HH Backs LAZ Position On Minister Chitotela

UPND President Hakainde Hichilema has urged President Edgar Lungu to immediately remove his Infrastructure Development Minister Ronald Chitotela from government in order to allow for fair prosecution and adjudication of the corruption charges levelled against him.

Mr. Hichilema says if President Lungu does not remove Chitotela, it will disenfranchise the public and give the impression that Lungu’s cronies are untouchable. It also does nothing to help combat the corruption culture already persistent in Zambia.

“We state so because Mr. Lungu’s defence of those facing corruption charges clearly shows that he too is a beneficiary of the same, but he must be stopped by citizens”, he added.

Mr. Hichilema says Zambians cannot allow a situation where someone facing corruption charges is flying the pride of the Zambian flag representing the country at both local and international levels.

“Clearly, Mr. Lungu’s conduct shows that the arrest of Chitotela is just a public relation show whose aim is to hoodwink the international community and our citizens. There are several people who have been removed from their positions on mere suspicion of financial embezzlement or other misconduct and are awaiting their cases to be disposed of”, he said.

He said the UPND is also aware of grand corruption by senior PF government officials which is depleting the country’s funds, this too must come to an end but if not, all those involved in this corruption syndicate will sooner rather than later be held accountable.

Mr. Hichilema has appealed to the Anti-Corruption Commission and other Agencies to be relentless in their pursuit to protect public property and finances from criminals masquerading as government officials or PF agents and that when in government we will even empower these bodies to operate independently and safeguard our country’s resources.