-election in Kaoma.
But President Hichilema said Lungu’s manoeuvres were against the law.
“It’s a legal issue! You cannot be in retirement and and yet you are in politics, the law cannot allow that,” President Hichilema pointed out.
“You cannot be in politics and be retired and receiving retirement benefits, which is anchored on law that says you must retire.”
President Hichilema said the law was very clear that when a former president retires, they must not stay in politics and if they are to receive their emouluments, based on the law.
The President also said it was not that Lungu did not have State security and directed secretary to the Cabinet to issue a clarification statement about how many police officers the former Head of State was entitled to.
President Hichilema appealed to citizens to be fair and not accuse him of harassing Lungu.
“I have no intentions to do that. I was never brought up like that,” he said.
“To claim that HH is harassing a family is not true, Frank [Mutubila]. You know sometimes [as] citizens, we must be fair to each other sometimes. We must analyse things in a fair and objective manner. Between the two of us, who harassed who? Let’s be direct now; between my colleague ECL and HH, who harassed who,” President Hichilema asked.
He said if Lungu was living peacefully and that if he was being harrassed, he would have not been jogging on public roads.
“Maybe what people are having challenges is accepting that I am not harassing anybody who harassed me,” the President said.
President Hichilema said he was available to talk and was speaking to Lungu in the background but wondered why his predecessor had been claiming there was no communication between the two.
“I don’t want to reveal many things here because I am responsible. My colleague and I talk, be known to you but what he says in public is different…” said President Hichilema.
“So, how do you deal with such a situation? Someone is not telling the truth there….”
There is abnormality in the nation and that is what is hurting them, no one is getting illegal money, people are working hard to get what they deserve. And I will put my foot down to never allow such a thing to ever happen again,” said President Hichilema.
After the presser, President Hichilema interacted with journalists and posed for photos with guests at State House.
Kalemba May 18, 2023