Lubanseshi Independent Member of Parliament Patrick Mucheleka has advised President Edgar Lungu to postpone his plans to go on holiday and focus on addressing pressing national issues.
PF Secretary General Davies Chama last week announced that President Lungu will go on holiday to undisclosed destination shortly after the AU summit which ended on Sunday.
Mr Mucheleka said in an interview that Zambia is currently facing a number of pressing issues which need the intervention of the President.
He said proceeding on holiday immediately after winning the January 20 election would be counterproductive.
Mr Mucheleka suggested that President Lungu should only consider going on holiday after he has appointed a full cabinet.
‘President Lungu does not take governance of this country seriously. This is no time to play. Let him postpone that holiday and only go after the country settles down and he puts in place a full cabinet,’ Mr Mucheleka said.
He added, ‘Already he is putting his former cabinet colleagues whom he has not yet appointed under so much pressure and anxious and they are just fade up except they can’t talk.’
‘Soon after taking office, someone is already taking a holiday. How do you take a holiday soon after getting employed? He needs to first settle down and start to govern.’
Mr Mucheleka said those that are close to President Lungu should advise him on key nation issues on the issue of the constitution.
‘He is already sending wrong signals on the constitution. On one hand he says he wants a new people driven constitution and on the other hand he is already talking about how he is not interested in the 50+1, the running mate and all. How do you conclude the constitution making process when you are already taking holidays?’
Mr Dental Fimofimo will be like George Bush when it comes to holidays.
Hello needs to promote local tourism, sorry his best destination must be something like Kasaba bay.
After a rigorous run and receiving a mandate from Zambians, the President need a working holiday to plan and review keep national developments. Therefore, a working holiday of the President with few of his key policy advisors some selected experienced think tanks tapped in becomes essential in any serious uptake. We can learn from President Clinton or Obama whose tenure have records of taking working holidays at Camp David to plan when faced with some national crisis.
Mr Mucheleka, you are really one to talk. You and your whole bunch of MP’s are useless dullards whose only job is discuss useless policies in parliament and scratch your a$$es at night in parliament motel waiting to get paid for doing exactly nothing. You have been on a permanent holiday since you where voted into power as MP’s. Sata was right, you are all a useless bunch!
1 week on the job and already going on holiday. Ubunangani ifibantu ifi. The work culture in Zambia has to change and it has to start with Kaminamisa Lungu. Lead by example Ba president and your people will be more productive
President Lungu has started very well creating a situation that is practically disarming his opponents in the opposition camp. They have found themselves starting their watchdog role with nothing to get him on. This fishing in a dry pond is neither making sense. No doubt it has dawned on them that there is a pragmatist in Nkwazi office who is actually settling in well. He is discharging his duties painstakingly to the frustration of the opposition who as a result are finding his seamless take off to be a difficulty predicament if they have to be relevant in their watchdog role. They are scrambling with little to zero political capital or traction to expend. This is because there are no issues to politicize on but pursuits of in vanity.
Bad news!! Lungu is NOT ENJOYING his presidency after he BULLDOZED his way into presidency, he is also sick. Today I re-read the Baifra wars of Nigeria I enjoyed BUT IN ZAMBIA WILL NOT have such civil WARS I LOVE MY COUNTRY. However Bembas should NOT PUSH the Tongaz too much otherwise hell may break loose.
God is Love.
@Anderson Nkumbula you kept your word and changed your “surname” from Chisala!
I agree with this independent MP. The president needs to have a full cabinet that will run government while he is on leave. Besides, this apparent unpredictability on the part of H.E. Edgar Lungu will erode the confidence that voters have shown in him. First things first.
I know the pressure is coming from his PF MPs who have been left in limbo not knowing whether they have been fired or not.
Lungu has just shown that he has no leadership qualities at all. How can some one go on holiday soon after a job appointment? Its a first the world over and a clear lack of seriousness.
Great deal Hon Muchelenka!
Even the 74 years old Hage Steinbob of Namibia has not yet known that holiday, but Lungu wants to incubate himself whilst the Zambian people & country have vital issues of concern to their livelihoods.
