Fri, 07 Jul 2017 13:57:45 +0000
By OSCAR MALIPENGA
THERE is no tension in Zambia but there is terrorism building up meant to intimidate me, President Edgar Lungu said.
And the Head of State said the spate of fires experienced in Zambia were obviously acts of sabotage because of the patterns they had taken.
He said it was unfortunate that people would think the declaration was targeted at the opposition UPND.
The Head of State told a press briefing at State House yesterday that he was not targeting any person nor political party by his proclamation of threatened State of Emergency.
“So there is no tension in the country but some acts of terrorism by some criminals because of a systematic approach have been happening,
“The reason why that gentleman is being held is totally different. I hope that the court can hear his case quickly; either they can convict him or free him, I don’t care,” President Lungu said.
And President Lungu has assured the nation that the decision to invoke article 31 would not affect innocent citizens but would assist him in smoking out the ‘terrorists’ who had been trying to intimidate him and make Zambia appear ungovernable.
Responding to questions from journalists who sought clarity on what to expect after the proclamation as many theories had been flying around with many instilling fear in the citizens, President Lungu assured the nation that all business would go on as usual but noted that criminals, transgressors will not invade him.
He said he had no intention to abuse the power granted to him by the constitution as he does not want to disrupt ordinary life.
“I will only go for those posing danger to public order and security…people are free to move… freedom of the media will continue…. No curfew and no blanket regulations as we will be dealing with matters case by case,” President Lungu said.
“Do not panic, fear nothing… your liberties are important and do not worry you are in safe hands.”
Meanwhile, President Lungu said Zambia was not ready for a military government and he would never allow such a thing to happen.
He said time was long gone for military governments.
“It time for people to rule themselves any soldier who wants politics should come out of uniform and join us. I think I must make this clear, any soldier who wants to take over power should come out of his uniform surrender his commission and become a civilian so that we work together,
“But going further, let me tell you that the power I have used is a democratic constitution. The power I have used to declare a state of emergency or threaten to declare a state of emergency is provided for in the constitution,” President Lungu clarified.
And the Head of State also said he had granted police more powers to conduct random searches on people and property.
“People who will be arrested under the State of Threatened Emergency, may be detained for a longer than normal time before being taken to court,” President Lungu said.
The President said under the threatened State of Public Emergency, the Patriotic Front (PF) government had powers to regulate the media.
He said he was actually an advocate of media freedom, adding that the media fraternity was a friendly force.
He said there was terrorism building in response to a question from a journalist who wanted to know if by declaring a threatened State of Emergency, he also agreed with those who felt there was public tension in Zambia.
Meanwhile, the Head of State explained that Parliament would determine whether the invoked Article 31 would last for three months or not.
He said before signing the SI he consulted cabinet which would also be reviewed by Parliament.
