UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has warned that Constitution Amendment Bill number 10 of 2019 will damage PF members of parliament so badly in future.

And Hichilema says the Judiciary has taken the ruling party’s side by barring constitutional lawyer John Sangwa State Counsel from appearing before any court in Zambia without hearing.

Meanwhile, Hichilema says it is irresponsible for Vice-President Inonge Wina to say that the depreciation of the Kwacha has been caused by coronavirus.

Speaking when he featured on a Joy FM programme dubbed The Platform, Tuesday, Hichilema warned that Bill 10 would haunt the PF.

“They want to use Bill 10 to get to a situation where they can borrow money without being checked by Parliament. Then they will sell the whole country. What are we going to use to restructure the economy? They would have sold the assets in cash, in Mukula, in emeralds. We must protect those assets…How can someone use Bill 10 to deny the Bank of Zambia its ability to supervise banks? Someone wants to print currency tomorrow because they want to use that money to finance by-elections and 2021 elections. What are you doing? You are raping the country! You are damaging the country. We must defeat Bill 10. I think PF if they were not thinking correctly, this Bill 10 will damage them so bad,” Hichilema said.

“If they buy enough MPs, those that will manage to be bought like tomatoes in the market against the people of Zambia who they represent, there is a bomb waiting for them. I can assure you they will not return to Parliament in 2021. The people of Zambia have already spoken on Bill 10, they have rejected it. There must be inclusiveness in the process, the people must be involved thoroughly. If Bill 10 was popular, why is the PF spending money to buy MPs to vote for it? It must not be led by politicians, the constitution amendment must be led by non-politicians, stakeholders for example the church mother bodies. Instead of stabilizing the prices of mealie meal, they are spending tax payer’s money to buy MPs. If we didn’t push Bill 10 now, will there be a crisis? The answer is no!”

And Hichilema said the Judiciary should not participate in the breakdown of the rule of law.

“Why are they demonizing John Sangwa? Why is the Judiciary so quick? The Judiciary has taken a side. And they have taken the side of PF. The way they are treating John Sangwa without hearing from him, without hearing from LAZ, they write a letter that John is not allowed to appear before any court, it is the treatment they are inflicting on all of us, that is not your court! But I want the Judiciary to know that no one is above the law. (Dr Patrick) Matibini tried to pretend that he is above the law, above a court process and the court found him wanting that he should not have expelled Chishimba Kambwili from Parliament. The Judiciary wants to pretend that they are above the law, they are not. They cannot be threatening citizens in a manner that they have handled Sangwa. Sangwa is raising concerns that President Lungu is not eligible, he has been sworn in twice. John you are not alone, we are with you. I Hakainde Hichilema, I am with you, UPND is with you, millions of Zambians are with you. There is a debate in the country, in this matter John is right, we stand by him. You can’t shut somebody’s mouth. We should remove this issue of personalizing things this is where you lose it. John is innocent in this matter. Our Judiciary should not participate in the breakdown of rule of law. Judiciary should be the pillar to which we run to when we are weak,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hichilema said the Kwacha was depreciating because of shortage of leadership in the country.

“I have never seen such unreasonable thinking that someone can say that the Kwacha is depreciating because of coronavirus. Irresponsible statement! You can see that this group of people are not serious about public office. Before the advent of the coronavirus, the Kwacha was already falling very badly against the dollar. When PF took office in 2011, they found the dollar trading at K5 to a dollar, today they have depreciated the Kwach because of lack of leadership, shortage of leadership to K16 plus almost running into K17 to a dollar. Before the onset of the virus, the dollar was at K14. You can’t blame coronavirus for the depreciation of the Kwacha. The Kwacha depreciated because of poor leadership. Even the Bible is clear that without vision, people perish. If it was the coronavirus responsible for the depreciation of the Kwacha against the dollar, the dollar is domiciled in the US, there is coronavirus, why is the dollar gaining strength against the Kwacha? Why hasn’t the Pula in Botswana not depreciated like the Kwacha? Because there is responsible leadership, in Zambia there is none. So Madam Inonge Wina, do not say things you don’t know. You can see her statement is the reflection of the PF body,” said Hichilema.