Former chief government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili says the decision by the British government to freeze all bilateral aid to Zambia is proof that the entire government is being run by thieves.

On Monday, British High Commissioner to Zambia Fergus Cochrane-Dyet confirmed that his government had suspended all bilateral funding to Zambia owing to rampant corruptions, fraud and embezzlement of donor aid within government ministries.

High Commissioner Cochrane-Dyet was commenting on a story published by News Diggers quoting the Africa Confidential report that UK had requested a refund of about US$4 million which was misappropriated by recipient government organisations.

“[It’s] correct that UK has frozen all bilateral funding to the Zambian government in light of potential concerns until audit results are known. #UKAid takes zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption,” tweeted High Commissioner Cochrane-Dyet.

Commenting on the development, Kambwili said he had been vindicated.

“When I first called President Lungu a thief almost a year ago many people thought I was doing it out of bitterness or to scandalise the man. But you can now see what I have been saying that this government is a corrupt government led by a corrupt man. What the British High Commissioner has confirmed to us all is that you sir Mr President are a thief presiding over a corrupt government. President Lungu even as early as Friday accused us pointing out his corruption in his government as being on a crusade to scandalise the man yet here are our cooperating partners who have suspended aid to Zambia because of corruption, because they don’t tolerate corruption,” Kambwili said in an interview yesterday.

“The last time this happened was during Rupiah and Chiluba’s time and you know what those governments were known for. When we spoke about wheelbarrows being corruptly procured we were told to bring evidence yet President Lungu’s own agency the FIC documented the corruption. Over priced ambulances, again bring evidence. We asked how he moved from 3 million to 23 million in one year, again bring evidence. I wonder what sort of evidence he now wants when the British government has, all the way from the UK, confirmed this government’s corruption. I pity my brother President Lungu because if he doesn’t turn his life around, he will go to jail the day he leaves office.”

He charged that for the first time, Zambia had a government that could openly collude to steal from the people.

“Surely how can you have a cabinet where almost everyone is stealing.Its like running a home where starting from the father all the way to the last born, all drunkards. How can you function? And you will now see how our poor people who depend on this aid for medicine will suffer, all because of this government’s greed and unrestrained ability to steal. This is the only country I know were a cabinet can conspire to steal to the extent that the treasury is empty. There is nothing left to steal now because these thieves have stolen everything and now they have started selling off state house land to build tall buildings which are in fact a security threat to Lungu himself, but the man doesn’t even care about himself because of his greediness and corruption,” Kambwili said.

“Just yesterday I saw on one of these PF platforms, where one minister is busy laundering his image that he has been in business with the mines and doing family business for so long when we only knew him as a constable a few years ago with empty pockets. Today he is very rich. He must remember that there is something called a forensic audit which shows all your earnings. He should just prepare himself to go to jail because of his corruption. And like I said the other day, the preoccupation of President Lungu and his friends is to do deals and loot the country with their corrupt Chinese friends. And let me make it clear, we don’t hate the Chinese but we hate their corruption, their money laundering activities with state house and the PF during elections. We also don’t like their bad manners of participating in retail trade here in Zambia, selling chickens, roasted maize, buying off our assets like ZNBC and ZESCO.”

And Kambwili observed that the country had no liquidity left.

“The only liquidity which is there is that in President Lungu and his friends’ pockets because of corruption and doing deals with the Chinese after selling our country. They are building all over and driving posh cars out of corruption. But I am glad I am slowly being vindicated to the extent that even foreign countries are now officially recognising this government’s corruption and thieving ways,” said Kambwili.