UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says PF’s campaign trajectory is in disarray and the ruling party has instead cleaned Hakainde Hichilema way before elections in 2021.
He says there is nothing the PF will do to stop the change that is coming in 2021.
He was commenting on Hichilema’s explanation of how he purchased the Serval Road house and answers to the privatization questions helightened by FDD leader Edith Nawakwi.
Mweetwa said on Friday, the nation came to a standstill as Hichilema gave the side of the story regarding allegations by “the devil’s advocates” over privatization process.
He said Hichilema put up a five star performance which was a show stopper.
He said the whole privatisation debate as it relates to the opposition leader had been put to rest.
“Even haters, those who hate HH for various reasons known to themselves, yesterday had to take a step backwards and reflect on their malice and hate for an innocent and hard working citizen like HH,” he said.
“Yesterday HH demonstrated how he has the little he owns. He was able to demonstrate that as early as 1995, he could afford buying a house at K61 million. That was a colossal amount of money in those days, three years before he got involved in privatisation.”
Mweetwa said those that had been wanting to link Hichilema’s businesses to privatisation got their answer on Friday.
He said since Hichilema was asked to explain himself since he was vying to become President of Zambia in 2021 and he ‘satisfactorily delivered’, all others vying for the leadership of the country should explain where they got their wealth.
“Those who are in leadership today should explain the wealth they have. The ministers who are telling Zambians that K2 million is change for shopping should explain where they got their wealth such that K2 million is now change. We would like to agree with former Attorney General Musa Mwenye, who has called for a lifestyle audit and has volunteered himself as a former government worker to be the first one and has challenged those in government to volunteer but so far there is no response,” Mweetwa said.
The Choma Central lawmaker said he expected the same agility employed to the demand for Hichilema to explain to be employed over lifestyle audit.
“We would also like them all to respond to the call for lifestyle audit so that we know what they have and where they got it from,” he said.
Mweentwa said he had also seen a weak shift in goalpost by the PF over the debate, from Hichilema explaining himself to now asking why in his suit against Nawakwi he has not concentrated on the privatisation process but has just focused on the Serval Road house and Lima Bank.
“It is very simple and I am now here to respond. The lawyers for HH have got their own reasons for not including the privatisation issue. But for now and for avoidance of doubt, so that we eliminate any speculation about why privatisation was left out, it was because of the legal logic concerning the two matters,” Mweetwa, a lawyer, explained.
He explained that Nawakwi made it very clear that Hichilema was a thief, who stole in respect of the house.
“There were definite and specific defamatory remarks in respect to those transanctions of the house and Lima Bank. When it comes to the issue of privatisation vis-à-vis Southern Sun and Livingstone InterContinental, madam Nawakwi merely made speculation that HH could have had some professional misconduct. If someone accuses you of professional misconduct, I am sure in the determination of the lawyers, they wanted to just pull out a case which was solid, to go there and not to waste court’s time, not to take to court flimsy issues to be adjudicated by the courts which are already clogged with a lot of issues,” Mweetwa said.
He said at his level, Hichilema must only take to court solid arguments so that “you are not seen as merely being a busybody that is litigious in a court system which requires space to breathe”.
And Mweetwa explained the other issue requiring explanation was the one of declaration of interest.
He said going by how Hichilema explained himself, that particular issue falls off as there was no conflict of interest involved.
He noted that some people have risen saying Hichilema did not declare interest in the hotel transaction and therefore committed an offence.
He said the country must always advocate to go by the law and continue to be a government and country of laws and not of men.
“We should continue to use the law and not emotions and feelings. At the material time of the privatisation of Hotel InterContinental Livingstone, some people may wish to know that there was no law in Zambia which required declaration of interest,” Mweetwa said. “As an advocate myself, I am aware that the anti-corruption Act of 1996 for instance did not provide for declaration of interest in a particular transaction. The requirement to declare interest is a recent innovation of the law, that when a public officer is involved in a transaction where they have interest, as a matter of law, they are required to declare interest,” Mweetwa explained.
“At that time of the privatisation of Livingstone InterContinental Hotel there was no such requirement. That is number one. Number two, even if one was to assume there was such kind of requirement as it is now, HH, according to the current ACC Act would still be left outside the ambit of the requirement to declare interest because he is not a public officer and has never been. There is no time that HH has been a public officer, so people should not just imagine things, there is law which applies to you as a citizen or any person. There is also law that applies to you in a particular capacity.”
Mweetwa said declaring interest was specifically for a public officer as defined under the ACC Act.
He said even if the law was to be applied retrospectively, it would still absolve Hichilema.
“So the man has come out clean and the PF’s campaign trajectory is in disarray. The weapon they thought they would use for 2021 has collapsed. There is nothing that they are going to do to stop the change that is coming in 2021,” he said.
“I am sure when they reflect back on this issue which they had gone on anthills to chorus, they will remember this saying that sometimes what you attempt to destroy ends up destroying you. They have destroyed their own campaign and made HH stronger and even, they have cleaned him. So we thank madam Nawakwi for helping in cleaning HH. Unlike ministers under this government who go to the Anti-Corruption to be cleansed, to look clean, this is a genuine cleaning exercise, which platform was created by madam Nawakwi and on that score, I think that it’s important to thank her for having done what she did. May be it was the holy spirit working in her to invoke the debate so that HH is cleaned way before elections because if it was during elections, I am sure may be they would have gained one or two points based on misinformation and propaganda.”