SACKED PS SAYS HE WAS INSTRUCTED TO RECALL DIPLOMATS
BY ADRIAN MWANZA
I WAS directed by higher authorities to recall diplomats and workers deployed in Foreign Service, says former ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Dr Ronald Simwinga.
This follows revelations by President Hakainde Hichilema during a radio interview yesterday that two days ago (Monday), he fired a senior government official who recalled some diplomats and prepared a list of replacements without authorisation.
Dr Simwinga is believed to have been fired during the period referred to by the President.
When contacted, Dr Simwinga however said that he was instructed to recall the diplomats who had been relieved of duty and did not do so out of his own decision.
He said that he followed the procedure to the latter and that he did not sway or indulge in any illegality.
Dr Simwinga said he did not have the authority to recall people in Foreign Service and that the directive came from higher authorities.
He said all recalls were authorised by higher authorities and that it was not him that sanctioned them.
‘’What I can say is that those recalls were sanctioned and it was not me who was calling the shots but people in higher officers,’’ he said.
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