ECL will be arrested if he breaks the law
…without lifting immunity says Cornelius Mweetwa
17.06.24-From Minister press conference
Information Minister Cornelius Mweetwa says former President Edgar Lungu can be arrested today is he commits a crime because he no longer enjoys the immunity of a siting President.
Mr Mweetwa said he was dismayed to see some media houses misrepresent the message of President Hakainde Hichilema who recently said his predecessor could face arrest at a press conference.
“There was a scrolling message saying ´ECL to be arrested-HH´ but for those of you who watched the press conference is there anywhere where the President said ECL would be arrested? ” Mr Mweetwa asked.”
Mr. Mweetwa said, “Zero…the President (HH) was explaining immunity that Presidential immunity does not extend to the time you have left office and that one who enjoys immunity such as President Edgar Lungu, IF HE BREAKS THE LAW, he will be arrested like any other citizen without any need to go to parliament to lift the immunity.”
The Chief government spokesman said seeking parliament’s approval to arrest a former head of state such as Lungu is only necessary for the crimes he allegedly committed while in office not after he ceases being President.
“If he (ECL) breaks the law he will be arrested,” said Mr Mweetwa at his press conference on Monday flanked by Energy Minister Peter Kapala.
Mr Mweetwa said he will not stop to ´name and shame ‘Zambia media if they appear to ´distort´ information, singling out KBNTV resident Analyst Ambassador Anthony Mukwita who appears every Sunday on ´The Analysis´ with station CEO Pastor Kennedy Mambwe and Innocent Phiri.
This is the second time Mr Mweetwa has singled out KBNTV for blame at a public press conference after frosty relations developed between the station and the minister after an audio leak that did not favour him.
Source: press conference.
We know you as anarchists. The law means little or nothing to yourselves. CT
Kkkkkk. Sledge head Mwiitwa. After leaving office, this country will be small for you.
By the way I just wanted to know how and why Dr Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda former President of the Republic of Zambia was arrested. Though Chiluba just cooked up unseen cases, his Excellency Dr. Kenneth Kaunda was arrested for would have been the cases done outside his being Republican President or being in office as President of Zambia not for the cases he did while as sitting President, or may be outside it – outside the Presidency. I don’t know if this could be different from todays situation. Need to be educated
Congrats ba Mweetwa, you are right. Please cage those idiots who think they own the country. Please, Please cage them now rather than later.
yo mingalato may set fire leave ecl alone,reduce price of mealie meal,fuel ,end load shading ,work on the bad economy etc concetrating on ecl
we are tired of stories of ecl this and ecl that , we voted for u upnd and hh to reduce mealie meal price from k130 to k50 but now mealie meal is very expensive,economy is worse than the time of ecl,kwacha against dollar is in intesive care unit(ictu).
i feel sorry for my party upnd ,2026 we are likely to lose coz we focus much on politics insteady of fulfiling the promises we made to the voters during campaign in 2021 elections.Please ba mwitwa time is ticking,voters may put us ku babud wire, already many people are complaining about high cost of living, ba mwiitwa advise his excellence hh to start fixing before it’s too late sir.
i still have hope in hh ,but he need someone to teach him how to govern properry ,hh need good advisers like the royal highness king lewanika,chitimukulu ,mpezen or chief monze not people like mweetwa ,garry nkombo or this failed minister of agriculture reuben mutolo chi phiry who has brought hunger in this country after selling our maize to tanzania and start buying the same maize from tanzania!!! what kind of thinking buying the same thing u sold ,this is what some people call chimbwi no plan kind of thinking.
bene ba njala 2026 ku wire
Nkani ya immunity izibika!
Must we talk about the same thing every day?
You are becoming more boring ba Mweetwa!
To avoid being misquoted by the Press, you must learn to be brief and to the point!
You must avoid the pitfalls of distractions!
You talked about important things but the press is concentrating on reporting on your ECL distractions.
You need a refresher training on how to be an effective government Spokesperson baba!
NIPA still offers Public Administration courses I am sure … Kikikiki