Prove ‘no salary’ claim, HH challenged
By Thandizo Banda
ZAMBIAN electorate know the daily benefits that outweigh a president’s salary, so President Hakainde Hichilema cannot fool Zambians over claims he does not draw a salary, civil rights activist Brebner Changala has said.
In an interview with The Mast Changala said Hichilema should prove to Zambians that he does not receive his salary.
He wants the Bank of Zambia, through its presidential emoluments section, to show where the presidential salary has been directed if the head of state is truly not drawing it.
“The hefty allowances and other incentives attached to the Office of the President make the salary claim irrelevant,” Changala said.
“Deceit will not help Hichilema pass through the second term because Zambians have come to know him and his propaganda,” he said.
Changala urged Hichilema to show the “angry Zambians” a government gazette or statutory instrument to support his claim of forgoing his monthly pay.
“We challenge Hichilema to declare his assets detailing a period of the last five years,” he said.
Speaking during a political rally in Southern Province on Wednesday, Hichilema announced that he had not received his salary since taking office, but Changala insisted that without verifiable documentation the claim held no weight.
Changala accused Hichilema of burdening the national treasury by operating from his private Community House residence and incurring movement and other operational costs to State House and other official functions on behalf of the State.
“For him to claim that he does not receive a salary is a joke of the century,” he said.
Changala advised Hichilema to stop governing through self-praise and aggrandisement.
“The benefits that Hichilema gets on daily basis outweigh his monthly government salary,” Changala said.
State House has maintained since 2021 that the President has declined his salary. It is yet to respond to Changala’s latest demand for proof by press time.