This is the man who said that, “I have no vision for the country” Lungu indeed is visionless! Truly & realistically speaking, there is no way a normal person can go on leave immediately (2weeks) after being employed. How unexpectedly, unethical & unprofessional for sure mediocre politics to be entertained!
The country is divided into tribalines as witnessed by the just ended (rigged) elections, so as the promotions have symbolized by the new “Chief Justice”.
When one gets a new job, they must prove themselves!
Get to work Lungu not sleeping…
…The Skeleton Key
~206~
Two weeks on a new job the going on holiday and you what to develop ? That’s why is called Africa . Have you seen Obama or any western president going on holidays after been elected as president ? We all know that his health is not okay , so stop telling lies .
@1.7 Sa-Sata yeah yeah:
‘Anderson Mazoka’ and my young bro ARE MOSTLY in my heart but I ve one more too i.e Harry Nkumbula.
Coming to the crux of the matter; Lungu is taking us NOWHERE people say a game of politics is a DIRTY ONE but no matter how IMMORAL politicians maybe God ALWAYS INTERVENES Lungu is a pertuator of illegality and those VOTES he stole from HH will haunt him FOREVER we r going nowhere with this guy of Rupia’s making.
Edgar Lungu should fire Davies Chama for lying to the nation that he will go on holiday.
A PF cadre alarming the nation and its ministers, its uncalled for. If Edgar has balls, let him fire that Davies Chama, he has already created tension among the Kambwilis, Luo, Miles Sampa, Guy Scott, ALL are waiting for Lungu to make decision on cabinet.
Mr. Mucheleka and all those who are saying EL should not take some time off to rest should try it themselves in their jobs. Being tired impairs one’s judgement—it is a scientifically proven fact.
And presidential judgements/decisions are quite consequential. So allowing our newly elected president to step away from the daily grind of his office in order to consult and think through his next appointments, policy pronouncements, cabinet, extra, is a prudent thing for us to do. There will always be pressing issues requiring the president’s attention. Yet, he is just as human as any of us—he gets tired too!
FORCING THE PRESIDENT TO MAKE HASTY DECISIONS CAN ONLY BE COSTLY TO OUR NATION—so let the man take a short breather to meditate on pressing National issues.
Really laughable only in Zambia can somone exhibit such work ethic this the selfsame reason I wanted someone new in State house ….honestly how can you motivate our lazy civil servants with such?
Tongas are a cancer in most institutions.
In government departments, a tonga can only work with a fellow tonga or their tribal cousins from northwestern and western provinces.
This is total unfairness.
This makes them bad leaders, presidents and cannot win any elections in zambia.
They are 100 years behind and their brains are full of scrap.
LET OUR PRESIDENT GO FOR HOLIDAY NAIMWE KWATI BAKEKALILILA,BA MUCHELEKA MWAKUMBWAFYE.KANO NGANIBO.
1.6 Anderson Nkumbula (formerly Chisala). Why are you people so obsessed with Bembas? Bembas are insulted all the time without redress on ZWD even when the issue has got nothing to do with them. RB insured that Lungu won the January 2015 election and yet it is Bembas you insult. GBM, Mutati, Mucheleka, etc support HH yet you still call us names. Mwaba shani kanshi?
Leave his he has gone for honeymoon with the first lady.He was jogging in London or new Dehil yesterday.He is 100% in good health.Lol lol lol.Ubufi ubufi ba pilato muleti shani.
Plz let the president rest,afterall we hav a veep who is able to discharge the duties of h.e lungu on his behalf
Let the president rest,resting from what,my foot? The guy just campaigned for less than 28 days,and he is too tired to work already. If he is sick let him tell us and we shall mobilise pastors to pray for him.
I also want to know what the role of pf SG is,in govt entourages,esp outside the country;is he paid by the party or govt during these presidential tours?
Me zambians surprise me, even educated one staying mu diaspora! Hon mucheleka raise a good point! President edgar lungu must appoint a ful cabinet then go on holiday. The ‘educated’ zambians disagree! Shocking mwe! Then President lungu can as well take his whole campaign team on holiday.
The President is going on working holiday so that the various crucial appointments he is to make are made in total tranquility.We do realize that some people are already feeling it in their pockets as salaries plus other pecks like fuel,talk time,motor vehicles and indeed the recognition they used to get is no longer there hence the desperation.
