IF President Lungu does not want to be criticised he should either resign or start doing the right things, says Jack Kalala.
Kalala, the former special assistant to president Levy Mwanawasa for policy implementation and monitoring, said President Edgar Lungu should avoid making incorrect and unsuitable statements that would attract criticism.
He reminded President Lungu that he serves at the pleasure of citizens hence he is prone to criticism when he goes off the rail.
“The aforesaid concept needs to start sinking in the minds of citizens as well. The President is not the Lord but a public employee who is there to manage the national affairs. If he feels offended by any comments made by a citizen, he should sue in his personal capacity instead of unleashing police on particular citizens,” Kalala said.
Commenting on the warning and cautioning of Mast journalist Chambwa Moonga and police pursuit of governance activist Sikaile Sikaile for alleged defamation of the President, Kalala said the duo should be left alone.
He said Sikaile should be left alone as he had the right to comment on the conduct and operations of the presidency as a citizen and employer of the President.
He said President Lungu was abusing the police who were there to maintain law and order.
“Sikaile has the right to hold the President accountable but should not unleash police on him. Kanganja (Inspector General of Police) is a fossil from the archives that’s why he is dancing his [President Lungu’s] tune. The President should not use the police to serve personal interests, this is an abuse of institutions,” Kalala said. “One thing that President Lungu should understand is that he should make a choice if he doesn’t want to be criticised in the position where he is. The choice he has to make if he doesn’t want to be criticised is that he should either resign from his position and become a private citizen then he will not be criticised just like he was not talked about when he was in Chawama, when he was living there.”
He added that what the President did before he assumed his position, the way he lived his life had nothing to do with the nation.
“So no one will criticise him, no one will be concerned about what he does or if he wants to remain President but avoid to be criticised then he should do the correct things. If he does the correct things to the satisfaction all of us, we will praise him and there will be no reason to criticise him,” Kalala said.
He said as long as President Lungu remains the Head of State and continues to make mistakes, the nation will criticise him.
Kalala said what President Lungu and others working with him should understand is that he is not the people’s boss but a servant.
“He is accountable to us, we are not accountable to him. We are the masters, and he is not our master. When we vote, we employ people, we employ MPs, we employ councillors, we employ presidents as our chief executive officers and as stakeholders or shareholders in this limited company called Zambia, we have the right to ensure that the affairs of this company, of this country, are run in the manner we want for the benefit of all of us citizens,” said Kalala.