Hakainde Hichilema says President Edgar Lungu’s theft is not new because he has been been stealing from people since he was a lawyer.

Kambwili last week revealed that President Lungu personally phoned the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Information to stop the tender process for phase two and three of Digital Migration, and ordered technocrats to instead single source Star Times of China.

But speaking in Mbala yesterday, the Head of State said he would no longer respond to “foul-mouthed” politicians accusing him of corruption.

However, Hichilema said President Lungu could not respond because he was guilty, adding that Kambwili together with former ministers Harry Kalaba and Lucky Mulusa were witnesses to the Head of State’s corruption.

“Lungu is right to say he will no longer respond to corruption allegations because he has nothing to say. He is guilty of corruption that’s why he has nothing to say and I am glad that he now admits that his government is corrupt because the PF is corruption and corruption is PF. I have been saying this for a long time but nobody was listening, now people who are coming from inside his organisation are confessing corruption and it’s not only Kambwili, it is [Harry] Kalaba, it is Lucky Mulusa, these are all confirming that there is corruption. I am sure now Lungu is worried about how he will live with this level of corruption that has been confirmed. That is why he cannot respond, what will he say?,” he wondered.

Hichilema charged that President Lungu started stealing when he was a lawyer.

“Lungu’s theft is not something new, he’s been stealing from clients even before he became a politician. Lungu and his people at State House are killing Zambians because they are stealing from them. A lot of Lungu’s allies have never done any business in their lives, even Lungu tried to run a legal business but it was shut down because he was stealing from clients,” Hichilema said.

“Now, what are they doing to Mukula tree? They are the ones now stealing money from Zambians instead of allowing them to export Mukulu directly for processing. We know State House is the key exporter of Mukula and ZAFFICO is just a front. They even banned the export of Mukula but they are doing it themselves, has anyone found out where that money which ZAFFICO realises from the sell of Mukula went? Does ZAFFICO have money in the account after selling Mukula? I agree with him he has no answer because he’s guilty.”

And Hichilema said the Topstar deal had corruption stinking everywhere around it.

“That deal for Topstar stinks of corruption, there is corruption everywhere. That whole digital migration could have been done just under $40 million but it was done in over $250 million. This should tell you that someone has pocketed more than $205million in that digital migration project and star times. Lungu will not escape that because while Zambians are suffering, he is busy pocketing huge sums of money. So before Zambians get too angry with him because they are already angry, he must just resign and pave way for good leadership in the UPND,” Hichilema said.

And on President Lungu’s pronouncement that the country is likely to have a bad harvest this year, Hichilema said it was an admission of lack of vision.

“The reason we are in this situation is because of lack vision in the PF. Lungu is only waking up now to see that there is a problem, he should have known a long time ago if he was serious about his government but he has just been busy enjoying himself and traveling all over the place, forgetting about Zambians. There is lack of quality leadership in the PF arising from lack of vision and planning, that’s the disease that PF has brought about in this country,” said Hichilema.