UPND president Hakainde Hichilema says the PF has gone crazy and that’s why it’s accusing him of causing the heatwave, high mealie meal prices and drought.

And Hichilema has warned Eastern Province Minister Makebi Zulu to be careful with his accusations he causes him to be bankrupt and cleaned up through legal processes.

Meanwhile, speaking when he featured on the Chat-Back programme on Radio Christian Voice, Thursday, Hichilema dared government to arrest him if it was true that he sold the Lower Zambezi National Park.

Hichilema was reacting to allegations from Zulu that he sold the national park off to investors.

“Sometimes, I hear wrong things said about me and about other people. But someone goes to television, Makebi Zulu, a young man whom I thought was sensible was sitting with other buffoons around there. He was sitting with ignorant chaps around him…(like) Sunday Chanda, but I only cared about Makebi Zulu. Factually wrong, conceptually wrong! The philosophy of selling something is anchored on ownership. You can only sell what you own. You cannot sell somebody’s shirt. One, you must be crazy [and] two, you must be a thief! I don’t own the Lower Zambezi National Park. By name, Lower Zambezi National Park means it’s a national asset, it belongs to the people of Zambia. And the custodian of National Parks is the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury. How did I sell Lower Zambezi National Park, which is an asset of the people of Zambia and everybody was looking? That’s buffoonery of the highest order! That is ignorance of the highest order,” Hichilema said.

He dared Zulu and anybody else accusing him of having offloaded the Lower Zambezi National Park to arrest him.

“Makebi come on, get serious. Don’t join the click of unknowledgeable people. You are supposed to have a career. You went to the school of law. Secondly, if I sold what doesn’t belong to me, then I am a thief! Why didn’t they arrest me? I want to announce here, bwelani munimange imwe! (come and arrest me!) [Because] I sold the Lower Zambezi Park, I stole. You like taking me to Woodlands Police Station, I am waiting. Take me to Woodlands Police Station and charge me with Lower Zambezi National Park. They can’t do that because I didn’t steal. The PF hate me to the bone. They accuse me of causing the drought, they accuse me of causing the heatwave, they accuse me of not bringing the rains,” he lamented.

Hichilema said he was still considering taking legal action against Zulu.

He urged him to refrain from Sunday Chanda’s “piggery” type of behaviour because he had the capacity to make the Malambo PF member of parliament bankrupt..

“Makebi, I can sue you and clean you out, young man! You will be bankrupt [and] you will be pleading [to say] ‘HH, I was only doing politics.’ Don’t say things like that about me! You are too young for that. I am thinking about it. I haven’t decided about it, but I know if I do, I will clean you out! And you will regret it. Those who were encouraging you to say those things will not be there to save you, you will be alone. Ukule iwe, ukali mwana (grow up, you are still young). Don’t follow Sunday Chanda’s type of piggery behaviour. You should be different,” he warned.

And Hichilema said global fund managers had pledged to inject US $25.8 billion into Zambia’s economy, but only if he emerged Republican President in August, 2021.

“I laid a story and made a request and they responded positively. Being in those rooms, talking to worldwide global fund managers, when I gave an example and specific actions (on how to grow Zambia’s economy), one of them said ‘HH, you have said it all. Why don’t we end this meeting now and have coffee.’ We had coffee and there were side meetings. After that, we reconvened and they said ‘hey, HH, we meet many African politicians [and] we don’t hear them present themselves the way you have. We know you are credible, your party is credible and we will support you.’ And one group alone pledged US $1.5 billion of investment. And they said ‘HH, take note, once you are sworn in today, within 10 days, we will announce and confirm us bringing US $1.5 billion from our group alone!’ And we met other groups. Conservatively, the US $25.8 billion (worth of pledges) when broken down, we will want to fix electricity so that we end load shedding in the shortest time after taking over office,” he disclosed.

Hichilema also insisted that the PF’s debt-financed infrastructure development agenda was short of madness.

“There are a lot of things that we need to do there. US $6.3 billion will go for infrastructure, different infrastructure, not airports, which is what these ‘chipante-pante’ people in PF are doing. You cannot develop when you spend US $350 million to develop an airport when only four or five planes land in a day. What are you doing? You must be crazy! What PF is doing is crazy. It’s near madness, to be honest. So, I said we need to open up national parks. Water points is part of infrastructure in the parks,” Hichilema said.

Asked if he deliberately shunned the October 18 National Day of Prayer, Fasting and Reconciliation, Hichilema said he was moving around the world preparing the UPND government to take over the country and refused to indulge in “parte after parte.”

“It is malice to say (that) I ran away (from prayer), but it is not surprising that I am accused of such. You have seen I have already been accused of causing the heatwave, causing hunger, causing high mealie meal prices and so on. I try to donate food, they block me. We are already preparing to take over the country! We are preparing and ready to turn around the economy. I wasn’t just in Washington a week ago, a month and half ago, I was in London preparing the UPND government so that when we are sworn in, day two, we are at work; work, work, and more work, not parte after parte after parte, no,” he replied.

Meanwhile, Hichilema insisted that the UPND was committed to promoting human rights and not homosexuality, as alleged by PF members of parliament.

“We are committed to law and order, to human rights, not to homosexuality, no. We talked about zero tolerance to corruption. We talked about the need to strengthen governance. The Auditor General’s office must be strengthened and allowed to operate independently, so is the case with the Financial Intelligence Centre, which PF will not close. We have committed ourselves as UPND that we will leave the FIC operating and strengthened. The Anti-Corruption Commission, too. We talked about the bringing back of the professional civil service that will deliver to the people of Zambia. We will restructure the debt,” he said.

Hichilema vowed that no Chinese national would be granted a Mukula trading license once he becomes Republican President after next year.

“We will give Zambians Mukula licenses; no Chinese will be given a Mukula license! And I have no shame to say that. Our target is that by year two or three of being in government, we should be getting to the growth rate of seven per cent plus, which PF wiped out. It also means that there will be no load shedding, mark this radio programme, record it and say that ‘HH said there will be no load shedding.’ You know that what I predict happens, at least from the economic and business side. And I want Zambians to be proud that they have a son called HH and that they have daughters and sons in the UPND who are capable of changing things for better,” he added.

Hichilema also stressed that government should not make electricity users pay for “its foolishness and lack of a vision.”

“Kulibe malaiti (there is no electricity supply), but they are increasing the tariffs, where is the logic? If the cost of doing business is very high, you cannot ask electricity users to pay for your foolishness! Because of your foolishness and lack of vision, the dollar exchange rate, which Mwanawasa left at K5, you take it to K13,” said Hichilema.