In a video posted on www.diggers.news, Bahati member of parliament Harry Kalaba apologises that his resignation letter was received late at State House, prompting speculation that he was still Foreign Affairs Minister.

He said he would not give up his parliamentary seat, but stressed that he had relinquished his position to pave way for someone else to take over.

“Yesterday I did submit my letter of resignation to his Excellency the President [Edgar Lungu], a man that I had worked with for the last four years. I did submit through my office, foreign affairs at 15:30 hours. It was signed for and records are there. I’m sorry that State House has not received my resignation on time,” Kalaba said.

“But I have resigned to pave way for others to take over from me as well as to be true to my own submission and my conscience. I thank the President and I remain indebted to the President for the opportunity he has given me to serve as minister,” he said.

Kalaba further said that he was still in PF as Bahati member of parliament because he did not want to cause a by-election.

“I also want to say that I harbour no intentions of relinquishing my position as member of parliament for Bahati because that was a position which I was given by the good people of that great constituency to serve them from 2016 to 2021. The purpose as to why the constitution was amended was to avoid unnecessary by-elections. I will not be part of that group calling for a by election. I will remain in the PF, I will remain a party member except that I have relinquished my position as Foreign [Affairs] Minister.