By ADRIAN MWANZA
Zambia’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia Emmanuel Mwamba has called on President Hakainde Hichilema to stop abusing law enforcement agencies in the fight against corruption and past cases of political violence.
Speaking when he appeared on a special programme on Radio Phoenix, Amb Mwamba said the arrest of PF Deputy Chairperson, Davies Chama, who was detained in police custody without charge for 11 days, was similar to past cases that members of the public have condemned.
He said the Police must apply the law fairly and not just target PF members in their pursuit of cases.
He said all cases must be driven by evidence and pursuit of alleged crimes and not a political witch-hunt.
He said if cases that Law Enforcement Agencies were pursuing only targeted PF members, the law would be used to punish political opponents than the pursuit of Justice.
And Mr Mwamba has said he was ready to take over the Patriotic Front presidency if members gave an opportunity.
Mr Mwamba also said he was available to serve in any capacity even if it was to work in rural areas just to help the party.
He said he had the experience needed to execute his duties as president of the party but that he would be more than willing to serve the party diligently in any capacity including the presidency.
“My name is one of the names that has been brought up and I’m humbled but look, I have held very senior positions in this country and I have proved myself in any capacity,” he said.
He said that the party needed to reflect and allow people to aspire and not gag anyone because the country was a democratic dispensation.
Meanwhile Mr Mwamba said that the UPND government needed to let the Zambians know about the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions rather than leaving them in limbo.
Mr Mwamba said Government needed to disclose whether conditions meant that they had to sell Zesco or going to reform it. Are they going to sell Indeni? It is wrong for people to sit in boardrooms making decisions on behalf of the country,” he said.
He said that the Minister of Finance needed to disclose the bold and ambitious reforms so that Zambians could brace themselves for hard times ahead and walk together in this period.
Mr Mwamba said similar ambitious led to the closure of over 200 companies in the 1990s and that there was need to prepare this time around.
He also said police were making the President look like a liar because they were doing the exact opposite of what he was directing.
Mr Mwamba said the President had been categorical on not detaining an individual for more than two days as was happening at the moment.
He also said that the arrest of Mr Raphael Nakacinda was preceded by the UPND reporting the matter at the police.
“This shows that the Police is receiving orders from the UPND because Mr Nakacinda was arrested barely 24 hours after the report,” Mr Mwamba said.
He also called on the head of State not to politicise the appointments of civil servants as he had when he appointed known UPND cadres like Mr Thabo Kawana to positions in the civil service.
Mr Mwamba said it was wrong for President Hichilema to co-opt members from his circle to work as civil servants because they would be partisan.
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