Dundumwezi UPND member of parliament Edgar Singombe has refuted President Edgar Lungu’s remarks that some politically inclined persons were cutting down electricity poles in his constituency saying his people do not even have power.

On Saturday, President Lungu said he was upset that some people in Dundumwezi were cutting down electricity poles.

“Ask the chief in the area concerned, I think you are talking about Sikanta area, Dundumwezi, ask Edgar, honorable Edgar Singombe what is happening. I have got a report yes that a power supply line under construction through REA has been sabotaged and it is trending now on social media…I am human and at the end of the day, I will say ‘why don’t I take development to Kasama where they voted for me overwhelmingly instead of wasting time on the people of Southern Province? One or two people who are politically inclined should not derail development in the region because it is a waste of tax payers’ money,” said President Lungu.

But in a statement, Sunday, Singombe said he was disappointed that the Head of State was peddling lies.

“I wish to dispel the information being peddled by Mr Edgar Lungu that there are people deliberately cutting ZESCO poles in Dundumwezi Constituency, Kalomo District, Southern Province. The incident being referred to happened in Hamoonde village, Chief Macha’s area which is in Mbabala Constituency, Choma District. It’s very unfortunate that the entire Head of State can mislead the country with falsehoods despite all the various intelligence and investigative wings at his disposal. As a matter of fact, we do not even have electricity in Dundumwezi Constituency, so there are no power lines that can be cut there, and we challenge all the investigative wings to verify. It is very alarming that an entire President can tell such lies to the nation,” stated Singombe.

“In any case, why would Mr Lungu think an act of vandalism in any part of Southern Province be treated differently and be labeled as economic sabotage targeted at his PF regime? There is documented vandalism of ZESCO installations such as transformers, cables, etc and there is documented cases of vandalism of other government installations such as rail line in various parts of the country, yet Edgar Lungu has never threatened to withhold development in those places. We call on citizens to ignore the falsehoods by Mr Lungu targeted at the good people of Dundumwezi who the PF keep despising and neglecting in development.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo confirmed that the vandalism occurred in Choma and that a suspect had been apprehended.

“The sabotage acts the President spoke about are not only regrettable but frustrating too. We as government, like His Excellency the President stated are thriving to make sure that development is taken to all corners of the country and that equally includes connectivity to power. So what transpired in part of Choma district where a pole line which is being constructed by REA into some area in Dundumwezi is an act of criminality. I am happy that the police command in Southern Province are doing everything possible and so far, one suspect has since been apprehended to ensure that we get to the bottom of this matter,” Kampyongo told journalists in Shiwang’andu.