HH ASSASSINATION CLAIM RUBBISHED

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 09:18:56 +0000

… it will be of no political value to assassinate Mr Hichilema, says Kampyongo

By Nation Reporter

IT would be of no political value to assassinate Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND leader should take responsibility for his lack of leadership and apologise to Zambians for the riotous behavior of his cadres at the Lusaka High Court, Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has said.

Mr Kampyongo said Mr Hichilema’s claims that the riot by the UPND cadres was stage-managed by the Patriotic Front (PF) in an alleged scheme to assassinate him (Hichilema) was the cheapest  way to seek public and political sympathy.

Mr Kampyongo said Mr Hichilema was losing political relevance having lost the presidency more than five times and no one would want to assassinate him.

Reacting to assertions by Mr Hichilema that the confusion at the Lusaka High Court was targeted at him (Hichilema) so that he could be assassinated, Mr Kampyongo said the UPND leader’s claims were laughable because the UPND leader’s political fortunes had diminished to the lowest ebb ever.

He said Mr Hichilema owed Zambians an apology for the damage his cadres caused at the High Court and the threat posed to the lives of the Judges and lawyers as well as innocent onlookers.

Mr Hichilema was reported in The Mast Newspaper as having claimed that State House had caused the riot by the UPND cadres because according to him, there was a plot to assassinate him.

But Mr Kampyongo said Mr Hichilema was using wishful thinking to justify his wrong political actions and wondered what relevance there would be to assassinate the UPND leader.

“Mr Hichilema is one man who has lost political relevance. It would be of no political value to assassinate Mr Hichilema who is of no political consequence. Let Mr Hichilema own up and apologise to Zambians for the riotous behavior of his cadres. Property was damaged and the lives of the judges and lawyers were at risk because of the hooliganism of the UPND cadres. So tell him to stop that kind of cheap politicking and seeking sympathy using cheap political tactics,” Mr Kampyongo said.

He said the law was going to firmly deal with the perpetrators of hooliganism at the High Court and if Mr Hichilema cared for his cadres, he should sacrifice his comfort and come to the rescue of the many young men and women who had been arrested.

Mr Kampyongo said Mr Hichilema should know that Zambians were well informed and that the riot by his cadres were video recorded by many and it was therefore poor politics for Mr Hichilema to blame the police.