NKHWAZI NOT OFFICIAL RESIDENCE

By NATION REPORTER
RESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema should not be forced to move to State House as it is only an office with Nkhwazi being nothing but purported official residence of the President of the Republic of Zambia, Jack Mwiimbu told Parliament yesterday.
Mr Mwiimbu said in Parliament that there was no law in the current statutes that would compel President Hichilema to move to Nkhwazi House because State House was not a residence but an office.
Debating on Office of the President, State House Mr Mwiimbu stated that Community House, the private residence of President Hichilema was far much better in terms of standards and that government was not going to move the Head of State to the official residence.
He said Nkhwazi House was not State House and that no one should force President Hichilema to relocate to State House which had been the official residence of all the Presidents since independence.
Mr Mwiimbu denied assertions that Community House, the private residence of President Hichilema was being renovated using state resources, claiming that the Head of State’s house was in perfect condition and did not need any renovations. He told Parliament that President Hichilema as Head of State needed to live in a place that was befitting of the country’s President and that Nkhwazi House was far below the required standards for Mr Hichilema, Zambia’s seveNth President.
And Mr Kampyongo said the mandate of the office of the Office of the President was to ensure that the sovereignty of the country was protected and the interest of every citizen was well- managed.
He said the residence of the sitting Head of State was not by choice and therefore the Ministry of Infrastructure Development should expedite the renovation of Nkhwazi house so that the President can shift to his official resident.
Mr Kampyongo said State House was a gazetted official residence for any siting President because all the state machinery that was assigned to the President should be within the gazetted residence.
He advised that if the new dawn government did not desire that President Hichilema should move into State House and remain at his private residence at Community House, government should bring a bill to Parliament so that members could approve and gazette Community House as the official residence for President Hichilema.