Chishimba Kambwili says Information Minister Kampamba Mulenga is foolish to expect that civil servants who are still serving in government would speak out against illegal orders given to them by the President.

And Kambwili has charged that Mulenga has a low thinking capacity because she was a jerabo and married to a jerabo “before getting into her current relationship”.

Kambwili was reacting to the Chief Government Spokesperson who said her successor should have had a recording of President Lungu’s instructions when he ordered for the single sourcing of Star Times in the Digital Migration contract, to prove his accusations against the Head of State.

“First and foremost, Kampamba Mulenga is not fit to be minister because she does not even understand how ministers operate. Is there such a thing [as recording the President] surely? Because when you go to the President’s office, all the phones remain at the reception when you just enter State House, you don’t go to the office of the President with a phone. So I don’t know which cabinet she belongs to where you can record the President when he’s giving you instructions. But I will forgive Kampamba Mulenga [because] some people don’t know her history but I know her very well. She was a jerabo and she was briefly married to a jerabo, so you know when you are a jerabo and married to a jerabo you can’t think properly,” Kambwili said.

“So I think I will forgive her because she is just excited to be a minister because you know [the change] from being a jarabo to a minister it’s a very big jump. You can see the behaviour even when she is speaking there are no full stops in the mouth. But she is just a young girl and she is learning but I think she should differentiate between being a jerabo and being a minister and being married to a jerabo from being a minister then she will be a better girl. And for her own information, all the people I mentioned who were given instructions are still at the ministry. Mr kaluba who was actually given the instructions by Lungu is still at her ministry, even the PS is still at the ministry so why should it be Kampamba to answer when she wasn’t even there?”

And Kambwili wondered how Kampamba expected civil servants whom President Lungu gave instructions, to speak out when they were still in government.

“She is very foolish, which civil servant serving in government would just come out like that? That acting PS can only come out like that if he’s brought to court where he speaks under oath and he is protected by the law so that if he gives evidence he can be protected by cap 12 where nothing that he says can be used against him. So those civil servants can not say anything, they can’t even go to a newspaper today and say ‘this is what happened’. That’s why I am saying that Kampamba doesn’t know anything about how government operates,” he said.

“And it’s laughable for her to say that single sourcing is not illegal. Single sourcing is only legal if you meet the requirements that provides for single sourcing and they are only two, either there is only one company that can supply what you are looking for or if it is an emergency. So she is lying when she says that only Topstar could provide that service because there were a number of companies that showed interest including Zambians companies and one of them is Muvi TV. Tell that girl to stop being vocal when she doesn’t know anything. But like I said, she was a jerabo and briefly married to a jerabo so you can see the level of thinking.”

Meanwhile, Kambwili said Lungu gave verbal instructions when he wanted something done.

“Since as I was minister, there has never been any time that the President gave me instructions in written not even under late President Michael Sata. Usually Presidents just give verbal instructions to say ‘can we have this done’ and it’s very difficult for you to say ‘no Sir, put it in written’, how can you tell your boss to put things in written? There is no law like that, I mean that is even insubordination, you could be charged for insubordination. But maybe in the jerabo world they do ask their bosses to put things in written. Like I said Kampamba Mulenga was a jerabo and she briefly got married to a jerabo before she started her new relationship which she is in now. So let her not throw stones if she lives in grass thatched houses,” said Kambwili.

“But I understand her, she is new in politics. What happens in politics if they know that you are new, they will write things for you to say which you don’t even understand and at the end of the day, you put yourself in problems, I know how that office operates, they would do something from Amos’ office and just say ‘issue that statement’ and I feel sorry for the girl because she will burn her fingers if she is not careful.”