HOME Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo says it is not up to John Sangwa State Counsel to select who will stand as PF presidential candidate in 2021.

And Kampyongo says belonging to the ruling party is not an insulation from the law, warning those who want to protest against the arrest of a jerabo popularly known as Spax that they will be dealt with.

Meanwhile, Kampyongo says plans to move a motion to impeach Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Patrick Matibini are mischievous and will not see the light of day.

Speaking when he featured on PF’s interactive Forum, Sunday, Kampyongo said Sangwa had taken a self-destructive path.

“This kind of hypocrisy must not be tolerated. Because when you get a person who is learned as a lawyer to mislead the nation on such matters, it should not be taken lightly, an ordinary citizen it can be tolerated. In the ConCourt where these matters were deliberated on and decided upon, why does he want to come and create another court in the jungle? And start presenting the same issues that he was presenting when he was representing his colleagues? It is political interest. Learned Counsel Sangwa has taken a self destructive path and I think if we had a credible LAZ, these are matters they should tackle objectively and not selectively and not what their political emotions tell them, that should not be the case,” Kampyongo said.

“If SC Sangwa feels he is more learned, he should go back to court and make his argument because now he is politicking and that is why those of us who are politicians have taken him on. To try and start saying the President is not eligible, it is not his job. If he thinks that we who passed this Constitution do not understand it, it is only him who understands it, and he will be in his own world. All these schemes won’t help them. John Sangwa’s constitutional qualifications and interpretation of the law are his and solely belong to him and his family and his single vote. Mr Sangwa has not right whatsoever to decide who will stand as PF presidential candidate.”

And Kampyongo said there was no way police could have left Chingola residents to continue living in fear when suspects were known.

“I want to supplement the statement that was issued by the Inspector General to those on the Copperbelt and particularly Chingola who are agitating saying they want to protest over the arrest of one of the suspects in Chingola. Just as you thought that that suspect couldn’t be touched, the departure point for us is when someone engages in wrong doing even if they are our relatives, no one will be shielded. There are so sacred cows. The President made this very clear during his address. Party membership is not an insulation against the law. How many times have you heard the police say this murder suspect has murdered this one? Just wait, you will be told. We have to hear the cries of the people. People in Chingola lived in fear, why should we allow people to live in fear when the suspects could be known?” Kampyongo asked.

Meanwhile, Kampyongo said those scheming to impeach Dr Matibini were wasting their time.

“Those attempts to try and suggest that the Speaker must be removed is Brought In Dead (BID), it is a motion we regard as BID…The Speaker is required to make such pronouncements, it is not the first time that he is declaring a seat vacant. The fact that other institutions acted on those pronouncements, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) they must have looked at the various pieces of legislation. So one interpretation must not be the one used to start suggesting and start politicking to say ‘no he exceeded his powers, he should be removed’, not that we are challenging the decision of the Constitutional Court, we are not. But the Speaker’s office is also insulated,” Kampyongo said.

“How many cases have been appealed against? For example, a decision made by the High Court to only be turned down by the Supreme Court, would you say the judge that passed the judgement at the lower court must then be removed from the High Court? How many judges would we have removed? So in making petty and emotional decisions like that cannot be tolerated in the governance system. And so the Speaker stands on firm ground, he has our support and like I have said that motion will not see the light of day because it is frivolous and mischievous…Go and tell those who are scheming that they are wasting time.”

Kampyongo insisted that the UPND MPs would be shocked that the Constitution Amendment Bill Number 10 would pass.

“We are telling them to come on board, they didn’t come on board and some of them have been consistent with their participation in the constitution making process like our colleagues in the UPND, when we teamed up with our colleagues in the MMD and came up with the current constitution, they were still saying it would fail. Because they don’t understand how Parliament works, during the first part of the deliberations, they went celebrating that the constitution has failed. I was deputy chief whip then and I could see that this is what happens when people are ignorant. We stayed through the night and the following day they were shocked that the constitution had passed. And they will still be shocked so it is up to them to redeem themselves this time around. It will still be done,” said Kampyongo.

And speaking during the same forum, Chembe PF member of parliament Sebastian Kopulande said the will of the people expressed in Bill 10 would pass.

“I am confident having sat on the Select Committee that scrutinized Bill 10 and interacted with 87 witnesses, over a period of seven weeks, in 27 meetings, I am confident that the will of the people as expressed in Bill 10 and the amendments that shall come will pass in the House,” said Kopulande.