Stephen Kampyongo should grow up, if he wants to be schooled in Bemba idioms let him come, says NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili.

And Kambwili says Zambia has trivialised the fight against corruption, adding that he suspects that the 48 houses seized by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) are owned by a minister.

Meanwhile, Kambwili says the Patriotic Front should shiver at the rate at which NDC is growing, bragging that his party managed to get 213 votes in the Lubwa Ward Local Government by-elections when it has only existed for a year.

On Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo warned Kambwili against insulting President Edgar Lungu saying he was trading on “dangerous grounds”.

But speaking to journalists at the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court, Thursday, Kambwili said there was nothing wrong with his Bemba idioms.

“Imwe Kampyongo mwaiche fye (Kampyongo is young). How can you warn your own father? We created the PF he is enjoying. Chimo no kusoka bawiso ba ng’anda epo bakusunga (It’s the same as warning your father in his own house). Tell that Kampyongo to grow up. He is excited, drunk with an unknown powers, swimming in wrong waters. How can he warn me for saying ‘umwine wachisushi tafwisa amate (a person who farts doesn’t spit saliva in disgust)’? Is that an insult? Tell that boy that if he wants to be schooled in Bemba idioms let him come, I will teach him,” Kambwili said.

He said he had no apology for his continued use of Bemba idioms during his speeches because he was Bemba and didn’t create the language.

“When I said umwine wachisushi tafwisa amate, those who eat with the PF have condemned me. But an idiom is an idiom, it has no semantics. It is translated as it is said. And I have no apologies to make for that because I am not the one who created Bemba idioms. I only use them because I am Bemba and I cannot avoid them. There are a lot of Bemba idioms that you should look at that are kind of awkward but they have to be used, that’s why they were made. When I said umwine wachisushi, tafwisa amate, it simply means [that] when you are doing something wrong, its very difficult for you to see that you are doing a wrong thing because you are enjoying what you are doing,” he said.

“And when you do something wrong, it’s only people around you who will see that this man is making a mistake, that’s what I meant. It’s not an insult, it will never be an insult and it is not vulgar language, it’s just a Bemba language and idiom and it stands like that. And I will use it until I die because the Bemba dictionary has not removed it from use. It’s just like there is a saying ‘ukuselela uwamatako ayakulu kuti akupoka ichipuna’ (onerously trying to create space for someone with big buttocks can make your lose your seat to them). There is a saying ‘ubukulu bwa matako tebwingi bwa mafi’ (The size of someone’s buttocks does not determine the amount of feaces they can produce). All those have to be used, and if they are used, you get upset, so be it.”

And commenting on the 48 houses saga, Kambwili said Zambia had trivialised the fight against corruption.

“What ACC is telling us is that they are incompetent and that’s incompetency of the worst kind. Surely 48 people have been paying rent to those flats, who do they pay to? All flats are built on land which is titled, in whose name is the title deed? That’s why I’m saying this country will never fight corruption under President Edgar Lungu. My suspicion is that it must be a minister owning those 48 houses and they were only put in the name of that civil servant,” Kambwili said.

“That’s why they are given charges like concealing property. Can we for once in Zambia fight this vice of corruption. We have taken the fight against corruption very trivial that’s why ACC can even go and tell us ‘we failed to find the owner of the 48 houses’. Amayanda yaileikula fye ayene (did the houses build themselves)?”.

Meanwhile, Kambwili said PF should shiver at the rate at which NDC was growing.

“People are celebrating that NDC lost in Kitwe. PF has been in existence for 20 years [but] they managed 1,200 votes, which means per year, they were recruiting 60 people. UPND has been in existence for 24 years, they got 512 votes, meaning they have been recruiting an average of about 15-20 per annum. NDC has been in existence for one year, we got 213 votes, which party is growing at a rapid rate? Obviously it’s NDC. One year in existence, 213 votes, that’s a big achievement and should send shivers to these people who have been in existence for too long [but] only managing 1,200 in 20 years. They must be shivering with the coming of NDC. Besides, PF used about K1 million to get 1,200 votes, we only spent K18,000 in that election, we got 213,” said Kambwili.