Okay campaign naitampa so what? President Edgar Lungu asked in Ndola today.

And President Lungu says he has decided not to make any international trips this year to see what his critics will say.

Meanwhile, President Lungu says he is not Jesus Christ to follow after one stray sheep at the risk of losing 99.

Speaking upon arrival at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, President Lungu said it was strange that whenever he travelled around the country to inspect projects, people accused him of campaigning.

He said if the opposition want, they can also start campaigning.

“[Ati] ‘Lungu aleyendauka sana, aleyendauka sana. Ifi naisa, I am not going to travel this year, I told the Vice-President and my colleagues in Cabinet that I want to spend my whole year in Zambia if possible to see what they will say. I come here, no ‘Lungu has started campaigns. Even you go and campaign if you want. The next election is in 2021, if you guys you want to campaign get started but me I am doing my job because am the supervisor of all the ministers, all the projects in the country, I am the supervisor and I am entitled to be here. Eyo chilenyonga, eyo chilekalipa kuti ai kulika (those it pains should hang themselves) and if they want, they can take me on. Because if I travel, he is traveling a lot. If am not traveling, he is sick, nomba chabashani? Iyo ‘kuti namuputa fye awa (they say they can just blow and I fall). Kuti waputa ine (you really think you can blow me away)?” President Lungu asked.

“I am here up to Sunday, then go to Mongu and from there I will move all over Zambia because Zambia is my territory, Zambia is my constituency. Them they are moving and saying ‘it is card renewal, party mobilization’ but when I move just for one day, they panic and say ‘campaigns have started’. Naitampa okay boi, tiye fye. Even just doing my job as a supervisor you say campaigns have started? Okay campaign naitampa so what?”

He said since he was not sick, he would continue touring the country to supervise projects and mobilize the party.

“If I stay home ati ‘nalwaya’. Yes, sometimes I get sick, I am just human. Is there anyone who doesn’t get sick? So now that I am fit, I am not sick, I will be with you to make sure government is working well here. From the constituency to the ward, let us mobilise the party, ichintu ichintu umwene,” President Lungu said.

“I want to make this very clear that you are talking and talking, we are listening but fiwelewele. But I want to make it very clear that I will not be intimidated when I am doing my job, those who are angered by this can do whatever they want.”

President Lungu said if all went well he would leave office in 2026, telling those with ambitions of taking over that there were wasting their time.

“I want to make things very clear that those who mean well for the party must carry the vision we all share in. Noti waufwa mumala mwakaba ati nalaba president. 2021 we will have a candidate for elections. I want to make this very clear so that I am not misunderstood in case some people think we are short of manpower in PF. If for some reasons I cannot stand, someone in PF will stand and I will be part of the decision because we will go for a convention and choose our leader. Utima infwya nimuka mwenso. I can drop dead today but God has willed that we have changed the constitution [so] in an event that I die today, the President is Madam Inonge Wina up to 2021. And if she dies, God forbid, Cabinet will choose somebody to lead you to 2021. There will be no election up to 2021 so whoever tells you ‘be ready for elections, be ready for elections’, bale posa fye inshita (they are wasting their time). Let us begin working so that Zambians can see that Davies Mwila is working, [Alexander] Chiteme is working, alebomba, [Dr Chitalu] Chilufya alebomba. So that we can choose who can take over from me because if all goes well, 2026 nkafumapo ine anyway pakesa umbi…Noti fye umuntu akuta fye ubwali ati ‘nalaba President, President’, tefyo chyenda iyo (if all goes well I will leave office in 2026, someone else will take over. It is not an issue of someone getting stuffed with nshima and saying ‘I am going to be president, it doesn’t work like that)!” he said.

“I am telling you who are in politics that listen to the voice inside you and the voice outside you, listen to the people around you. When you are ready, they will say we will put this one there. I am saying this because there are some people who just wake up in the morning and they think they can become this (president). I never become who I am until you people said ‘we will support you Edgar Chagwa Lungu. You can’t wake up and say I am yesu kristu (Jesus Christ). That is not how it is…So those who think they can wake up one morning and think they can become President of PF, they are just wasting their time.”

And President Lungu said it was strange that some people claimed political interference whenever they were summoned to police for breaking the law.

“And I want to make it clear now that don’t interfere with the police. When they are working don’t interfere with them, when ACC is working, don’t interfere with them, when DEC is working, don’t interfere with them, whether you are serving or outside, they have got a mandate to enforce the law. If they follow you, ‘no it’s political harassment’, what nonsense! When the Catholic make a mistake and they are picked, do you hear them saying it is religious interference? No! Why should politicians begin intimidating the police by saying ‘you picked me out of politics’. You just broke the law so you must be dealt with. The police should deal with any law breaker whether in opposition or ruling party, whether you are a rebel in PF they will call you and question you. Now what I am seeing is ‘Lungu is scared of me. He is using policemen’. Why should I use the policemen to deal with political opponents? Why should I not deal with them on the political ground?” he asked.

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Meanwhile, speaking when he officiated at the ground breaking ceremony of the PF provincial office, President Lungu said he is not Jesus Christ to follow after one stray sheep at the risk of losing 99.

“Whoever aspires for leadership of this country has always succeeded on the basis of bringing people together. If you isolate yourself you are gone. I remember talking to one of our friends, a rebel, as of now, and I told him that if you want to succeed, work with people. Be prepared to be led and he told me that ‘Mr President, that person wants you to call him, sit down with him and discuss these issues with him then he will be normal and obedient’. My reaction was ‘I have heard, but in the Bible they wrote that a good Shepard leaves 99 sheep and goes to get one stray one’ but I said, ‘I am not Jesus Christ, I am only a human being so when I leave 99 sheep to go and retrieve one, I will find the 99 have also gone’. We were discussing a member of parliament who thought he was very smart by criticising me openly and privately and I said ‘no, if you have issues, come to the table we discuss. If I have gone astray, you can put me on the correct path but if you are out there criticising me without taking chance to sit down with me and talk to me, I wont listen. In short what I am saying is that the party has got structures and procedures which you can use to address issues,” he said.

He said PF was targeting a 65 per cent victory in 2021.

“Don’t get upset when people come to join us because that is what a party is supposed to be, it is based on numbers. 2021, as PF we are aiming for 65 per cent. Where will it come from? Next week I will travel to Western Province to go and show them the love and warmth which Mr Sata taught us,” said President Lungu.