I will chase you like a pig, Kambwili warns Thabo
By Fanny Kalonda
DON’T think because the people of Zambia are quiet and a few of us can speak like this that they are happy, PF presidential hopeful Chishimba Kambwili tells President Hakainde Hichilema.
He has also asked President Hichilema to warn Thabo Kawana, the director in the Ministry of Information and Media, against engaging in politics stressing that “if you don’t warn him then you are the one who sending him.”
Kambwili said Kawana was embarrassing the President, the country and the ministry by his conduct of engaging in politics.
“This propensity of going to storm radio stations when opposition leaders are having radio programmes must come to an end. It’s embarrassing. In fact you are lucky, you try and come on a platform that I am, I will put you where you belong. Come and try and storm the radio station where I will be and behave the way you are behaving of late, I will put you where you belong,” Kambwili said. “I will embarrass you. I will chase you like a pig, that is anarchy. That is anarchy, stop it. Mr President tell Kawana to behave. If you don’t warn him then you are the one who is sending him because there is no way a civil servant can behave like that.”
He stressed that a civil servant should not be involving themselves in politics as the law is clear on that.
“Praise singers will forever be there but I can tell you my brother (President Hichilema) these praise singers are the first ones to jump ship. An example is that of Thabo Kawana. Thabo Kawana, we can show you videos. We have videos here of how he used to praise president Edgar Lungu and the PF. Going around all radio stations,” Kambwili said.
“Thabo Kawana, you are embarrassing the country. You are embarrassing the President. You are embarrassing the Ministry of Information. The way you are conducting yourself is not the way a civil servant is supposed to conduct himself. And the law is very clear. No civil servant must indulge in politics. A director is a civil servant just like the PS (Permanent Secretary). Very rarely that you see PSs issuing policy statements or arguing with the opposition. It’s not even your place. It’s not your responsibility. Politicians are supposed to deal with politicians. You are being partisan. Where is the change? MISA Zambia where are you? Where are the media organisations to let this Thabo Kawana be so excited and I was very surprised.”
And Kambwili said President Hichilema is expected to be above board and not gloss over important issues like those affecting his predecessor Edgar Lungu.
“Now the question is that what happened that day, is it normal people of Zambia? We expect the President to be above board. We don’t expect the President to gloss over important issues. There is no way that police can plan a raid or indeed an operation at the former president’s house without the sitting President knowing. Then the sitting President is not in charge. Then all security wings have stopped functioning,” he said. “The President mind you, is the Commander-In-Chief of all armed forces including the police. And from my knowledge every morning, first thing in the morning, the director general of the intelligence, the OP, the so called OP is the first person that interacts with the President at his office. [The] issue concerning the former head of state is a priority. If the OP director general did not inform the President, he should be fired. That I know for sure that the director general did inform the President.”
Kambwili said President Hichilema should stop misleading the country that the incident at Lungu’s residence was purely a police operation.
“Stop persecuting the former president Edgar Lungu. You need him. He needs you. The country needs both of you. The country needs the ruling party, the country needs the opposition. I am giving you this advice my brother in earnest. Stop persecuting your predecessor. What happened that day with the police is pure persecution of the former head of state, nothing else. There is no explanation to that. There is no explanation,” he argued. “Look at the Americans, [former president Donald] Trump has been charged and taken to court. Did you see a battalion of police officers being sent to Trump’s house to go and arrest him, to take him to court to go and answer to the charges that he is answering in court? Why can’t we learn? This is a civilised nation, this is a civilised era. Let’s stop these old fashioned ways of conducting politics. It’s not building anybody, it’s only destroying our country and exposing us to ridicule. And don’t think because the people of Zambia are quiet and a few of us can speak like this that they are happy. Ba (Mr) President, stop misleading the people of Zambia that you didn’t know; it was purely a police operation. You had the power to stop it, you had the power to advise. In future stop it, don’t allow that. You will be more respected Mr President because mind you, political power is very temporary. You will be former president…”
Kambwili also argued that President Hichilema was aware that Lungu had more police officers than the recommended three because of the theft that happened earlier.
“Have you see some people who were working with president Edgar Lungu associating with him today? Some of them have run away from him. The law provides that the former president will have three police officers attached to his residence but, you know as much as I know that the seven because there are seven police officers and not 13, the seven police officers attached to president Edgar Lungu’s residence – former president Edgar Lungu – there is a history to that,” he explained. “And again there is no way the police can add extra police officers to president Edgar Lungu’s house without you being told as sitting President. Then the system has collapsed. When there was a break in at president Edgar Lungu’s house the TV was stolen, there was communication from government that we are going to give extra police officers. We are going to beef up extra police officers at the residence of the former president to enhance his security. There was also an issue of the location where president Edgar Lungu’s house is located that it was not a very safe place. And that is why there was a decision to increase the police officers from three to seven with your full knowledge Mr President. Where did you get the number 13?”
And Kambwili said the government should stop misleading the country that President Hichilema is the only Head of State that is marketing the country and looking for investments as all Zambia’s presidents have been doing it.
“And by the way, when you speak to the investors, when you speak to the business, it’s not automatic that the investment will come. They do even make pledges at the end of it all you would find that maybe out of six billion, only maybe two billion or one billion is actualized. So the mere fact that the President has addressed the business community, you can’t say that investments have come to Zambia,” Kambwili explained. “There is an attempt under this government to create an impression that meeting investors, having bilateral meetings when the President goes out is only happening under President Hakainde Hichilema. Please stop misleading the people. I was minister of foreign affairs, whenever the president travels, Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares bilateral [meetings]. You take advantage of the people that are coming to attend the meeting and arrange bilaterals for the President. And you also arrange for the President to meet investors and speaking to them. President Edgar Lungu was doing the same, but there is an attempt to mislead the Zambians that it is only President Hakainde Hichilema who is doing this. It’s the first of its kind and he’s the chief marketing officer of this country. All presidents have been doing that.”
He added that in 2026, people will start asking for results from the trips the President has been undertaking.
“Since the President started travelling, we have never seen even one announcement of an actualised investment from his trips. Be careful the way you mislead the President and President be careful the way you make these announcements because in 2026, people will be asking for results,” said Kambwili.