Don’t trust Hichilema, UPND – lawyer
By Tony Nkhoma
DON’T trust President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) because they don’t respect the Constitution, Lusaka lawyer Celestine Mukandila has urged Zambians.
Mukandila said Hichilema was struggling to govern Zambia because he was surrounded by a pool of incompetent advisors.
He described Hichilema’s directive to Minister of Justice Princess Kasune to defer the Constitution amendment process in Parliament a day before the Constitutional Court judgement as suspicious.
“Zambians should not trust Mr Hichilema and the UPND but always stand ready to defend their rights through the Constitution,” Mukandila said.
“Now, what we need to do is to come up with a constitution that will speak to the aspirations of the Zambian people. And not where we’ve got individuals sitting in Cabinet there, taking whatever drink they are taking and deciding that this is what we’ll give the people of Zambia. No. We spoke against it,” Mukandila said.
He said the governance of Hichilema was highly questionable, which was the reason he always defied the laws of the country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka, Mukandila said it was “highly shameful” that Hichilema and the UPND had failed Zambians.
He said the judgement on Bill 7 by the Constitutional Court spoke to the fight for and the zeal of ensuring that democracy was protected.
“This judgment speaks to the fact that we are here to protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia. We are on record indicating to this government that the process they had undertaken was flawed and it did not speak to the aspirations of Zambians,” Mukandila said.
He said the rule by the Constitutional Court was an indication that the UPND was itself a flawed government which could not pursue a correct and inclusive process.
Mukandila said since independence Zambia had never seen a government such as the one under Hichilema, which could not listen to the aspirations of the Zambian people.
“They did not listen because today we are faced with a very sophisticated coincidence where a president will decide to withdraw a bill or defer a bill a night before a judgment is read in our favour. What a coincidence! And I will say shame on you, Mr President,” Mukandila said.
Mukandila said the coincidence by Mr Hichilema and the ruling by the Constitutional Court left much to be desired.
He said the Minister of Justice Princess Kasune and Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha were too incompetent to advise the President.