A working holiday of the President with few of his key policy advisors, few key experienced citizen tapped in from among some think tanks is actually very essential in any serious uptake.
senior citizen
You seem to support everything that the president does even when it doesn’t make sense. I know you are a pf cadre, but don’t you think it is more important to invest in the good of a nation than an individual. Think outside the pf box sometime,campaigns are over my dear,it time pf begins to address the problem of high cost of living.
Former ministers are in a limbo,and they are quiet because they don’t want to mess up their chances of bouncing back,esp.bene kambwili.They are not happy at all with lungu,and the more he delays the more angry they are becoming.
SC, what you describe is why there are meeting rooms. There is no need to cart Lungu’s so-called advisors off on “holiday” to talk business!
Serious you say? What a joke.
You employ a managing director….a day latter he comes to the board and announces….I am taking five weeks leave!!!!!! I am tired from the grueling interview round. ….I need rest to make a strategy…..!!!
Lungu has started off well.
I support this MP’s call to Lungu coz elections and funeral did put off a lot of on going projectsFurthermore,going on holiday so soon will give lazy Zambians an excuse to further dig themselves into poverty.
All presidents whose roots are from C/Belt are never fit,eg ftj(ndola),lpm(ndola),sata(kitwe) and and now edgar(chimwemwe). Just look at kk(chinsali/lsk) and rb(lsk)? Maybe there are GMOs.
May KK and RB ni mfwiti (ndoshi). Lol.
What’s a working holiday bwana Mucheleka? How do we have such people as MPs. No wonder HH lost. He relied on people like Mucheleka whose qualification was just to read Icibemba on ZNBC. Lungu is not a machine. He also needs some rest just like everyone else.
@eAnalyst.you are really an ***** I have ever heard.stop exposing your little brain here.when were you born?this is Patrick Mucheleka and not Mubanga Mucheleka from znbc.
He has a lot of work to do while on holiday, in fact just needs space to form a good cabinet, it’s not easy some ministers already holding dark corner meeting to question the President’s appointments, seat upright.
awe naimwe lets be frank tho the truth hates I hv never head in the Zambian history a presidents bearly 2 weeks in office going on holiday infact the late sata had more pressure wen he won than lungu but neva talked about going on holiday.
You have also started, Davies Chama. Let the president appoint a full cabinet. His he going to govern alone? We have serious pending issues of the new royalty mine taxes which is very serious to our economy. The new minister of mines should start working on that. Most giant mines in the country have already packed their bags ready to leave the country if this issue will not be addressed by end of this month. So, what is Davies Chama talking about. You are the same people who have started advising EL wrongly. Please stop it!!!
holiday with which money?zambians are suffering and tormented economically by these politicians they put in power who less think about them,from sata s medical bills to his expensive funeral by election honestly a normal leader should be considerate,zambians you see the pipo you vote for
Take a holiday, let job seeks end up in Chinama hospital, presidents in Africa just sit. No deputy ministers in this government, actually permanent secretaries are the ones that work. If i were ECL, I would be gone for two weeks, sleep as much as I can, of course with a drink, hahahaha, this is what you get. Cabinet, we actually don’t need those uneducated chaps, I hope they are not getting paid. Surprise, Nsanda might be dropped as chairman, watch the pace, wina azalila.
Ba Mucheleka, tekanyeni! Is this the way to crawl back into relevance? You should know better than an average person that at this time, the President needs a quiet moment to put a working team together. You know the culture in Zambia of flocking to State House to lobby for jobs! He needs a quiet moment with key advisers to review security reports and other recommendations on key appointees. The word “holiday” is just a figure of speech. Presidents don’t stop working even when they are abroad. With all your education, experience and exposure you can come out this way? Mwampapusha bakalamba!
Excellent those with ears have heard it’s concise.. The President’s cabinet will be a shocker most big names are having sleepless nites. We need a formidable team take your time mwandi.
Mr Mucheleka is a very primitive man.
Of course His Excellency MUST take a holiday to fully recover after the hurried election campaigns he undertook. He must have at least 2 weeks off before tackling all other issues.
As for stress and anxiety, MPs must have been briefed on imminent changes and I would say they too must have been sneaking in much needed rest, occasionally panicking inbetween sips of Gin and Tonic followed by Mosi!
