THERE IS NO POWER VACCUM IN ZAMBIA, LUNGU IS IN CHARGE

STATE HOUSE has announced that President Edgar Lungu is in charge and holds the powers of the executive.

Addressing journalists at a briefing today Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda announced that there was no power vacuum in government because the constitution states that all executive powers are in the hands of the incumbent till he hands over to the President Elect.

“Government has remained intact, there is no power vacuum. The incumbent President hands over as the constitution stands now and has stood before. He the incumbent hands over to the President Elect and that is the status…. All government services are still taking place in an orderly manner. The incumbent will hand over to the President Elect once all the processes are over so there is no power vacuum what so ever this we must stress,” Mr Chanda said.

“The incumbent President holds the powers of the executive and in this case President Lungu is the incumbent if he was not incumbent he would not have these powers.”

Mr. Chanda warned media fraternities and citizens not to take advantage of President Lungu’s magnanimous attitude to propagate lawless behavior such as dragging defense forces into politics.

He said such acts would not be tolerated by the state as the President was sworn to protect the stability of the Republic.

“The careless and unnecessary talk to try and drag the defense forces into politics will not be tolerated, I am very sure that even they will not tolerate that careless talk. There has never been a situation in this country where an election outcome creates a power vacuum, the design of the constitution has always been that the incumbent President hands over to the President Elect, in this case the incumbent is the president elect he hands over to himself,” Mr. Chanda emphasized.

“Don’t take advantage of his magnimity, the head of state does not seize to be Head of State unless he hands over power to the President Elect.

Mr. Chanda assure that all Government wings including the Civil Service were operating normally and that there was no cause for apprehension.

The Central Bank continues to be fully in charge of the monetary policy whilst the Secretary to the Treasury is overseeing the fiscal policy side of the economy, Mr Chanda said.
He added that the President has assured the financial services industry that there would be no disruptions in market operations.

The Special Assistant to the President also said the President is disappointed with some sections of society who have continued to issue statements to undermine the court process and the integrity of the State in general.