POLICE PLANS TO SUMMON HARRY KALABA OVER HIS REVELATIONS THAT UPND PLANS TO UNBUNDLE ZESCO
By KBN TV Staff Reporter
Police on Monday plans to summon Citizens First President Harry Kalaba over a recent media statement in which he revealed that the Hakainde Hichilema led UPND administration plans to unbundle the power utility Zesco and sell units to a foreign entity.
Police sources have told KBN TV that plans to arrest Kalaba and slap him with seditious practices are advanced within the Police command.
Several stakeholders including the United States of America and the United Nations Human Rights watch have criticized the UPND Government for its heavy handed tactics to silence dissenting voices and arresting opposition political figures.
Speaking at the end of the year media briefing this week, Kalaba claimed that the current government had taken corruption to unprecedented heights, making the previous government look like “child’s play” in comparison.
The vibrant Kalaba, who has never been arrested before in his political career, said the UPND government was taking steps to unbundle ZESCO and sell it to a UK-based firm, raising concerns about the motives behind the decision and the potential implications for the country’s electricity supply.
Rumours of the planned sale of ZESCO have been simmering from as early as 2021 just after the UPND administration took office. On November 8 2021, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) President Kasonde Mwenda, raised the alarm of a possible plot by President Hakainde Hichilema’s government to embark on a process to sell the power utility ZESCO, and Zambia’s only oil refinery-INDENI.
In his Facebook post, Mwenda said: “The sale of INDENI and ZESCO has advanced. As Economic Freedom Fighters-EFF, we will not allow our few remaining National Assets to be sold again. #neveragain”
“We refuse a second Privatization. If you proceed, the Youths will rise and we are ready to go to prison over our Country Zambia.”
But on January 14, 2022, then Minister of Information and Chief Government Spokesperson Chushi Kasanda had dismissed any plans to sell ZESCO and that the restructuring of ZESCO did not mean selling, but rather improving operations and increasing efficiency of the power utility.
And when contacted for a comment on the planned arrest, Kalaba dismissed the rumour as a joke saying “President Hichilema in opposition had accused the PF of planning to sell off Zesco and it was not seditious, how does it become seditious now that Harry Kalaba has exposed his intentions to continue with privatization of state assets?” he said.