EX-MINISTER LAMENTS OVER LUNGU’S BLUNDER
By DARIUS CHOONYA
Former Copperbelt Minister Mwenye Musenge has advised current ministers to disregard some of President Edgar Lungu’s directives pertaining to elections to avoid being misled.
Mr. Musenge is among the former ministers who have been ordered by the constitutional court to pay back the salaries they received in 2016 when Parliament was dissolved and Constitutional Court declared their continued stay as illegal.
The former Copperbelt Minister owes the State K 56,000.
Mr Musenge is wondering how he will pay back the salaries and allowances when his financial status has deteriorated.
He says he feels embarrassed that he followed President Edgar Lungu’s directive to stay in office illegally after the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the 2016 general election.
And former Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili says the state should have paid back the salaries and allowances of former ministers because the directive to stay in office came from the President.
Meanwhile, Caritas Executive Director Eugene Kabilika says the ministers must just pay the money to avoid being cited for contempt of court.