PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema’s Principal Private Secretary Bradford Machila says he cannot say whether or not he met Milingo Lungu because the matter is in court.

And Machila has dispelled allegations that he has been blocking people from meeting the Head of State, saying there are simply too many requests which are processed over time.

Some members of the public, including Nigerian political commentator Andrew Ejimadu, also known as Seer 1, have accused high ranking officials, including Machila, of shielding President Hichilema from the people and from the reality on the ground.

Asked if he met with former Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) Provisional Liquidator Milingo Lungu to bargain for an immunity deal in an interview, Machila said he was constrained to comment on the same because the matter was before court.

“This is an issue which is before court. I am a bit constrained to respond to that. The Minister of Justice (Mulambo Haimbe) yesterday, he had said that documentation would be filed in response to that. So, all I can say is that the truth shall be known in due course,” Machila said.

According to court documents which Lungu filed on Tuesday, Machila led other presidential aides and other government officials in a meeting to negotiate his immunity deal.

And reacting to Seer 1’s assertions that he was fond of blocking people who wanted to help the President and insulating the Head of State from reality, Machila said it was not true.

“No, it is not true. We simply have a lot of requests which are processed over time. I have no interest in doing such a thing, why? My duty is to serve the President to the best of my capacity. And some of the requests come through directly or channeled through ministries, so there are a lot of considerations,” he said.

Asked if it was true that State House officials were involved in shady deals, Machila responded in the negative.

“That is not true. That might have been the behaviour and practice in the past but it is certainly not true,” said Machila.

Recently, Seer 1 accused Machila of shielding President Hichilema from reality.

“I spoke about Mr Machila, I don’t know if it is your senior Private secretary at State House. That man is the reason why you are not getting feedback from the people on the ground. They are the people telling you that everything is okay. Everything is not okay. Youths of Zambia are talking about corruption. The high cost of living, high cost of petrol. On corruption, they are saying you are losing it. You are not losing it because you are a corrupt man, you are losing it because the people that are surrounding you are corrupt. Wake up and do something about it,” said Seer 1.