PRESS STATEMENT
Contact : Cheelo Katambo Deputy Media Director UPND
Cell : 0975704808/ 0976 503165
MR EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU IS PUSHING HIS LUCK TOO DEEP
February 28th, 2024
LUSAKA – We wish to advise former Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu not to push his fingers too deep into the lucky jar because the chickens might just come home to roost soon.
Mr. Lungu should not take advantage of the respect and tolerance Zambians have for him as former Head of State to start mocking them with crocodile tears and deliberate actions aimed at seeking public sympathy. His treasonous statement needs actions.
Mr. Lungu should not think that Zambians have already forgotten the path of thuggery, police brutality, infringement of human rights and freedoms and theft of public resources that the PF under his leadership made this country go through.
Seeing Mr. Lungu today crying about police action makes every Zambian sick to the bone because this is the man who at the helm of his rule declared unruly cadres as being part of his office while police brutality and attacks on perceived political opponents was the hallmark of his dictatorial rule and today he wants to act victim.
Didn’t he know that President Hakainde Hichilema was Zambian when he and his Home Affairs Ministers sent cadres in uniform to the Hichilema residence to break his house and pick him in the middle of the night. Didn’t he know that MMD president Nevers Mumba and his executive were Zambians when he sent the Zambia Police to teargas an indoor meeting in Vubwi or maybe he has forgotten that both Nsama Nsama and Joseph Kaunda were Zambians when his police officers killed them in cold blood near police headquarters. Has he forgotten that Frank Mugala and Vestus Shimuzhila were Zambians when police under his rule ended their young lives.
Mr. Lungu should realise that we can spend the whole day reminding him of how he treated citizens as less Zambians during his autocratic and dictatorial 7 years rule.
Today Mr Lungu can face the country and tell its citizens that the police will make Zambians rise against President Hakainde Hichilema and his Government. All because the police dispersed a group of unruly cadres that still think they have instruments of power with them.
Zambians rose against him and his tyrannical Government in 2021 because they were fed up of being ruled by thugs and cadres that had no regard for the rule of law and freedoms of other citizens. He should not expect another uprising atleast not for his selfish sake. We demand that the Zambia Police Service and other security wings quickly move in and perform their noble duties and stop anyone trying to place the security of this nation at risk through threats of an uprising.
Mr. Lungu should not take the tolerance and silence on both his past and current criminality as weakness by the UPND led New Dawn Administration. President Hichilema in his victory acceptance speech assured Mr Lungu of his safety despite his administration’s atrocities but unfortunately the former Head of State wants to take advantage and abuse the olive branch extended to him. As the party in Government, we urge the State to take keen interest in Mr Lungu’s activities which are becoming inimical to the security and well-being of this country.
The UPND is worried at Mr. Lungu’s outbursts during his famous graveyard speech when announcing his return to politics as well as yesterday’s and call on investigative wings to take a keen interest in them. We shall not allow treasonous statements to go unabated.
Mr Lungu’s failure to act like a Statesman has forced President Hakainde Hichilema to turn to former Republican Vice-Presidents for support and advise on governance issues, a role which the now politically active former President should have been performing. We wonder whether Mr.Lungu realizes that he is the only former President in the region if not on the African continent and beyond who is never consulted or engaged like his Peers. We call on him to take a deep reflection on the direction his life is taking.
The hallmark of Zambia’s governance hinges on the respect for the rule of law, peace and security, tenets that the Lungu administration had nearly destroyed. Zambia under the Hichilema administration is back where it belongs and Zambians are happy and not even Mr. Lungu’s cry for sympathy will make them forget what they went through before 2021.
We shall not allow Mr Lungu and his cohorts to plant seeds of discontent among our peaceful citizens hence our clarion call on security wings to keep their systems active to make sure our peace is maintained. The UPND and its administration wishes to assure Zambians within and outside the country that it will continue maintaining territorial peace while improving the cost of living and governance in general.
(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM