President Edgar Lungu must step down and hand-over power to capable people if running the Presidency is very difficult for him, says Alliance for Community Action (ACA) executive director Laura Miti.

And opposition All People’s Congress (APC) president Nason Msoni says President Lungu is being unreasonably dishonest and disrespectful by distancing himself from the Black Mountain accident when it is due to government’s negligence that youthful lives were taken away.

Commenting on President Lungu’s remarks on the Copperbelt where he warned citizens not to drag his name into the politics of the Black Mountain where 11 people died and others buried alive, due to lack of safety at the site, Miti insisted that the President was responsible for everything happening in the country.

“The President cannot act as if he’s running the country while being held to ransom by people outside the office. He is entirely responsible for what happens in this country! Handing over the Black Mountain was a decision that he made himself, what influenced him to do so is for him to know. But the responsibility is for him, he is the one that handed over the Black Mountain where safety had not been guaranteed. So, when an accident happens, we expect him to take responsibility and to speak to the nation about what he is going to do. He cannot then make it political, President Lungu is the one who is politicising the Black Mountain, nobody else is. He is the one running the country, so we expect him to get a little more responsible than he is being right now and stop throwing tantrums on the people who are outside of power. If running the Presidency is very difficult for him, then he should hand-over to those people who are going to manage it,” Miti advised in an interview.

And Msoni said it was unfair to the grieving parents and families for President Lungu, who is the person that bares the highest responsibility, to seemingly refuse to take responsibility of the accident at the dump site.

“Mr Edgar Lungu is being unreasonably dishonest and disrespectful at the same time by distancing himself from the Black Mountain accident that has claimed youthful lives. It is not fair to the grieving parents and families for the person who bares the highest responsibility to seemingly refuse to take responsibility or let alone be remorseful in his actions. This explains why he failed to mete-out punishment for his erring Minister of Mine [Richard Musukwa] or simply to admonish him publicly for negligence! He will do well to just keep quiet. In any case, was it not his own desperation for a third term that drove him hurriedly to single-handedly give the jerabos the Black Mountain,” stated Msoni in a statement released, Thursday.

“Mr Lungu should be serious with himself and avoid making such annoying and provocative statements that don’t make any sense. We think his constant use of words like ‘foolish people’ to refer to other political leaders doesn’t represent the esteemed office he holds. We think it is most unfortunate to have an ill-mannered and ill-prepared raw person for office of President of the Republic of Zambia.”