President Edgar Lungu has acknowledged having received reports that the defence team that are manning the streets in the central business district of Lusaka as a measure to address the cholera epidemic are harassing people.
The President stated that it is regrettable that such reports can be coming up as the defence personnel are supposed to exhibit high levels of discipline.
He however, indicated that very soon, the defense personnel will be removed from the streets and the council will be left to take up the responsibility using their own council police officers.
President Lungu was speaking in Chisamba in Central Province this afternoon when he addressed a meeting with seven Chiefs in the province at Mwayansuka School.
Meanwhile, the President has lashed out allegations by some people that he no regards or respect for traditional leaders.
President Lungu noted that there are sentiments that he is receiving insinuating that the office of the royal highnesses cannot work with him as he does not respect the office.
The Head of State has since appealed to the Chairperson for the House of Chiefs to show him how they expect him to work with them to foster development in the country.
He said the best thing traditional leaders can do is to engage him on how they can work together.
The President noted that if chiefs do not support him then he will find it difficult to work with them.
President Lungu further noted that the chiefs are key to the governance system hence, he is getting fade up with people politicising the office of the royal highnesses.
He said he does not wish to extend politics to the office of the royal highnesses and has since advised them to stay away from politics.
And President Lungu said government remains committed to ensuring that all parts of the country are developed.
The President mentioned that once government promises to do something for the people, it cannot be expected to be done overnight, but that the most important thing is that whatever projects were promised have to be implemented.
He said this when he was responding to the chiefs concerning the challenges that are faced in their various chiefdoms.
Earlier, Chief Chamuka, who represented other traditional leaders indicated that most chiefdoms have common challenges such as transport, schools and poor road network among others.
Among the traditional leaders the President met included Chief Liteta,chief Mulubwa, chief Chanda, Chief Ngabwe and Chief Chamuka.
Others were Senior Chief Mukuni Ngombe and Chief Kanyesha respectively.
This lazy Bum has no leadership qualities at all…there he is campaigning..you honestly think those soldiers enlisted to sweep the streets what do you expect!!
I agree with the President.
What a great man he is.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
What do you expect when you put people who are trained for war and to be mean and take them to manage crowds? They will do according to their training. That’s what they know best.
Kambwili has been vindicated… He said it yesterday, and who still denying that Edgar listening to what Kambwili saying?
Civilian police (ZP) are more in contact with the civilian populace and it is the cops and not Zambia Army or ZNS who should be cleaning the streets or controlling vendors. The council police and Zambia police are the ones who are meant to handle this. The Engineering regiments of both Zambia Army and ZNS can be mobilised when it comes to the construction of infrastructure such as drainage, dump sites and new markets not chasing vendors from the streets. Poor advise from so called advisors!
Just last week, you were telling the nation you will kick out anyone who comes complaining about the work of your ministers. Please trash off those intelligence reports about the army as they are just gossips. Stick to your word and lead by example.
Let the army do their work and don’t listen to those complaints, Lusaka need to be cleaner.
In fact, Please mobilize the Army and the Lusaka people for another phase of clean up, that is the most effective way to instill awareness of proper hygiene
I am not a believer of those drunkard stories, but ba LT, this picture you are using above ….hmmmm..makes it suspicious.
It’s really awkward, remove it
Zambian soldiers are renowned for carrying out successful UN peacekeeping missions asking our men and women to clean streets and guard dustbins for more than a month is disrespectful to them not even KK asked them of this. If you are asking them to do this why not ask all civil servants to roll up their sleeves tomorrow and clean up …this is all the fault of the incompetent PF who had the opportunity to clean back in 2012 but opted to appease street-vendors.
Bushe was this cholera even that serious or it was just a way of stealing money through fake immunization?
As a political spectator, I see a bigger problem created by the Presidency itself. The Frankeinstein so created may be difficult to handle by even the Presidency themselves. In the entire end, this Frankenstein if badly handled, may affect and even swallow the Presidency. The idea by His Excellency to bring in the Military to help fight cholera was good but that idea lacked input of other stakeholders. We did it under the KK regime in 1977 but exercise was very well excited.
As much as I agree that soldiers did not enlist to sweep streets, They’re a stupid bunch. They get paid every month for doing nothing. They’re a burden to our national coffers. Well trained soldiers don’t mistreat civilians. Well trained soldiers will carry out instructions exactly as given by their superiors. It’s called discipline and nowhere on earth is discipline more important than in the army. The fact that they’re harassing civilians instead of doing what they were told to do is a sign that these guys can’t go to war against a serious and disciplined army. This is why they got captured by child soldiers in Sierra Leone. They probably decided to start eating wild fruits in the jungle instead of being alert. Soldiers world over get called to assist civilians in times of…
It’s not everything that ECL does is wrong. Let’s also appreciate the good decisions by him. I strongly feel the soldiers have done a commendable job so far and we still need their presence and crude methods of punishment to those that want to mess our now clean town. Those complaining are somehow connected to the scourge of street vending and want it back.
