Nga bwanga ebo ba bilivamo, bonse tukapanda ubobwine ubwanga – Lusambo

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By Mast Repoter

EMBATTLED PF member Bowman Lusambo says he is not cheap and a small boy to be intimidated by the investigative wings.

Lusambo, who on Tuesday had his house in Lusaka’s Chamba Valley searched by the three investigative wings, has accused President Hakainde Hichilema of being behind the action.

A combined team of officers from the Anti-Corruption Commission, Drug Enforcement Commission, and Zambia Police searched Lusambo’s residence.

“As stated before, I am a law-abiding citizen and I have never at any point failed to cooperate with any legally instituted investigation; be it criminal or civil. What I will not succumb to is intimidation and harassment using state institutions. The officers being used in such operations should realise that Zambia does not belong to any one individual who is giving them illegal orders,” he said in a statement yesterday. “I am not a cheap guy and I want to tell Mr Hakainde Hichilema that I am not a small boy. He may think I am a small boy but I am not a small boy. Ngabwanga bonse tule panda. Nga bwanga ebo ba bilivamo bonse tukapanda ubobwine ubwanga (If it’s witchcraft we shall all get it. If they believe in witchcraft, we shall acquire the same). I am not a small boy. I don’t entertain all this drama happening in my life.”

Lusambo questioned operations of the three investigative wings, describing it unprofessional.

“Time will surely come when they will answer for their actions individually. The unprofessionalism and incompetence by the ACC can be seen in its very low conviction rates. What is ACC’s interest in a licensed gun?” Lusambo asked. “If there was any problem with my gun, Zambia Police would have been the appropriate agency to come and question me about its possession and use.”

He said he expected investigative wings to write to him before searching his premises.

Lusambo even suggested on how they should have proceeded with the matter.

“In a functional society where rules of natural justice apply, the ACC should have written to my lawyers stating why they needed to search my property, obtain a search warrant and present it to me in the presence of my lawyers who should be present for the entire duration of the search,” Lusambo said. “If they find anything incriminating, they should then summon us for questioning and if at all they feel they have enough to form a prosecutable case, present us before a magistrate and then meet us in court. Now ACC officers want to act as if they are a law unto themselves.”

He said he would live to create a better Zambia.

“We will not allow the UPND to misconduct themselves using State institutions. To President Hichilema, the five-year mandate you received from Zambians does not give you a licence to wantonly abuse state institutions,” Lusambo said.

“Zambia is for us all and we are not running away to any other place. We are still here and even if you eliminate us today, our children will come and inherit our resolve to create a better Zambia for all.”

And earlier on Diamond TV’s Diamond Live programme, Lusambo threatened to equip himself with juju if that’s what the Head of State believed in.

He said he had done nothing wrong for the government to be following him.

“I have worked in government for five years and I can assure you that I can’t steal government property. I can’t steal government money and I have no business with government money and property, okay!” the seemingly irate Lusambo said. “I have nothing for government. I have done nothing with government issues, unlike other people who did a lot of things through privatisation and became rich overnight. Not me. I am not in parliament today because Mr Hakainde Hichilema doesn’t like me and I don’t like him either. He is not my relative, he is just a President of the Republic of Zambia.”

He claimed that officers who raided his premises did not identify themselves.
Lusambo also alleged that they entered his residence without permission.

“I am very upset in the manner that they accessed my property. They are very lucky that I was not at home. If I was at home, I would have treated them as criminals because of the way they passed through our gate because my house is private property and I am entitled for privacy. They were supposed to identify themselves,” he said.

“Identify themselves where they were coming from and what they wanted at the particular property, and they were very lucky that I was not at home because they needed to identify themselves.’’

Lusambo explained what his lawyers found when they reached the premises.

“They found out that the officers went in without permission. And I don’t know what they have left in that house. Maybe they came with drugs, I don’t know, to come and place in my house,” he charged. “So, they acted unprofessionally. And I am very upset because if they really wanted to search, they would have come in a proper manner, identify themselves and let the people at home also confirm with our lawyers that there are people who have come to search.”

Lusambo said he is a law-abiding citizen who respected government institutions.
He labeled the officers who went to his house as “lairs because they did not identify themselves”.

“We are law abiding citizens and we don’t fight with investigative wings. We respect government institutions. There is nothing that we have done to this country. We don’t expect any harassment. We don’t expect someone somewhere fighting me using investigative wings,” Lusambo said. “They are liars. They are supposed to be honest in their statement. They forced themselves through the first gate. They forced themselves through the second gate, they forced themselves through the main house into the master bedroom.”

He said if they had good intentions, they would have entered his premises in a normal and respectful way.

“Those are government institutions. If they really came with good intensions, they were supposed to produce a warrant to the officers on the first gate. And they were supposed to produce a search warrant to officers in the second gate, and they were supposed to engage my wife who was at home in a polite manner,” said Lusambo. “My wife was in the bedroom preparing for a funeral. The officers followed her in her bedroom, which is very unprofessional. If they wanted her, they would have waited for her. We can’t deny any search at our property because we are not hiding anything. They can search at any given time but with respect.”

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