BLAME INTERNATIONAL MEDIA FOR FALSEHOODS-KAKOMA SAYS

Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

By AARON CHIYANZO
UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) has no hand in the misinformation floating on international media platforms that Zambia is under a state of emergency, says UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma.
And Mr Kakoma dispelled suspicions that the UPND misled outspoken South African opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema that there was a state of emergency in Zambia.
He said in an interview with the Daily Nation that falsehoods that Zambia was under a state of emergency were being spread by international media platforms.
Mr Kakoma however confirmed that the UPND had been in talks with different political figures across the world but that it was not behind the lies.
The UPND spokesperson explained that the international community was misled because of the information which was floating on international media platforms.
Mr Kakoma also wondered why people had been so incensed and questionable about the recent meeting between the UPND and Mr Malema.
“This is a global village, we talk to everybody in the world. UPND belongs to a network of political parties in the world and we can talk to anybody in that group, and it’s just not Malema’s party. There are many parties in the world that we talk to.
“We don’t know why people want to make an issue out of Malema. This information has been running on BBC, on Al Jazeera, world over they are talking about the state of emergency in Zambia. That’s their interpretation, we don’t need to misinform anyone” he said.
Zambia is not under a state of emergency as President Edgar Lungu only declared a threatened state of emergency, prescribing a situation, if left unchecked may lead to a state of public emergency.
The current situation is simply that the President has given police more powers to stop and search and or detain suspects longer than usual and may search people without a warrant.