• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu talks to defence chiefs at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka yesterday before leaving for Ethiopia to attend the African Union Summit. Picture by EDDIE MWANALEZA/STATE HOUSE

By CHUSA SICHONE –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said he is not a dictator and will not be distracted from discharging his duties by people peddling such a falsehood.
The President charged that those labelling him a dictator just wanted to get media coverage because they had nothing substantive to talk about.
Speaking to journalists at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka yesterday shortly before he left for Ethiopia, Mr Lungu said if he was a dictator, he would not have allowed criticism or not consulted the citizenry on matters of national interest.
“I have taken so much, I have been punched so much, but I haven’t hit back, but obviously I can hit back in fairness because I am a human being, but I believe that people should be given enough latitude to
contribute, to talk, to criticise (for) checks and balances and that’s what democracy calls for,” the Head of State said.
“But I will not be distracted from doing my job by those who are calling me a dictator because I am not one. They are enjoying the coverage that you are giving them when they say Edgar this because I
am President, so when you insult the President you get coverage and freedom of the Press allows that.”
President Lungu said his critics should find more substantive issues to deal with than with him because he was a very busy person.
He said despite being publicly criticised by the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops president Telesphore Mpundu recently, the Head of State chose to remain mute and was planning to privately meet the Catholic bishops soon, a thing a dictator would not do.
“So for me, those who are getting mileage and getting prominence by insulting me, humiliating me and saying things, I think they are abusing the freedom of the Press, freedom of opinion and the right of
speech but I will not take them on because I will be elevating them to my level, I am too dignified for that,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Lungu implored Zambians to be patriotic and responsible by desisting from acts of sabotage, saying destroying installations that supported the country’s economic growth was
tantamount to destroying the nation’s future and not the Head of State.
President Lungu said he was very resolved with a mandate to rule the country up to 2021 and would not be brought to his knees by unscrupulous people who thought that they would fix him by engaging in
clandestine activities.
On the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government Summit in Ethiopia, President Lungu said the country’s future was guaranteed if parents or guardians protected and raised their children, particularly
the girl-child, into useful citizens.
President Lungu was seen off at around 10:43 hours by Vice-President Inonge Wina, defence chiefs, some Cabinet ministers and Patriotic Front officials.