Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary, Thabo Kawana has condemned calls by former President Edgar Lungu for the international community to check Zambia’s record on human rights abuses under the current administration.
Mr Kamwana said it is this government that has brought an atmosphere of peace and the rule of law in the country that many Zambians now enjoy.
The Permanent Secretary therefore dispelled assertions by former President Lungu that the new dawn government is dictatorial.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka, Mr Kawana clarified on the purported harassment of Martin Mbaya saying that no enforcement officer crashed into the church to arrest the suspect, and that the rule of law was duly applied.
Mr Kawana explained that Mr Mbaya had a conversation with the officers before his arrest, and was later given police bond after being charged.
“It is not correct for President Lungu to give an impression that Mr Mbaya was harassed and picked up from church, that is far from the truth,” Mr Kawana said.
He noted that the international community cannot be influenced by anyone because they are able to see how President Hakainde Hichilema is running the affairs of this country, including his global leadership ranking.
And the Permanent Secretary stated that the current administration has scored so far, 80 percent of its assurances to the people of Zambia.
Highlighting some of the key achievements, Mr Kamwana cited employment creation in various sectors including education, health, defence, agriculture and in the private sector, and restructured the debt burden.
He added that the Cabinet has approved the creation of an independent debt management office with support of the Germany government through GIZ.
Mr Kawana noted the reduced year to year inflation rate from 24 percent in 2021 to 13 percent as of the end of January 2024.
The Permanent Secretary expressed confidence that in the remaining two and half years, President Hichilema’s administration will be able to fulfil all the assurances.
Please parade Mr. Mbaya, the Priests and other church members to confirm whether ECL is saying the truth or he’s talking rubbish, simple
It’s shameful for Lungu, the greatest dictator Zambia shall ever have to start castigating HH7 and his ND government
But pipo are being abused by hunger, arrests even during church services without a prior police call out, cmon g I pray for my nation, Zambians made uys. It shows the condition of the hearts of those in power. I use to tell pipo before these guys came in power that the leadership of these guys heart is bad. i saw the anger, bitterness & vengeance. I pray for our nation never again elect bitter pipo. Why ca’t you forgive & work together, but i know you cannot change a hyena into a dog
Can we just ignore all these Politicians and concentrate on developing Zambia…..news should be about development not Lungu or HH making headlines every day….
Lets spend time looking for solutions to address Electricity crisis….and what happened to the Arab Miners????…looks like Zambians were duped
Is the PS the right person to give a rebuttal?
He can’t help it… his mouth is too big and too restless to keep it shut.
The Ministry of Information and Media is not a political wing of UPND but both Mweetwa, and Kawana are misusing it for political propaganda. This is because we the voters are not monitoring the misuse of our taxes. If FAZ can be arrested for misusing government money Kawana and Mweetwa should similarly get arrested for using government money, space and time to shout UPND slogans.
Coming from him it’s not really right. But it’s not a secret that Mr Hakainde Hichilema is worse than Edgar Lungu. It doesn’t seem serious because the NGOs have gone quiet while the American government is hellbent that their keeps State House for as long as they can use him.
Nothing has changed and infact it’s becoming worse.
Even for me who doesn’t support any political grouping I feel deprived in that HH through the law enforcement wings is not allowing anyone to hold public rallies so that we know what they are going to give the country.
Zambians are jokers,have you forgotten the PF thugs,police brutality by PF police.What is Lungu talking about.
@Hatamba Habwalya…. and that is the reason people voted them out… your reasoning is cockeyed to say the least. The fact that PF were harassing people doesn’t give your Upnd the license to torture people. We might as well have stayed with the PF if in your narrow thinking you think people will be happy by simply changing government but not the bad habits.
In your world it’s better to be tortured by by the Upnd than to be harassed by the Upnd?
Yes we have. Once there’s news suffering one tends to forget the old suffering.
@Tamba Bwalya, I will agree with you that Zambians are jokers but Lungu has a point. There is so much dictatorship and tribalism under HH. If you talk about the rule of law, it just start with Kawana himself who is occupying an illegal office created for him by HH. Where is the Minister of information?
What is Kawana’s qualification?
Politicians are the same. HH will also say the same and it’s likely that ECL will offer him solidarity if both begin to suffer the same fate while in retirement. That’s the way they’re. ECL has now started to see abuses that he never did when he was in office just like HH can’t see anything wrong with the behavior of his charges.
PF Cadres used to go to State House and find ECL totally drunk and the ask to take the Jet to go to Dubai, he would just say go! go! go!. In his drunken condition like it was a bicycle or a wheelbarrow they were taking.