GOVERNMENT says it takes great exception to allegations by United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema that the Patriotic Front (PF) administration is plotting to assassinate him.
Chief government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili told a media briefing in Luanshya yesterday that to make such claims, Mr Hichilema does not understand the politics of the country.
“He is under-five and needs to grow up. There is no way the PF government would want to assassinate him because he is a political player. The best for him is not to raise such accusations but to assist Government in finding solutions of the problems that the country is facing,” he said.
Mr Kambwili was reacting to Mr Hichilema’s accusation that violent political attacks on him are a ploy to assassinate him.
Mr Hichilema told a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that attacks on him and the UPND on the Copperbelt last week by suspected PF cadres are allegedly an attempt to kill him.
Meanwhile, Mr Kambwili has said the increase in the pump price of fuel was not the PF government’s making but international market forces.
Mr Kambwili, who is minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, said: “The increase in the pump price of fuel is not determined by Government but by the international oil market. So it will be petty for someone to heap the blame on President Lungu for the increase in the pump price of fuel.”
On load shedding, the minister said the people of Zambia should understand the effects of global warming that has caused low water levels in the reservoirs for power generation.
He said members of Parliament (MPs) were taken on a tour of Kariba Dam for an on-the-spot check of the low water levels for power generation.
“It is of God’s making and not President Lungu. The Zambian people should take time to understand the issues of global warming. So it is wrong for someone to come and heap the blame on President Lungu,” Mr Kambwili said.
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Lawrence Manyaila
ULI WACHABECHABE KAPOLI MUSELELA KWA KABA UKAFYA NA BWIMA