His Excellency must not make decisions on a tired mind. It is wise he takes a break.
…..His Excellency must not make decisions on a tired mind. It is wise he takes a break……….
ha ha ha ha ha ha…..!!!!
Balatusha. waikalako ukutali elyo waya mona bwino ama problems. Ngawaisa ni brutal. ba Mucheleka beniko serious
Bambas or sole Bembas you are in for a rude shock from one Lungu.He will turn into another Mwanawasa.God is for as all.Teach these tribalists so called Mbuyas.Benzonyokla ngako beka.A Sata a chilamo Vimukusu vikulu vikulu ati Mwabana akulyani nishinta yesu.Its our time also ise ANGONI ngawo ngawo.Ti siyeni nase tu nyopole.
Let him go for holiday, PF has introduced absence in that office, nothing will be unusual. Your Excellence do have a great time using the tax payers money, its your turn.
Nonsense, it’s a working holiday iwe mbuli..
He has simply gone to finalize the list of his ministers. Mucheleka is just simple village ***** .
Just flying and driving around the country for 28 days you say it is too much he needs a holiday. This is a joke.
Anyway he said he will be getting advise from Lupiya Banda and this is exactly what his brother Lupiya did when he was voted into office. Let us see who accompanies him because Lupiya Banda went with Henry and some of his other children. After that holiday what followed was very disastrous resulting into Henry becoming a refugee.
Let him appoint his full cabinet first ,to avoid the obvious speculations that he wants to leave out former ministers.
to be genuine I agree with Mucheleka -the president should only go on holiday after he has put his full cabinet in place. a short holiday will do him a lot of good. All the best and God given wisdom to President Lungu.
Lungu is going on a working holiday. He will be working on the strategy on how to run this country, including finalizing the list of cabinet ministers and other appointments. It is not that he is going to be resting and sleeping in the sun. The problem is the announcer, Davies Chama – they do not understand these things. Amos Chanda to take charge of making announcements from these cadres.
Where on earth do you award yourself a holiday before you earn it? This is laziness and abdication of responsibility!
This is a new appointment and with it one needs time for induction and orientation. A Holiday should not even be on the agenda. Sick leave yes NOT holiday on tax payer’s expense! Pantu musapota nefyabupuba ba Zambia. You need to come out of this retrogressive thinking our leaders need to be accountable and not take us for granted!
If you know what Dochi kubeba is all about, you could understand the need for a holiday. It is all about enjoying and not working.
these are issues he must attend to soon:
1. wage freeze
2. constitution
3. Transforming farming not to mean growing of maize
4. equity in resource allocation – 2 universities in one province and all the township roads in one section of the country
5. making the police professional
6. stopping the rot in councils – the amount of stealing in councils is pathetic. no wonder they are able to go for 6 months without salary but cant quit
7. call for a national indaba where we discuss what is causing the regional voting patterns.
8. i want to see our politicains hugging – EL, HH, EN, Brig. Miyanda, Muliokela, Chanda, Greens-ifyamba, etc
8. A cabinet that is full of people that want to serve not these MPs who just want to eat. discuss with opposition if possible
I hope he has no medical tourism package in this holiday. Otherwise, I am scared!!! No, holiday after medical check ups. I am really scared
Edgar Lungu can go on holiday. You see, Mucheleka, you are angry. You backed a fellow Tonga and you lost.
Hey Dark lord, you are probably from a different part of zambia, other wise you should have known that Mucheleka is bemba and quite principled unlike most of you. He calls it as he sees it.
Its amazing how people support foolish ideas. If any one thought this guy was presidential material, there it is. He has put it in the open that he has no capacity to function. Zambia will not develop with such myopic leaders. I salute Mucheleka for the courage to spell out what he should be doing when every one else is busy singing praises. He will end up like RB to just finish Sata’s term. This chap will tacke Zambia 20 years back wards.
In Zambia we lack focus and hence many things do work well. The president has been elected and he dissolved the cabinet and there are only two ministers already appointed, then he wants to take a leave and leave loopholes in the govt. Who is going to work for those positions and for how long are we going to have leaders of ministries anyway? Mr Mucheleka is just right to urge the president to leave the house in order before he takes the much needed holiday. The president is doing the Zambian people a disservice at the moment. This chap is not a servant of the people but instead a master with dictatorial tendencies.