Jay Jay. You probably have not heard of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe. During a short lived strike by sanitary workers under KK soldiers were brought in.
H.E Edgar Lungu is indeed a listening president!!!he has already received data about soldiers who are mistreating innocent Zambians on our streets,bravo!!am sure the Army Commander has already told his officers to stop it.
Only soldiers from the North and East should be allowed to man our streets because those from tongaland or other 2 provinces are pro HH so they are trying by all means to paint PF black in the eyes of many Zambians!!
The president should up his game on this one!!KAINDE AND HIS TRIBESMEN ARE TOO DESPERATE FOR STATE HOUSE AND DESTROYING PF’S SPLENDID IMAGE IN URBAN AREAS IS WHAT THEY WISH FOR!!!
am sure Cholera is now under control so soldiers can go back to their barracks Mr President!!
Come 2021 in PF nafuti nafuti!!
It was CK who shouted at him about the soldiers..
With all this online inflo flow, are you telling that he’s just heard this today? It’s been in the news for a long time now. Yama!
Good job Mr. President. Putting the defense team was the wisest choice made. God bless you! Sometime people’s insanity needs to be treated with more power just as we have seen one man’s insanity and his team of teanagers will just never go away.
Victor aka Sharon maybe you need a soldier from mukango barracks to teach you how to use a toilet…..
Under fives need to be guided to sanity. They are tribal!
Sharon, you right.Those complaining about soldiers beating are mischievous and must be treated as such.Mr. president those reports are coming from your indisciplined cadres who are used to mistreating innocent people in the stations and markets.They make these pay money to them at any cost.So Mr.president ignore those reports and commend the armed forces for the job welcome.The way the central business district is looking reminds of the way the towns used to look until unip started neglecting them in the late 60s.WELL, ARMED FORCES MUST BE KEPT ON THE STREETS UNTIL THE MINDSET OF PEOPLE WHO CHERISH DIRT IS CHANGED.Many well meaning Zambians have welcomed the cleanliness initiated by the armed forces and want it to remain so eternity.
Mr President Zambians need that. They have become dirty and careless please let them also discipline cadres from PF and UPND. Don’t even listen to these lazy chaps.
bemba man you are right.Lizy people complain a lot and hate hard work.The oppositions party must also be cleaned They are supporting dirtiness by not supporting what the armed forces have done-making Lusaka clean.This was unip strategy to stay in power by ignoring cleanliness and supporting lawlessness to order to attract support.This is what upAndOWN is promoting in order to win cheap support.By the way, where is GBM?Has been replaced by milupi and mulongoti?So is fza Walya, where is he?Sabatical leave?
It is not strange for military personnel to be harsh. If he had wanted people to receive sensitivity and empathy, then he should have enlisted nuns and nurses to do the job.
Didn’t you know them before you sent them Mr Commander in chief? Its you who sent them into the streets so all fingerz are pointing at you
Very intelligent president but some information is not reaching him especially opposition uphd who are busy putting cadres into positions. Eg SOLWEZI upnd got a chance to have a cadre as in charge in the lab and accounts. These are active cadres who too centre stage during campaigns
…their actions is just a sign of other frustrations….
Soldiers and civilians are not the same, allow the fellow civilians to look after civilians I mean the police .
Soldiers are forceful beings who cannot tolerate the behaviour of civilians , civilians are really slow and undisciplined who need to be made right by soldiers dont lough, that is how it is .!!!
ZAMBIANS ARE GENERALLY DIRTY….WE NEED SOLDIERS TO INSTIL DISCIPLINE IN US….LEAVE THE SOLDERS ON THE STREETS FOR A WHILE…ONLY DIRTY CHARACTERS ARE CRYING LOUD FOR NOTHING…
Reports say the soldiers are not cleaning the public toilets , why ?
They need to clean toilets …..ala…
….”He however, indicated that very soon, the defense personnel will be removed from the streets and the council will be left to take up the responsibility using their own council police officers…”
COUNCIL POLICE WILL TAKE US NO WHERE..AS MATTER OF FACT, LUSAKA IS DIRTY BECAUSE THESE CHARACTER INCLUDING THEIR MAYOR HAVE BEEN SLEEPING…YOUR EXCELLENCY LET THE SOLDERS CONTINUE BEING ON OUR STREET..YOU WILL NEVER SEE CHOLERA AGAIN…
Yes let them also start sweeping pleas ….
