Civil servants frustrated – Chama

By NATION REPORTER

THE continued leaks of information in the UPND government is as a result of growing frustrations in the civil service which is going through purging on grounds that most civil servants are aligned to the Patriotic Front (PF), Davis Chama has said.

And Mr Chama has said the UPND government should not start complaining and accusing the PF of having assumed the position of defacto government within the new dawn administration because they were experts in illegally obtaining classified information while in opposition.

Mr Chama has recalled that President Hakainde Hichilema, while in opposition is on record bragging that he was receiving intelligence briefings ahead of then President Edgar Lungu.

Mr Chama says complaints by Mr  Nkombo, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development were meant to perpetuate the ongoing purging of seasoned and patriotic civil servants to advance regionalism and tribalism.

In February, 2015, President Hichilema, then in opposition claimed that he was receiving intelligence even before the said reports could reach then President Edgar Lungu.

“As I sit today (February 15th, 2015), Edgar Lungu get his intelligence reports…I actually get the copy of the intelligence reports ahead of him. I know what is going on, I know what he is doing,” Mr Hichilema said at the time.

But on Tuesday, Mr  Nkombo complained in Parliament that the PF was running the UPND government through the backdoor by accessing classified information from the government systems.

 “It is clear that the PF are collecting information from government systems going by what Mr Kafwaya (Mutotwe), has been reading from his phone. It is clear that someone from the government machinery is feeding in. It is now overbearing on my part. There is clear dichotomy between oversight function and attempting to run the country using the back door. The PF want to run this government illegally with an illusion that they would still bounce back to power,” Mr Nkombo said.

But Mr Chama said the UPND government was reaping what it sowed while in the opposition, stating that the ruling party at the time was boasting that they were running the PF government from the opposition.

“The PF has been out of government for almost two years now. The UPND are in-charge, they are in control but they are accusing PF of running their government because they have lamentably failed to govern. The UPND while in opposition were experts in illegally obtaining government information. While in opposition, they boasted that they were running the PF government. They are reaping what they sowed.”