Some of HH’s people busy cutting dirty deals – Chifire
By Oliver Chisenga
SOME of the people President Hakainde Hichilema is working with are snakes, says Southern Africa Network Against Corruption director Gregory Chifire.
In a statement, Chifire said the activities of some people around the President are inimical to his “well intentioned vision”.
Chifire called on President Hichilema to “open his eyes” and be wary of “bad elements” working with him.
“The sooner we tell the President the truth, the better. Some of his people are busy cutting dirty deals, yet pretending to the boss that they are angels,” Chifire warned.
He said Zambians campaigned for and elected President Hichilema because they believed in his vision and his fight against corruption.
“Zambians detest corruption of whatever form. The President needs to be told the truth. Some of his people are not fit to work in his team. They are too hungry for fast riches. They got corrupted too early. A lot of us are trying our best to help but these corrupt elements are frustrating our efforts. They are protecting the wrongdoers. They are promising wrongdoers protection in exchange for bribes,” Chifire said.
He said the bad elements around President Hichilema are even blocking people who have information from reaching the President because they know that once he is made aware it would threaten their jobs.
Chifire insisted that President Hichilema needed to put his foot down and create a mechanism of getting information from ordinary citizens because those surrounding him have created a barricade.
“They are dictating what the President should hear and see. They are using State protocols to alienate the President from the ordinary citizens. The President is a good man, but he needs help. He has passion for the ordinary people, but needs to shake up his team,” Chifire added. “Some of them are deadwood. The only thing they know is soliciting money from the Chinese and other investors. We sacrificed our lives for change. We sacrificed our lives to fight the corrupt.”
He said it hurts that a few using their “privileged positions in government” are undermining the President’s fight against corruption because of their personal greed.
“The same evils we fought against in the PF are still here because some of the ministers and State House officials are protecting those systems at the expense of our people. We shall not hold our peace for far too long but tell the President the truth,” said Chifire.