Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda says the leakage of examination papers which forced government to suspend the process was not ordinary, but a well orchestrated scheme targeted at sabotaging a national affair.

Speaking to journalists at State House today, Chanda said as chair of the SADC organ on defense and security, the Head of State was confident that Zambia had a lot to give to the region but he was just frustrated by the explosion of falsehood in the country.

“Using his authority as chair of the SADC organ on defense and security, he has learnt lessons that consultative leadership is the best way, engagement with all parties, which is why he is deploying people like honorable Highvie Hamududu as SADC Observer Mission, honorable Katele Kalumba, and the leader of the council of ministers overseeing Madagascar is honorable Malanji, Zambia is deploying its very best, the leader of the over-site mechanism in Lesotho for the peace process, the Rt Honorable Chief Justice Matthew Ngulube, so Zambia is back on the international stage giving what it is well known for, peace and stability. Giving an example that when a nation is faced with a challenge, there is dialogue that must take place, adherence to systems, democratic institutions…this responsibility, this leadership that is being accepted in the region would not be accepted if Zambia did not have that record. So Zambia has the credibility to put up a hand and say ‘yes, here we can advise’, because there is a record it can fall back on. Which is why the President emphasizes that it is possible to exercise very very competitive politics but within that, it is possible to do that within the concept of security, it is possible to be very robust but it is possible to combine that with respect for state institutions, it is possible to combine that with respect for institutions of governance that we have given ourselves, processes and regulations. So the President is very confident that Zambia will give to the region the very best of what it has, peace and stability, democracy and peaceful transition,” Chanda said.

“In all this, he regrets that one of the biggest setbacks he is facing, and the country is facing, is the falsehood, the explosion of falsehood, the unpatriotic conduct that some citizens who have no shame whatsoever, to malign the country, undertake deliberately to attack the national currency, they undertake for instance to try and disrupt important national exercises like examinations by engaging in criminal activities. The kind of leakage we have seen is not the ordinary petty crime of somebody buying a paper, so the President regrets that you cannot pursue political success on the back of national failure, you cannot want to destroy the country in order to take it over.”

He said President Lungu had taken decisive action to ensure a stop to exam leakages.

“He regrets and he is appealing to the media to project, to tell the story as truthfully, not to tell the negative stories positively. To tell the truth and not to lie about the country expressly to try and undermine it. So within these key frustrations, it is eyes on the ball. The President regrets and he is taking decisive action. I cannot tell you what it is but he has directed very decisive action to address this matter. In due course, we will be announcing to you what he has done,” he said.

When asked who the targets were, Chanda said; “across the board, it doesn’t matter, it is officials, it is students, it is everyone in the chain, there are no sacred cows in the manner he is addressing [this] but I can announce to you that he has directed very decisive action to ensure that this does not repeat. I can confirm to you that it is not a mere act of ordinary leakages, it is organized action, clearly calculated and targeted at sabotaging a national program such as examinations to undermine confidence in the education system. But the decisive action that he has directed will serve as an example that the authority of the state will be brought to anyone that seeks to disrupt the normal functioning of government institutions.”