President Edgar Lungu is abusing his authority by allowing his relative, Daniel Siwo, who is a junior civil servant, to stay in a ministerial house, National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Chishimba Kambwili has charged.

And Kambwili has advised President Lungu to stop mocking Zambians by saying they have a talent of complaining when his government has done nothing else but stealing from citizens.

Meanwhile, Kambwili says he has not forgiven Presidential Spokesperson Amos Chanda for accusing the him of killing people and he has instructed his lawyers to commence criminal libel proceedings against him.

Speaking to journalists at his Kabulonga residence in Lusaka, Wednesday, Kambwili revealed that Siwo, who was President Lungu’s relative and private secretary, was living in a ministerial house which was unheard of.

“President Lungu must resign on moral grounds for abuse of authority. Abuse of authority is an offence under the Anti-Corruption Act. Who has given this boy who lives here next [to] me, the Private Secretary to the President, a house for a minister? This boy who lives there, Daniel Siwo. He is related to Lungu and he has been [given] a position at State House as Private Secretary, and for the first time in the history of this country, a private secretary lives in a ministerial house free of charge! That is shameless abuse of authority of the worst kind! [So] I want to find out from Ministry of Works and Supply, who allocated Siwo this house, because these houses are for ministers. The only people who are allocated these houses apart from ministers from time immemorial are service chiefs. But today, a private secretary to the President is living in a Ministerial house! It’s a house there; I think [house] number five, Lewanika Close. A very junior civil servant living in a Ministerial house just because he’s related to Lungu when ministers are renting houses,” Kambwili charged.

“I know of about five ministers that government is renting houses for, government is renting houses for as much as K15,000 to K20,000 a month when one house has been given to Lungu’s relative who is a private secretary. I don’t even know how he was employed as Private Secretary, and the next house, that’s where Lungu used to live when he was minister. Go and check, he parks a lot of vehicles there, which he has earned through corruption. That house also there is his relative who lives in there. What kind of a President do we have who can do things with impunity, without respect for rules? Kwena umulumendo uyu alishama. President Lungu alishama (President Lungu is cursed). Permanent secretaries and senior civil servants are renting houses then you go and give a private secretary a house where a minister is supposed to live? I don’t even know what they do at this house, always vehicles coming there. In the night vehicles parked outside I don’t know if it is a centre for deals.”

And Kambwili, the rebel Roan PF member of parliament, said it was unfair for President Lungu to accuse Zambians of being lazy when there was nothing his government had done to improve lives of citizens.

“If there is anything that God doesn’t like is a failed leadership that wants to blame the people for issues that they are supposed to sort out. It is extremely disturbing and annoying to learn that President Lungu was saying that Zambians have ‘a talent to complain,’ instead of sorting out their problems! And he went on to say that they have created an enabling environment for people to resolve their problems. President Lungu must not tease the poor. Countrymen and women, what enabling environment have they created if they can allow this country to be open to the Chinese who are coming with money that they are borrowing at one per cent to come and compete with Zambians and Zambians of Asian origin who are borrowing at 49 per cent? Surely, if you are Head of State worth your salt who cares for the people of Zambia, can you even go and start teasing them that you’ve created an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive in order to pull themselves out of poverty? Let us have respect for the people that we govern,” Kambwili urged.

“What we are seeing now is that almost all the retail business are Chinese, and they have pushed Zambians out of the retail trade. So, do you expect the people of Zambia to compete? And then you can say as Head of State that, ‘you have a talent of complaining, we have created an enabling environment for you to get yourselves out of poverty.’ If you have failed to govern, the best you can do is to resign! But I will forgive President Lungu because he doesn’t know what it takes to be in business or to make money because he has made [money] from commissions, corruption and theft within two years”

Kambwili urged Zambians to get agitated with leaders who don’t mean well for the country.

“Please, people of Zambia start getting upset, start getting agitated with leaders who don’t mean well; leaders who can come and tease you because they have made so much money, they don’t even know what it takes to make that money to tell you that you have got a talent of complaining. Let Lungu also tell us what talent he has got, we know his talent is theft, corruption and deals. So, if you have got such a talent, it’s easy for you to make money and pull yourself out of poverty with your children and your entire family. But the people of Zambia are not thieves, your Excellency, so have respect for them. You cannot tease them after you have stolen from them, it’s not fair.”

He further said he had not forgiven the State House Press Aide for accusing him of killing people.

“Let me make it very clear here that I have not forgiven Amos for accusing me of having killed people. I will forgive him for accusing me of being HIV positive because my records are there to see at UTH, and by the way, I last took my HIV test at UTH three weeks ago and the results are there. So, I will not mind about him talking about the HIV, but for him to accuse me of having killed people, let me state that I have instructed my lawyers and the lawyers have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions so that we can prosecute Amos for criminal libel, so that he can justify where I killed those people because that is a very serious statement,” warned Kambwili.

“And I am so shocked that a man at State House can have a record of me having killed people and they’ve left me roaming the streets without being arrested. I have never [been] questioned for killing people and I challenge anybody in Luanshya, if there is anybody I have beaten with [an] iron [bar] who’s lame to come out in the open and say, ‘Chishimba Kambwili beat me with steel and I am lame’. You can’t just wake up and make such kind of allegations without substantiating them! I want him to be taken on through the criminal procedure so that he can go and justify how I killed people. So, I have not forgiven Amos on that score.”

Meanwhile, Kambwili has sent his message of condolences to the opposition UPND over the loss of its Mangango member of parliament Naluwa Mwene who died in a road traffic accident on Tuesday.