…accuses the opposition of celebrating coups in some countries with the hope that the unlawfulseizure of power would also happen in Zambia
By NATION REPORTER
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has lampooned opposition political parties for allegedly advocating for a coup d’états by celebrating the violent way of taking over power in some countries and has asked his critics to allow him and the UPND chance to execute the mandate accorded to him by Zambians in 2021.
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And President Hichilema yesterday mocked the Patriotic Front (PF) of being bitter that despite having been written off that he would never be President of Zambia, he had defied all odds and was now governing the country, including those who thought a citizen from his region would never be President.
At his end-of-year press briefing yesterday, President Hichilema cautioned the opposition against emulating violent political events which were happening in some countries in Africa where power had violently been wrestled from legitimately elected leaders.
He said the PF should allow the UPND government to utilise the opportunity Zambians had given his government to perform and deliver and should therefore avoid emulating the violent ways of taking over power.
“Allow us to utilise our opportunity Zambians gave us to govern. You had your opportunity. Do not emulate (celebrate) the violent ways of tasking over power…and you want to emulate countries that have political instability. When someone says we expect a coup in Tanzania or Zambia, you the media, do not publish that story. We want a safer world and not a world that is conflicted.”
“We cannot be stretching resources meant for our people to conflicts. We do not support war…instability anywhere is instability everywhere. Our foreign policy is anchored on two fronts…peace, stability and security. The second is economic diplomacy and we are going to vote against war at the United Nations,” President Hichilema said.
President Hichilema said he was ready to confess that governing the country was not a joke as he had to remain awake for as long as 02 hours every other day working on diverse assignments including resolving situations in some neighbouring countries.
“I am not a stooge of imperialists as some people are insinuating. When you become President, you will understand how complex it is to govern the country and I will not give you details. If the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) blows up, Zambia will blow up,” he said.
And President Hichilema has mocked the PF that the leaders of the former ruling party were bitter that Zambians had elected him despite having been written off that he would never in his life ascend to the presidency of the country.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema has reiterated his directive that neither Ministers nor Permanent Secretaries shall be allowed to have VX Toyota luxurious motor vehicles bought at government expense.
He said should Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, and other top civil servants desire to own VX vehicles, they would have to use their own money to buy.
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