Maravi

HH will be taught to avoid lies - GBM

HH will be taught to avoid lies - GBM
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 14 June 2012, 13:25 CAT

Defence minister Geoffrey Mwamba says Hakainde Hichilema had pressed a wrong button and will be taught to avoid telling lies. And UPND leader Hichilema is today expected to appear at Zambia Police headquarters for questioning over his statement that the PF government plans to send youths to Sudan to train as militias.

Police have so far issued two call outs against Hichilema on two separate days.
Police first issued a call out on Tuesday, but officers tasked to deliver it could not locate Hichilema.

Police yesterday issued another call out which they managed to deliver to the UPND secretariat on Lagos Road in Lusaka's Rhodes Park.

UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said the UPND's legal team and Hichilema's lawyers had to be informed before they could appear before police.

The call out from Zambia Police headquarters stated: "Sir, I have to inform you that Mr Hakainde Hichilema said to be in your employment is, required to attend interviews at Zambia Police HQs on 13/06/2012 for the purpose stated above at 10:00 hrs in the conference room."

Police acting spokesperson Munganga Chanda confirmed yesterday that Hichilema communicated through his secretary general Winston Chibwe that he would avail himself this afternoon.

"Our official position is that Mr Hichilema is appearing tomorrow today at 14:00 hours at Force Headquarters. He communicated to us through the UPND secretary general Mr Winston Chibwe," said Chanda.

And Mwamba has vowed to ensure that Hichilema and other people issuing unsubstantiated statements are taught a lesson.

He said it was clear that even though Hichilema was challenging law enforcement agencies to arrest him, he was in fact not a courageous man.

"Anyway, we'll sort him out this time around, I think he has pressed a wrong button. I'll make sure that the law takes its course now. I know where he got the courage from; it's from people like Edward Mumbi. But even Edward Mumbi if he's man enough, let him utter similar sentiments; he will find that we will lock him up as well. Nshabaleke ine iyo (I'll not spare them), I'll teach them a lesson," the defence minister said.

"You can't just come up with such kind of a story without the truth. How do you do that. Because he knows that, that's a very serious offence. You see also, that borders on our relationship with that other country. You know what he should have done, he should have not mentioned at least the other country. Now he has mentioned that other country, so the whole world thinks that this is what Zambia is doing. So, we shall not leave him at all until the law takes its course."

[Perhaps the police shouldn't stop at HH, and call in Robert Amsterdam as well, because if his activities in Russia and Thailand are a clue, this is their tactic - internationalising local transfer of power. - MrK]

Mwamba said the only contingent the Zambian government had in Sudan were the soldiers on a UN peacekeeping mission.

"What I want is, even would-be offenders should learn a leaf from this now, so that whatever utterances they are going to make they should be authentic. He knows that he has committed an offence definitely; he can come and check our records, we have not sent a single youth to Sudan. Even the 17 soldiers who are still there, these are only winding up now our operations. And this is a normal exercise ending UN peacekeeping troops. This has nothing to do with training or what have you, not at all; they're trained locally," said Mwamba.

This week, Mwamba ordered police to investigate Hichilema's revelations so that the public could know the source of his information.

Labels: CORNELIUS MWEETWA, GBM, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, SUDAN, UPND

posted by MrK @ 4:09 PM