‘Come to equity with clean hands,’ Mundubile knocks UPND govt for attempts to gag citizens

Leader of the opposition in parliament, Brian Mundubile, says the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration must reflect on the continued harassment of citizens whenever they exercise their right to speak because it is guaranteed in the Constitution of Zambia.

Mundubile in a statement issued in Lusaka on Tuesday said, it is shocking that the UPND is demanding respect for the Presidency when they never respected former president Edgar Lungu.

He said Kitwe Mayor Mpasa Mwaya’s alleged comment on social media in a manner that did not refer to President Hakainde Hichilema did not call for harassment from Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo.

“Let’s take it that she was talking about President Hichilema, she did not say anything insulting to the Head of State,” Mundubile said.

The Patriotic Front (PF) Mporokoso Member of Parliament said the UPND continuously insulted Mr Lungu while serving as Head of State, coupled with walking out of Parliament each time he was addressing Parliament.

“I am therefore, surprised that UPND Administration wants the Presidency to be respected. They began by disrespecting the Presidency which means that they cannot be the first ones to call for the respect of that particular office which they insulted continuously,” he said.

Mundubile said PF members have accorded President Hakainde Hichilema the respect he deserves as Head of State.

“They referred to president Lungu as just Lungu but we consistently referred to Hakainde Hichilema as President. So, we have shown a lot of respect to President Hichilema. The lesson to learn from this is that certain offices must be respected,” he said.

Mundubile has urged the UPND to start respecting the office of the former President Lungu, because it will not be long from now that they will begin to call on Zambians to respect the office of the former President when Mr. Hichilema is former President.

“We must start now to respect the Office of the Former President just as they want the Office of the President to be respected,” he said.

Mundubile alleged one of the reasons for Zambia’s low participation of women in politics is because of harassment.

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