Sat, 27 May 2017 10:54:30 +0000
THE behaviour of South African Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Mmusi Maimane, who was turned back at Kenneth Kaunda International airport on Thursday, was provocative and meant to put the Zambian government to test, PF Lusaka youth chairperson Kennedy Kamba has observed.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Kamba said that the Immigration Department did a commendable job to send Mr Maimane back to his country because Zambia was not one of the provinces of South Africa and that his presence was irrelevant at the moment.
He said that Mr Maimane was informed beforehand that he would not be granted entry into the country but he decided to go against the advice.
“I would like to commend the Immigration Department for the job well done; there is no way that even after being informed that he would not be allowed to come and visit HH at the moment, he still went ahead to come.
‘‘That was meant to tempt the Zambian government in every way possible. There are a lot of issues in South Africa and it would be better for him to concentrate on what is going on in his country,” he said.
And opposition Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP) leader Sean Tembo said that Government was in order to deny Mr Maimane entry into the country, considering the reasons why the DA leader wanted to come into the country.
Mr Tembo said that prior to the statements that the DA leader made, his intentions to advocate for the release of HH was uncalled of.
He said that it was not in order for a foreign national to come into the country and try to influence the established institutions of another country and that it was important for foreign nationals to respect the Zambian institutions.
“We don’t find it necessary nor do we believe in a foreign national to come to Zambia to try and influence our established institutions.
‘‘Therefore, we feel that Government acted accordingly to restrict Mr Maimane access to the country,” he said.
