FOLLOW THEM
…Lungu ministers’ wealth in offshore accounts – Musenge
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
EDGAR Lungu and his ministers became extremely rich, says NDC president Mwenya Musenge.
And Musenge says once Zambians are satisfied with the UPND-Alliance performance, there shall be no need to change government in 2026.
He says: “There was total anarchy in the country under the PF and the police did not know what to do because they were captured by cadres.”
Asked what he would tell former president Lungu and his ministers if he was given chance to address them, Musenge said he would be blunt with them over their misgovernance of the country, mismanagement of national resources and abuse of the natural resources.
“We have seen a number of political parties that have been in government. We saw the Dr Kenneth Kaunda era, the [Frederick] Chiluba era, the Levy Mwanawasa era, the short spells of Rupiah Banda and Michael Sata. But I have never, never seen an era like the Edgar Lungu one where all the ministers became so rich. Extremely rich, dirty rich! Where were they getting the money? That is why it is very important that organisations like the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission), DEC (Drug Enforcement Commission) and the police work extremely hard to follow them even outside this country,” he said.
“We suspect that they have stashed a lot of their wealth outside this country in offshore accounts. If there is one area where we expect our President [Hakainde Hichilema] to work extremely hard is to recover the people’s money. That should be the beginning or the starting point of rebuilding our country.”
Musenge said people in leadership should learn to fear government resources.
“If President Hichilema fails to put his foot down to make sure that these people are brought to book, even those people who are working under him will start doing the same,” Musenga warned.
He however said President Hichilema had given proper governance direction.
Musenga said under the UPND administration, there was a breath of fresh air.
He said the atmosphere under President Hichilema was very conducive for human habitation unlike in the previous administration where the entire country was taken over by PF cadres.
“In this multiparty dispensation, he has raised the bar of governance and therefore as political parties, political parties like ours need to work extra hard to reach that level that has been attained in terms of governance,” he said.
“For the first time, you have heard that a big chunk of retirees have been paid. Not only that, we are also hearing of improved remuneration in the civil service. I think a lot of areas have been touched in a very short space of time. Of course, people would say fuel has gone up. They said mealie-meal prices would be reduced. You know, the UPND government has only been there for less than six months or so. They need to adapt, they need to be settled and once they have settled, they will be able to see how they will be able to re-engineer the governance of the country.”
Asked what the NDC would do to raise the bar set by President Hichilema, Musenga said that NDC was enjoying the spirit of an alliance.
“We are working together. For now, as president of NDC, my role or my task or my challenge is to galvanise our political party, mobilise it across the country and also raise the bar to be at par with our colleges in government. We shall offer checks and balances to our colleagues in government to make sure that they are able to deliver. To make sure that they meet the aspirations of the people that elected them into government,” he said.
“Our desire is to make sure that this alliance succeeds and it will only succeed when Zambian people become satisfied with the performance of the UPND in government and if that really happens, there shall be no need of changing government in 2026. There shall be no need and this is where we have been saying that we would want to support this alliance and go with it all the way and wait until 2031 when we would know that our colleagues have done two terms and we would have walked with them to 2031, then we can, among the alliance partners, be given a chance as NDC.”
On Lungu’s administration, Musenge said: “there was total anarchy in the country. You would even question whether there was a president. The police were totally lost. They did not know what they were doing. They could not properly perform their functions. They were totally under capture by the cadres.”
“His (Edgar Lungu) ministers were basically on rampage, looting the resources of this country. And that is why there is no single minister who can stand with his head high and say ‘me I am clean’. And it is important that an example be set because there are a lot of Zambians who were sent early to their graves because the money which was supposed to buy drugs was siphoned to their accounts,” he charged.
“For the first time, we were able to see cadres flushing money everywhere which has never happened in the history of this country. All that money was government money. They siphoned and built a lot of mansions locally and abroad and it is important that they are taken to task. Let each one of them account for that and I think that will not be asking for too much or to be said that they are being victimised. They should account for it.”
On free education, Musenge noted that already he had heard of schools being overwhelmed with people looking for places which was now becoming a challenge.
“Education is a right and we don’t want any single child to be left out because of not finding a place,” Musenge said.
Meanwhile, Musenge said NDC members need to be proud of the alliance with the UPND.
“I know that some members have expressed resentments in the manner that appointments are being done, that as NDC we were not adequately considered. But I want to mention here that government portfolios are there not for people to benefit, but to assist the Republican President to govern the country. And the portfolios we have in the country are probably 300 or less,” he said.
Musenge said over 2.8 millions Zambians voted and not each of them could be rewarded.
“The biggest achievement which should make us proud is the change of government. Redeeming ourselves from that barbaric administration to a governance that we are proud of. As members of NDC, I want to encourage them that we need to work extremely hard to support the alliance and also work extremely hard to strengthen our party, NDC. Because aside this alliance, we still remain an independent party where we need to position and strengthen ourselves to compete equitably with the UPND in the near future. So let’s not spend too much on talking on issues that won’t take us anywhere,” said Musenge.