UPND president Hakainde Hichilema says ‘Koswe’ is appointing his tribesmen to key institutions to extend his stay in power.

And ADD leader Charles Milupi says President Edgar Lungu cannot end violence because he survives on it.

Meanwhile, People’s Party leader Mike Mulongoti says those who are stealing public resources are easy to identify because corruption is like getting a tattoo on one’s forehead.

At a media briefing, Sunday, Hichilema asked Zambians to stand up and ensure that “koswe achoka mumpoto (the rat is removed from the pot)” because he is dividing the country.

“The country is now reduced to two provinces only but mainly two provinces. One Zambia, two nations. That is what Koswe is doing, dividing our country because he himself and his small click don’t mind dividing our country. We used to be one Zambia one nation but now it is one Zambia, two nations driven by Koswe through violence, through corruption, stealing your money. Look after your country, is is being auctioned in your eyes through violence and corruption. Daily Mail and Times, the idea is that when they steal your election next time, Daily Mail and Times of Zambia will simply report free and fair elections because it will be one people under Koswe’s guidance to keep him in office,” Hichilema said.

“He wants to buy judges in the Constitutional Court so where will you run to? Time has come for you to say, ‘we are standing here, Koswe is damaging our country, achoke mumpoto!’ Put your foot down.”

He urged Zambians to stand up for their rights and demand to be heard.

“Let us stand for the marketeers when they are removed from the streets. Someone is making our country look so bad. He couldn’t go to the African Union because the topic is ‘Anti corruption’ and Africans are suffering because of too much corruption. The man who loves travelling today he has given up and opportunity to travel because there is corruption being discussed there. It is up to you the people of Zambia, there is a limit, protect each other.; you cannot ask a few of us to do it for you, be counted, do something,” said Hichilema.

And Milupi observed that the PF survived on violence.

“It is in their DNA to have violence. That is the only last resort they have to hang on to power. It is in their DNA to steal the election even when it comes. We have to call a spade a spade. The people who voted for this man (HH) are looking up to us. They do their work by casting their votes in large numbers. We want them to do their work by casting even more in 2021. It is up to each and everyone of us to ensure that our votes are protected. If the institutions which are supposed to protect us don’t do so, we have to come up with mechanisms to protect ourselves. If ECZ is unable to protect our votes, announcing constituencies that don’t exist, we have to come up with mechanisms to protect those votes ourselves,” said Milupi.

On the same topic, Lusaka UPND youth chairman Obvious Mwaliteta warned PF national youth chairman Stephen Kampyongo to tame his cadres or the opposition party would elect to protect themselves.

“Look at me the way I look, after one year in prison you think I can be intimidated by anyone? No one will intimidate me in Lusaka. Honourable Kampyongo stop the violence with these few, very few thugs at Inter City because we have the capacity to defend ourselves but we don’t want the country to go on fire. You won’t hear us complain about this violence anymore because enough is enough. Honorabole Kampyongo, tell your youths that they are too few to fight the mighty UPND together with NDC. You will not handle us anymore,”Mwaliteta said.

He also introduced some PF youths who defected to the UPND citing hunger.

“The reality is that what made PF was GBM, Wynter Kabimba, Chishimba Kambwili and Kalaba who have all left now. What has remained now is just oil mixed with water and that is why it is chipante pante now. Right now so many people are resigning from the PF, some of them have been going to NDC, some have been coming to us. We are very grateful to Dr Chishimba Kambwili who has dismantled them, they do not even know where to stand now. So we have received some youths who have now started coming back to us,” said Mwaliteta.

“Today I will call one of the representatives who will say one or two things. We were supposed to have a lot of defectors from Lusaka Central, which includes town centre but immediately the PF, these few thugs realised that people were jumping on the bus coming here, they stopped the bus and threatened them that they would be chased from the station.”

Meanwhile, Mulongoti said even children were able to recognise corrupt people.

“Mr Amos Chanda, I was his minister [but] I am not rich. How come in that job, he is not even deputy minister, he is so rich and wealthy now. They have got buildings all over. We know they are playing at Zesco where they can go and get big orders without delivering. Money for the state is like taking money from a dead person, very easy to pick but when a dead person begins to ask for his money, the conversation is very difficult,” said Mulongoti.

“From all the years I have known thieves, I have never seen a successful thief. They steal millions and billions but they end up where they started from so all these thieves you see, in fact, the other day I was saying, when you are a corrupt person or a thief, it is like going to ask for a tattoo on your face. It is very difficult to remove and all those people who have stolen money from the Zambian people are wearing tattoos, even children can tell from a distance that there is a thief, there is a corrupt person.”