By CHILA NAMAIKO –
THE Government has expressed displeasure and disappointment with remarks attributed to South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema that the pronouncement of a Threatened State of Emergency by President Edgar Lungu is illegal.
Chief Government spokesperson Kampamba Mulenga said Mr Malema’s comments were not only baseless, but irrational and should be out-rightly condemned by all progressive democrats.
In yesterday’s edition of The Mast Newspaper, Mr Malema was also quoted as having called President Lungu a coward claiming he does not tolerate any dissenting views.

MULENGA

Ms Mulenga, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, said Mr Malema should know that Zambia was a sovereign state, with its own laws put in place and respected by her own citizens.
“If Mr Malema is a true democrat and a serious leader as he claims, he should have sought an audience with our mission in Pretoria to appreciate what a Threatened State of Emergency entails than exposing his ignorance on the matter by making misguided, illogical and irresponsible statements,” she said in a statement yesterday that “In any case, who is Mr Malema representing when he makes such attacks to the extent of calling our Head of State a coward?
Ms Mulenga said Mr Malema’s statement was clearly an attempt in futility to strain the warm and cordial relations that had continued to exist between South Africa and Zambia.
She said Zambia owed Mr Malema no explanation whatsoever, on her internal matters because he was neither a Zambian citizen nor a member of a local political organisation.
Ms Mulenga said Mr Malema should realise that Zambians were politically mature and were capable of dealing with their own issues, if any, and could not stoop so low as to ask for help from political charlatans and unruly individuals like him.
She said that Zambia had politically matured, and had held highly successful and credible elections for many years now in which all willing political parties had participated and the winners declared according to the country’s statutes.
Furthermore, she said the opposition political parties had, and continue to criticise President Lungu and Government without any interference or intimidation from anyone.
So what does Mr Malema meant when he said President Lungu should allow the opposition to oppose him, Ms Mulenga wondered.
The Government advised Mr Malema to first start by putting his own ‘house’ in order before he could start commenting about what was happening in Zambia and other countries.
Ms Mulenga said it should be made clear to Mr Malema that no Zambian was being harassed by Government or President Lungu for whatever reason.