Soldiers are not trained to do armocor or G 4 work.
President Lungu has changed Zambia Army into Fikolopo. Does he think they are happy to be cleaning cities when the money meant to empoy people to clean streets is shared amongst PF thieves in government. Soldiers are indirectly telling you Mr Commmander that they are not happy many more people will be harrased for as long as your team of thieves in government cannot spare some kwachas to clean streets.
I will add my sentiments to the above. Our soldiers have been made to look useless if the President thinks they are fit to become the cleaners of the country. These are trained men and women who are there to defend our country and not pick up dirt from vendors who have brought cholera by their filthy habits. look at the pile of dirt from the markets all piled on the roadside and the litter in town. this is supposed to be the job of the council not our gallant soldiers, you sir have demeaned them. please soldiers punish the people that are littering. let them do squats for one hour or drill for four hours. we are tired of having filthy towns. to our soldiers I salute you. mayors are sitting in their offices earning huge salaries and getting fat.
Even soldiers using force can not teach people to respect and look after our environment……this is the usuall short term solutions by pf …..they do not thik of the future ……it will work for 3 months then back to normal…..start teaching at primary schools about environmental awareness asap so those comming on to the streets soon will know how to look after and love our country…….you need primary school lessons
I don’t blame the soldiers; Zambians have become filthy; even after the clean up; they still throw rubbish; what do you expect the soldiers who have cleaned their mess to do?
Leave the soldiers alone. They are doing a great job. We dont want dirty streets again. Council police are corrupt and we shall go back to cholera era as it is now. Flip flop rhetorics. With no evidence ati we shall remove the soldiers because they are abusing people. The language has always been bring evidence about the soldiers. Why rush to conclusions now?
I doubt some people now.
Disaster!
It’ doesn’t really matter who cleans the street as long as they are doing a great job.if the soldiers have helped out ,we recommend them.on abusing people , the commander should advise and help soldiers in that area.Thanz our hard working president.we appreciate you both as a leader and a person.twalumba..Dont pay attention to noise makers .do your job.Hope in 2021 our future president HH continue where you will leave.
North western towns have remained dirty let zns take charge or it will be the source next time.street are full vendors kindly remove them
Laziness and lack of vision is going to hurt Lungu a lot. Come up with better long term solution, you’ve used the soldiers long enough. You leave them in the streets at your own risk, they can rise up and chase u away like Mugabe after all they are the ones doing the dirty work for you . You show no leadership
Immediately the soldiers are removed from the streets the vendors will come back. Vendors only fear soldiers not Council police or other authorities. Soldiers have really done a good job.
Let’s be truthful with ourselves Zambians. Zambia Police and the Council Police cannot manage to keep away street vendors. It has been tried before and failed. Soldiers are being used for the first time and it deems to be working. A soldier is supposed to be a highly disciplined person and that’s how the are used in humanitarian operations in most countries. Leave them alone for a while.
why are are u concerned abt soldiers when cadres are even worse? or is it bcoz soldiers are making the work of cadres difficult? who is complaining here?
Namibia has sent all soldiers on forced leave because government has run out of money to pay for their food and other utilities. I never thought that this could happen in the land of honey called Namibia.
Soldiers are doing a great job on the streets especially in the central business, removing them will make a big mistake. Let them continue for at least for six months.
Just educate them on civility because some people can be so provocative you need some kind of training to know how to handle them.
Boss should just have been silent and allowed a cadre to say it. Boss is uplifted by the army. Please boss, should not speak like that,about the army.
Most mini bus drivers and conductors need to catch cholera as a way of cleansing the public transport sector.
The rapid response required to. Being the cholera outbreak demanded the need for soldiers to be deployed. This is partly due to a weak corrupt police service. Tge people who have been harnessed are mainly individuals who tried to sneak in foodstuff into areas such as chawama kuju or the Town centre. The president should commend his soldiers as their commander in chief and not berate them. Zambians don’t follow simple instructions and. Resend the string hand of the soldiers. I hope the streets will remain clean and free from street vending as implemented by the mayor of Kitwe who as a result, had minimal cholera cases.
The soldiers have done a recommendable and for once there is cleanliness and orderliness not only the town centre but even in residential areas because when they get to a place, their word is heard. Most police officers are corrupt, that is why there has been no sanity for a long time regarding dirtiness. Would not be surprised if the complaint came from one of them. Can we Zambians appreciate what is good for once! We have no cholera in the country because of the recommendable job done by the soldiers. Hats off to you guys! Would love you to continue doing your job!