PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema will not comment on the alleged audio conversation between his political advisor Levy Ngoma and home affairs permanent secretary Josephs Akafumba until a professional investigation is done to ascertain its authenticity, Presidential Spokesperson and Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relation has said.
Addressing a media briefing at Statehouse yesterday, Mr. Bwalya said that no proper investigations have been carried out to ascertain the authenticity of the people in the audio and that as far as things stand, everything regarding the audio in question is hearsay and that the President will not comment nor act on hearsay.
Yesterday, Patriots for Economic Progress president Sean Tembo said that President Hakainde Hichilema must tender an unconditional apology to Zambians over the leaked audio involving his senior Government officials.
Speaking at a press briefing addressed by various political party leaders in Lusaka, Mr. Tembo said when senior Government officials in a very important ministry of home affairs involving the permanent secretary Joseph Akafumba and State House political advisor Levy Ngoma conspire to prevent a political party from fielding a candidate in an election is a very serious matter.
Mr. Tembo said President Hichilema is personally implicated in leaked audio where Mr. Akufumba and Mr. Ngoma were heard plotting to prevent the Democratic Party from fielding a candidate in the Kabwata parliamentary by-election.
“When a Permanent Secretary in a very important ministry and a Presidential Aide conspire to prevent a political party from fielding a candidate in an election is not a Zambia we know. We challenge President Hichilema to come out and clear himself in this matter because he is personally implicated,” Mr. Tembo said.
He said instead of the Government clarifying the issue it has spent all its energies denying the leaked audio.
“What is missing is clear denial from the people involved. Levy Levy Ngoma, Joseph akafumba, Vice President Mutale Nalumango President Hichilema are all involved. None of the four people have denied the authenticity of the audio. We take it that the audio is authentic,” he said.
“We demand that the President tender unconditional apologize to the Zambian people,” Mr. Tembo said.
Speaking at the same event, Democratic Party president Harry Kalaba said that President Hakainde Hichilema has no appetite to deal with corruption in his administration.
Mr. Kalaba said Zambians were expecting President Hichilema to deal with the fertilizer scandal involving his close associate and husband to Minister of Information and Media Chusi Kasanda.
He said the fight against corruption in the new dawn Government is selective and targeted at ministers and members of parliament in the former ruling PF and that Government is using Law Enforcement Agencies to fix political opponents.
“The fight against corruption is one-sided. Law Enforcement Agencies are heavy-handed when serving personal interests and causing damage to private property. The fight against corruption is vengeful against persons in the opposition,” Mr. Kalaba said.
“UPND is using state institutions to fix political opponents and they are holding a vendetta emanating from the time they were in opposition heavy-handed. This is time to fix problems and improve the living conditions of Zambians. UPND has no appetite to fix corruption in their own regime. The fertilizer scandal is a case in point,” Mr. Kalaba said.
And Mr. Kalaba said Police Inspector General Remmy Kajoba is extremely lenient on UPND cadres and harsh on the opposition.
“Selective justice is on the rise under the UPND. They arrested Nakachinda for proposing violence while campaigning in Kabwata and left Gilbert Liswaniso the UPND national youth chairman for threatening violence,” Mr. Kalaba said.
People Alliance for Change PAC president Andyford Banda charged that President Hakainde Hichilema should discipline Gilbert Liswaniso, the UPND national youth chairman for threatening violence.
Mr. Banda said Zambians should not allow the UPND to turn into a monster and that the issue of violence should not be ignored adding that the Inspector General of police Remmy Kajoba should step down if he has failed to contain violence.
Mr. Banda further said that the UPND is trying to undermine the opposition in the country and that the issue of cadrelism which the UPND campaigned against is still rife under their administration.
“Zambians voted for change and didn’t want to see cadres. UPND is perpetuating cadrelism. Opponents are being attacked in Kabwata. Six months of UPND in Government and we are still talking about cadres and it will soon be a full-blown crisis,” Mr. Banda said.
“We can not afford to ignore these things. UPND is complacent hence saying there is no opposition,” he said.