UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema says people like Lusaka Province minister Bowman Lusambo can only be ministers in the PF “animal farm” government.

And Hichilema says PF had set a trap for UPND to give MPs attending the National Dialogue Forum sanctions, but the party won’t fall for it.

Speaking at the opposition alliance press briefing, Thursday, Hichilema said people like Lusambo would never be ministers in a UPND led government.

He was commenting on allegations that Lusambo caused the death of NDC Lusaka youth chair Obed Kasongo.

“Nobody should die at the hand of another person. We know that there is a break down in the rule of law and we have citizens being brutlaised and having their rights infringed upon like it happened with Chishimba Kambwili at a radio station in Kabwe. Previously, some people used to think that it was just UPND when we complained about the breakdown in the rule of law. What happened in Kabwe happened to us at Sun FM, I had to go through the roof. Time has come for all of us as citizens to take responsibility to restore the rule of law in this country. This is why we have come together as an alliance because we realise that this is not a battle for one political party,” Hichilema said.

“Just imagine Bowman Lusambo attacking a citizen and this guy is supposed to be a minister, is he worthy of being a minister? No! maybe in an animal farm government like the PF. Certainly you will not see in the UPND government, in the alliance government, ministers of that nature, they will not be there. We have no leadership in this country to maintain the rule of law, to protect citizens.”

Hichilema said those in leadership were killing citizens instead of protecting them.

“There is everything wrong with the PF thuggery in leadership today. You get elected in public office to look after citizens, today it is those in public office who are killing citizens and they remain in your offices, they continue receiving tax payer’s salaries. But we are watching, Zambians are watching, it is not an NDC issue. Who killed Mapenzi Chibulo? We have got opposition members living with bullets in their bodies, bullets fired by state agents. Those people go to UTH, doctors are afraid of treating them because they will be fired. This is the country with break down in the rule of law and selective application of the law. As citizens you need to question these things. We should not allow the shutting down of the media; Prime TV. You all remember what happened to Muvi TV, the Post, Itezhi-tezhi radio, what happened to Chipata yesterday…there is no country to talk about anymore. We want to say that as a team we are still committed, we are not afraid, we shall continue,” Hichilema said.

Meanwhile, Hichilema said UPND would not given sanctions to its MPs attending the NDF because it was a trap.

“We said to MPs that they were supposed to make their own decision based on their own conscience and we are proud that the greater majority of UPND MPs including late Patricia Mwashingwele took a decision that this was illegal and she stood up to say so, she woke up from hospital bed to come and say to members that this was illegal, and imagine losing such a person during such a critical time where we need strong people, she goes down as a freedom fighter for all of us,” Hichilema said.

“Certain other MPs made that decision to attend, conscious decision. We will not apply any sanction against them, absolutely nothing. Because at that stage every individual was supposed to make a conscious mature decision. And let me tell you, PF designed such an act so that we could impose sanctions on our MPs and shift our attention from serious issues to start dealing with our MPs, we will not do that, we are smarter than that. it’s up to MPs to examine their own consciences and ask themselves if what they are doing is representing the people who elected them. But we expect all MPs for UPND and other to vote against this bill when it’s taken to Parliament.”