Naimwe you should have facts before you put your ideas to the public.The positions already filled are:-
1. Vice President
2. Minister of Finance
3. Minister of Foreign Affairs
4. Minister of Home Affairs
5. Minister of Justice
6. Minister of Tourism
7.Minister for Southern Province
8.Minister fo North Western Province
Cheap politicking. There is no crisis in the country’s governance for people to tell a man he can not go on holiday. No reasons are given here to suggest what problem would come out of this. Let them man go on holiday. He might need some rest, or he might need some time to put himself together for the task ahead. Me, I think let them man have his holiday if he needs one. We’ll see when he comes back.
Hon Mucheleka, no wonder your party (or was it alliance) did not win the by election. With such reasoning, how would you run a country?
Look Hon Mucheleka, H.E. Edgar Lungu run and flew the length and breadth of this country. You did the same and you know how exhausting it is. The difference is that you can relax and recoup your energy as you are not the President. On the other hand, H.E. Lungu IS the President of Zambia. He needs to recoup his energy too but in order to solve our problems as a nation, or even to think properly about his cabinet, or even to manage noise makers like you and your alliance. H.E. has national responsibilities, and you have none.
Let our President go and unwind.
Git it now, Hon Mucheleka? I will not say it again.
Your excellency, state house is already comfortable enough, you don’t even need to go out for a holiday, you come and look at how discomfort my bed is, am the one who needs a holiday.
Tongas are a cancer in most institutions.
In government departments, a tonga can only work with a fellow tonga or their tribal cousins from northwestern and western provinces.
This is total unfairness.
This makes them bad leaders, presidents and cannot win any elections in zambia.
They are 100 years behind and their brains are full of scrap.
@Sib. Iwe naiwe stop this nonsense. You are the ones perpetuating backwardness. If you have nothing meaningful to contribute just shut up.
Iwe chi Sib, leave this platform we nama mpanga wee! Mulandu nshi wingalatukila abantu aba kaele? Simply put you are a very ignorant humanbeing and you don’t deserve to occupy the space you are occupying in this earth.
Sib a waste of space, there’s no mention of tribe in the posted topic, discuss the topic or indeed shut up.
What do you expect from a man who by his own admission said he has NO vision? Copying and saying “Me too” does not constitute a plan of action. So, the man has NO vision, NO plan, nothing. So he is going on leave to look after his frail health, guaranteed of a salary complete with pecs for the rest of his life. Mission accomplished. Try pushing him around and he could even sue for harassment because he TOLD you he has no vision.
@Cactus, that is jealous now. Who wouldnt want to rest after such a stressful campaign? Besides, if the president was sick, he would not have managed such a vigorous campaign. Only a healthy person would manage that for sure. So please, let him rest and come back with BAAAANNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Sukisa,
You have lost me. Jealous of what? Jealous of a man with NO vision? How old are you? Sounds like you still need parental guidance.
Lets have our own Camp David(Camp Lungu/Sata) so that our presidents can be going there for holidays so that ZWD can not say the president has gone for medicals.
Please Mucheleka advise your alliance partner HH on how to work not ECL. If you are bitter about not carrying the day in the last elections you better keep quiet and wait for 2026 for your chance.
lets be serious how can someone go on holiday after addressing a rally? can we call addressing a rally work?
appoint a full cabinet MR PRESIDENT delegate them with work then go on one week holiday when you come back check on the progress.
@MWANSANGA, just shut it! You do not know how stressful the campaign was because you are not in Zambia. Besides, you did not even vote for him. Those of us who voted know how tiring the campaigns were. The man was abused left, right and centre by GS. He needs to rest.
DO SOME WORK AT YOUR OFFICE….YOU ARE BEING PAID BY US TO DO A JOB…..NOW DO IT….JUST BCOZ YOU ARE NOW THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT….YOU WORK FOR US….WE PAY YOUR SALARY….NOW DO YOUR JOB….YOU ARE NOT A ROCK STAR OR A STATEHOUSE GLOBETROTTER!!!!!!!!
