By Walusungu Lundu
BREBNER Changala has charged that former president Edgar Lungu is merely politicking by daring law enforcement agencies who are pursuing his close associates to investigate him instead.
He says Lungu is the safest of all the believed suspects in the previous regime.
This follows Lungu’s challenge on the law enforcement agencies to “come get me if I stole” as quoted by the Daily Nation in its Wednesday edition last week.
Lungu charged that he knew he was the one being targeted by the agencies.
“I know it is me that you are going after. Please come get me if there is anything that that you suspect that I stole. Come to me, stop harassing the people around me,” he said.
But Changala told The Mast that Lungu, who is currently enjoying his immunity, made the said remarks out of anger and in an attempt to sway investigative wings from pursuing his colleagues.
The governance activist explained that only President Hakainde Hichilema can lay charges against Lungu in parliament.
“These are interesting moments in our time. The issue of the former president daring the new dawn administration to go for him and stop harassing his close associates was unfortunate. But I know it was an emotive comment that was given to his own proxy Mr Given Lubinda, the former minister of justice. However, it is very important for one to take note of the very fact that president Edgar Chagwa Lungu enjoys immunity and the police or indeed the law enforcement agencies cannot just go for him. And I bet he was merely politicking and I know very well that that was said out of anger and it’s emotive,” Changala said. “President Edgar Chagwa Lungu as it is right now is the safest of the believed suspects in the last administration whereas his colleagues, the ones he claims the State is pursuing are not protected by the law. They do not have immunity and president Lungu is merely playing politics to sway the investigative wings from pursuing his colleagues. As it were, only President Hakainde Hichilema can approach parliament and lay charges against the former president. And parliament will need to interrogate those allegations or charges and come up with a resolution in parliament whether to strip him of his immunity or indeed to let the status quo continue. So president Edgar Chagwa Lungu is safe but he is playing politics. His colleagues, the closest colleagues are not safe. They will have to face the law as and when need arises.”
And on the issue of street vending, Changala detested the act saying traders have well designated trading places.
He charged that poverty in Zambia is used by those that are disadvantaged as defence when they break the law.
“This is a serious challenge of street vendors. They have littered our streets with merchandise, the streets which don’t have services like toilets for them. The streets are dirty. Now, poverty in this country is used by many, especially the disadvantaged, as a defence when they break the laws. Poverty is a legal defence in inverted commas,” Changala noted. “These street vendors have areas where they are supposed to trade from and these places are designated. These are places which are regulated both by law and by laws that come from the city council. They have abandoned these places to come to where there is a client, the street and they have made our roads and passages impassable. It’s very important when the new dawn talks about the rule of law, that the rule of law must apply to all including the poor, including the disadvantaged. They must obey and observe the law.”
He stressed that Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Gary Nkombo is on firm ground to go and organise “a marketing space, designated marketing space and remove everybody from the street.”
Changala lamented that legitimate shop owners have been pushed out of the legitimate businesses because of street vending.
“They pay rentals, they pay support man power in terms of workers and yet these street vendors, they took the law unto themselves. They do what they want. And they defend themselves in numbers because they are overpopulated in their law breaking,” observed Changala.
Vendors have defied the directive to vacate the streets from the time the order was imposed on them.
They seemingly overpowered the Lusaka City Council police on Friday who have been assigned to kick them out of the streets.
The vendors lamented that they feed their families and pay other bills from street vending.
They as well questioned local authorities why they get K5 from every person trading from the streets.
Some claimed that it is not by choice that they are trading from the streets saying they had applied for spaces in the designated markets but the local authority has not given them.
Some sections of society including the opposition Patriotic Front have condemned the UPND government’s move to kick the vendors out of the streets.
The PF accused the UPND of prematurely kicking vendors out of the streets saying street vending is not a crime.