MEDIA houses labouring to build President Edgar Lungu’s image are wasting their time as it is can never be built, says Chishimba Kambwili.

And Kambwili says he feels extremely sad for Zambians due to the tax burden and that he will continue reporting thieves to law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile, Kambwili says he does not insult but merely says the truth.

Addressing the media after appearing in court on forgery charges yesterday, Kambwili said President Lungu’s image was soiled and that he would not stop calling him a thief.

He said threats on private media institutions by information minister Dora Siliya should be ignored as she was merely protecting her job.

“When the Diggers, The Mast and the Private TV stations cover the opposition because we tell the truth, nothing but the truth, you become the enemy of the Minister of Information. But you can forgive Dora…Dora is Zambia open; you can play Zambia open golf with Dora at any time. Forgive Dora, she doesn’t know what she talks about, all she is doing is to keep her job. Look at misleading stories from these media houses who are pro-government! Every time, they are misleading and I don’t know whether these journalists who work for these media houses have special houses where they pay less rent, their food is cheap for them to be preoccupied with building an image of a man whose image can never be built,” Kambwili said.

He said President Lungu had “reached a point of no return where misgovernance is concerned and those trying to build his image are wasting their time”.

Kambwili said under President Lungu, the country’s foreign reserves were standing at US$1 billion, which was equal to a month of import cover.

“President Edgar Lungu, if he was a footballer, even if you brought the former renowned Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Pereira to be a coach to Edgar Lungu, he can never perform. Even a penalty where you remove a goalkeeper, he can never score. So for those media houses trying to build the image of Lungu, they are wasting their time because Lungu has reached at a point we call a point of no return in as far as not knowing how to run this country is concerned. Look, this country as we talk, the reserves at Bank of Zambia, the foreign reserves are standing at one billion (dollars) which is equal to one month of import cover, who does that?” Kambwili asked. “Anywhere in the world a country must have an import cover, a reserve of about three months of import cover but this country is running with one month of import cover and you say you have a President! And when we say we don’t have a President, you say Kambwili is insulting…I don’t insult, I just tell the truth. If you steal and I call you a thief, it’s not an insult.”

He also condemned the approval of collecting rental levies [withholding tax] from “poor Zambians who were already living in poverty”.
“The priority of this government is out of this world. As we speak today, they have given a contract to a company called Sherwood Green to start going into compounds. If you have built a cabin, they will come and count, ask you how much rent you are paying and will want to get money out of that cabin…they are going to kill the people, you don’t care about the poor people. You are living lavishly because of stolen money but want to follow a poor man in Kalingalinga, who has built a cabin and is getting K200 so that you get K50 because the government is broke. They have no money…and you people in Lusaka are joking when there is a mayoral election mwaya vota Sampa, leaving people that could work for you. Now what will happen to all your rentals effective next week? They have advertised people who are going to be going door to door collecting money from rentals and what will happen now is that rentals will go up, will be very expensive and you say you have a government,” Kambwili said. “I feel very sad for you people of Zambia. I feel extremely sad. Even this contract to Sherwood Green, how was it given…I have never seen an advertisement calling for companies who should provide this service, I don’t know if it was [just] handpicked.”
And Kambwili said he felt sorry for those condemning him for reporting President Lungu and the PF to the Drug Enforcement Commission because he would not stop reporting thieves to law enforcement agencies.
He said his resolve to report thieves had sent certain people scampering like rats.
Kambwili advised those affected to address the matters he raised in his report to DEC than insult him for merely inquiring on the source of funds for the lavish campaigns.
“Let me say that for those condemning my reporting of President Edgar Lungu and PF to DEC for money laundering…I feel sorry for you. I will continue reporting thieves to law enforcement agencies. It’s up to the law enforcement agencies to take it upon themselves…Namumona ifyo babutwike kwati ni bakapanga. Uyu antuka…instead of them addressing the issues that I raised, ‘where are you getting money?’ Sunday Chanda is just insulting me, Kampyongo is insulting me…well and good! I have said insele mafuta, when you insult nkasubapofye,” said Kambwili.
“And those threatening me, ka Kampyongo ati I will arrest you for calling Lungu a thief…am I the one who sent him to steal K39,000 from that poor woman, a widow? It is him who should work on his life so that the system of stealing, he must stop it. That’s the medicine, that’s the answer but not insulting Chishimba Kambwili.”
Earlier, Kambwili was in court for continued trial in the forgery case.
A State witness told Lusaka magistrate David Simusamba that she gave Kambwili’s wife Carol her National Registration Card (NRC) to register a company.
Kambwili’s younger sister, Sampa, who was brought in by the State to testify against her brother, said she gave her NRC to Carol Chansa to register Mwamona Engineering.
This is in a matter in which Kambwili is appearing in court on forgery charges.
Meanwwhile, another state witness Jacob Mwanza, who managed Mwamona Engineering, said at the time he was chief executive of the company, Kambwili was neither a shareholder nor director of the company.
He said Carol Chansa and Mwansa Chishimba were directors.
When asked during cross-examination whether Mwamba Chishimba was also the same person called Mwamba Kambwili, Mwanza agreed saying “he was also Mwamba Chishimba Kambwili.”
Another witness Patricia Phiri, an assistant registrar at Department of National Registration, Passports and Citizenship, said she was asked by a police officer only known as P. Nkhoma to verify NRCs for several Kambwilis.
When asked if she knew why she was at court, the witness said she did not know.
Another witness was Kambwili’s driver at the Ministry of Sports Andrew Sampa, who testified that he was tasked to take some documents to Anthony Bwembya, the Registrar at the Patents and Companies Registration Agency.
He, however, said he did not know what was in the envelope. The matter has been adjourned.