Democratic Party 2021 presidential candidate Harry Kalaba says his government will introduce a law that will allow for the prosecution of a sitting Head of State because he wants to reduce powers of a Republican President.

And Kalaba says he will not attend this Friday’s national dialogue meeting because he will be busy marketing himself as aspiring candidate for 2021 on that day, adding that leaders in the Democratic Party are capable of representing him.

Appearing on United Voice Radio’s “Add Your Voice” programme, Wednesday, Kalaba said his leaders would be all about public service once in office, and that all those who would want to use the leadership as an opportunity to steal from Zambians would be punished.

“I advocate for the reduction of powers of the President and my powers will drastically reduce because I want to be… if I go wrong, I would want to be prosecuted when I am in office. This must be public service and I have told my friends in the Democratic Party, bena Nkonge and everybody around, I have told them that if you work with me, it has to be public service. If you are going to come into government because you want your stomach to grow bigger, you will end up in jail! Because for me, I served as Deputy Minister in the office of the Vice-President. I served diligently. I was all over the country, putting up bridges and all washed away schools, I was distributing food to those who didn’t have, as deputy minister. I never rested,” Kalaba said.

“In fact, president Sata promoted me [because I worked hard]. When he was promoting me, he called me to his office and told me ‘I didn’t know that Office of the President can do all this, you have opened my eyes. Here is your letter.’ That is how he appointed me as Lands Minister, that’s how I earned my promotion.”

And Kalaba explained that he would not be available to attend the much-hyped national dialogue meeting on Friday.

“On that day when they will be having the indaba, I know that the Democratic Party will go and attend the indaba, they are the ones who have been invited. The Democratic Party has just invited me to be their presidential candidate and I will gladly be their presidential candidate in 2021. I will not be at the indaba because that day, I will be in Kasempa, marketing and selling myself vigorously. So, the authorities in the Democratic Party will be attending and I will be well represented because Nkonge is smart; Precious Ntambu is smart; Nedson Nzowa is smart; I am mentioning the people that I am with in Democratic Party. Victor Mwale is smart; Mashindi Ntambu is smart; Jane Zulu is smart; Judith Kabemba is smart… everybody around me, these are smart Zambians who are willing to die and sacrifice for Zambia. So, I believe in collective responsibility. So, they will go and hear, they will come and tell me and their position will be my position,” Kalaba said.

Meanwhile, Kalaba explained that he was not really desperate to become the next Republican President but that Zambians could not wait to have him as their seventh Head of State because they needed a liberator.

“I am not desperate to become President, I can even wait for the 10 or 15 years to be President, but Zambia can’t wait! Zambia is in a hurry to get out of this situation. Zambia is desperate to get out of the desperate situation we are in! The youths can’t wait; the taxi drivers can’t wait; the marketeers can’t wait; those that are finishing school and can’t find [jobs] can’t wait. So, it’s not even about me, it’s about them. I was Foreign Affairs Minister. I can even apply to go and work in the United Nations easily and I can be based in New York or wherever because I am qualified. But the same reason I resigned as minister remains valid, that’s why I cannot even go out. Zambia needs me now, more than ever. But if there was anyone who was strategically positioned to take over and lead that party PF, it was myself because already, I had won international support, they know me in the corridors of the international community and I was doing very well back here in my constituency and so I was poised to do that.”