. Chanda

By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
STATE House has said spate of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption levelled against President Edgar Lungu in the local media is a clear indication that the Head of State respects freedom of expression.
President Lungu’s Press aide Amos Chanda said that the proof that Zambia was a democratic country and that the President respected the freedom of expression lay in the amount of unfounded claims of corruption against Government on social and other media.
Mr Chanda said this when he appeared on Diamond TV’s COSTA programme
on Monday evening.
He said the Government had a responsibility to the country and that was why they tolerated baseless claims of corruption.
Those not charged with similar responsibility were the ones making the most baseless claims of corruption.
“All the noise you are seeing about corruption, the governance, the louder the noise the more tolerant the Government and the President is,” Mr Chanda said.
He said expelled Patriotic Front (PF) Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili was one of the people claiming corruption but had failed to point to any evidence.
Instead, it was Mr Kambwili, Mr Chanda said, who had a dossier of corruption charges against him with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
He said it was unfortunate that Mr Kambwili based his corruption claims on people’s humble backgrounds.
Mr Chanda said it was not correct to assume that a person was corrupt just because they were not born in wealth.
He said the President was focused on building irrigation schemes, and delivering medicines and infrastructure development.
The President was focused on health and education infrastructure as a way to equalise every Zambian and give them an opportunity at creating wealth for themselves.