Let him rest a bit mwebantu. But our presido wear suits, not different colour of jacket, blue, and different colour of trousers, black, NO, NO, NO!
I think EL should not concentrate on poaching oppostion. He should first satisfy his house before looking outside. PF members worked day and night to win the just ended elections. The opposition should not just walk in. Tho I would not mind if he appointed Elias Chipimo as a Minister of Education. He can do well as he has alot of theories
I hear the wife to kambwili complained that the big man has safered BP because he is not sure of his fate.
Kambwili is the one who reqested Mucheleka to sapeak on behalf of all disgrantled MPs.
Kambwili is now breathing like a very big and fat frog in water for he is fearing that he can also be dumped by Lungu.
Kambwili, just kill yoself my brother. I have credible information that Lungu has fired you.
it would be lack of management skills to go on holiday before you assemble a full cabinet. Worse still a week into the office!
He is just gone to catch up with the booze, the campaign period left him with little time to indulge in his favourite pastime.
I think EL has started well after battling internally and externally. He’s already showing trust in his colleagues (current security chiefs, PSs etc). Other presidents would popularize ME, MYSELF and I. EL’s leadership is a clear pointer to servant hood and trust in others. I think we will do well to learn from such leaders rather than autocracy which we seem to be slowly embracing by insisting singular leadership. Presidents are human and not machines!
Iwe Mucheleka and most MPs, stop directing the President what to do. You chaps pretend as if you are the nkow it all and want to make everyone believe you, NO.
You have been MPs for so long and havent taken break but your constituencies have not been developed by YOU, why? Let the President go and have a working holiday after going through a stressful time. He will refresh and see things in a different perspective.
The position of Presidency is a very serious one and one needs to be optimal instead of just adding up to numbers, the thing you are so used to. Let them advise their Satanist on how to conduct himself.
Your excellency, dont listen to these failures and thats why they only appear in their constituncies when it suits them but people know them and will be rejected again.
How did our president accumulate so many leave days when he’s only been in the job less than a fortnight?? It certainly is a very very very cushy job,one which even Richard Branson and Bill Gates, being the richest men in the world would envy.
And we wonder why the country is underdeveloped? How do you plan on resting when you haven’t worked yet? Oh by the way, campaign is not a job (to you who is going to respond to my post!!) It was an interview for a job as a president.
Just state that the urea and creatinine levels from the ESRF are accumulating and I spy with my little eye,someone in dire need of haemodialysis.
EL should not ever think of implementing the constitution minus the 50% + 1 and the running mate clause. Zambians are not stupid to have included these two clauses-we want a president with a majority vote.
Bwana Lungu must be growing cold feted on this because he knows the PF are not that popular and can not survive a re-run with HH. Had the above clauses been in work prior to the just ended elections, this time EL would have been history bcz he would have kissed dust big time in a run.
We won’t tolerant any, if, but, stories or ,excuses from him and his PF, they promised to implement the constitution in full and anything to the contrary will be a worst of money.
We are watching every action you take bwana president……
Edgar is a very brave person if he were not he could have given in to the cartel. He has to make big decisions especially ministerial appointments. Try to understand
Let him show his braveness by not dropping the 50% +1 and running mate clauses in the new constitution……………..
Impending Malaysian airline!
Mmd and Upnd ganged together discussing Satas age for 5yrs in order to bar from standing so Upnd should be the last people to talk about the constitution. You 50+1 will make you win?
WORKING HOLIDAY NAPAPATA. HE’S GONE WITH HIS KEY POLICY ADVISORS FOR THREE DAYS, THEN FROM THERE, HE WILL ANNOUNCE HIS FULL CABINET.WORK RELATED,NOT EVEN THE FIRST LADY HAS FOLLOWED.IT’S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ON A RELAXED MIND.U ARE DOING FINE MR PRESIDENT “HANDS UP” 4 U
So he can’t do any thing without these dogs barking?
The president has just made some appointments and changes mostly in the police service.
You started very well, do not arm your opponents by appointing rifraffs in key positions, especially the specialised ministries, we need qualified personnel. You can place these PANGA boys in non professional ministries, because those are your proper cadres and you may not need to ingnore them completely. Keep check of what is happening in Northen Province, those resignations. 2016 is just around the corner