NATIONAL Democratic Congress NDC president Chishimba Kambwili has pleaded with President Edgar Lungu to have mercy on UPND deputy secretary general Patrick Mucheleka and release him from prison.

And Kambwili says because he loves President Edgar Lungu, he is telling him that the 2021 budget is a joke.

Meanwhile, Kambwili says NDC will hold protests if the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) does not maintain the current voters’ register and does not extend the voter registration period.

At a briefing, Monday, Kambwili knelt down and asked President Lungu to have mercy on Mucheleka who had been in detention since September 14 on an aggravated robbery charge.

“The way you treat others, if you are not careful you will be treated in the same way. You have arrested Mucheleka and you give him aggravated robbery, he is suffering, he has got children, have mercy. Do you want me to kneel down ba Lungu? Please free Mucheleka and those people. If you want to charge them, charge them for the appropriate offence, not aggravated robbery, they never committed aggravated robbery for God’s sake, free Mucheleka. This what you did to Mwaliteta, Mwaliteta suffered one year until he was acquitted. The same thing you did to Jay where you gave him a lesser offence should be done the same to these people,” Kambwili said.

“When I come to power I will not try people the way you are treating people because what I have gone through, I wouldn’t want anyone to go through. Going to court everyday as if I work there. I can’t work, I can’t look for money to feed my family because I am always at court. Ba Nevers Mumba you have called him for questioning, people who talk about rigging elections are many. We went with ba Sata to Mulugushi ‘you have rigged, I am looking for them they have run away’, did the MMD call him to the police? Bashi Tasila you will start having grandchildren have mercy. If you didn’t rig why should you call Mumba? This country is destroyed.”

And Kambwili said he loved President Lungu that is why he was telling him the truth about the 2021 budget.

“They have decided to go and borrow money when we are in debt to cover that expenditure which has dwindled as a result of a recession. That debt which you are borrowing you don’t even know when you will recover it. Next year is elections, they just want to continue spending, creating an impression to the people that they are working. In actual fact, they are destroying the country, the effect will be felt after two years from now or next year. Civil servants let me tell you this, you may end up not getting your salaries next year because of this budget. This budget is bad! It has gone to borrow 51 per cent of the total budget to actualize the K119 billion,” Kambwili said.

“These people are full of deceit ubufi, Kaunda alelanda lies in the morning, lies in the afternoon. My dear elder brother Edger Lungu you need proper advisors, you need a new team if you have to survive your Presidency to advise you properly. These people who advise you don’t mean well. If yourself are also participating in this borrowing, you don’t mean well for the people of Zambia. It is not too late, for once let us be truthful. The more you borrow the more you are drawing money from the social sector which is education, social protection, health and many other social sectors. This budget is putting us into more problems. Someone who is telling you the truth is someone who loves you. My dear President, those people who surround you don’t love you because they are not telling you the truth. I love you that is why I am telling you the truth so that you do the right thing on behalf of the people of Zambia. More often than not people who speak the truth are not wanted.”

Meanwhile, Kambwili insisted that it was disappointing that ECZ wanted to draft a new voters’ register.

“When you are doing voter registration, there are no queues people, will not come to line up but when you go to the actual mobile voter registration and it takes from my experience 15 to 20 minutes per person to finish registration as a voter, surely in 30 days can you register nine million people? So, it has already shown you that you will not meet your target, why are you insisting on one month? Above all why do you want to do away with the old register, this register came up from about three elections to have the four to five million voters that we have now you are saying if you don’t verify your details you are out and you will not vote, where are you going to get the nine million people to vote? You will be embarrassed because at the end of this registration, you will announce that you have registered one million people out of the 17 million Zambians. One million are the ones who will make the decision who should govern this country. Some of these things you can avoid them don’t be arrogant ECZ. Listen to the Zambian people and listen good, Nshindano listen,” Kambwili said.

“What are you telling us? You go and sit with the Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya which government is also interested in the elections to issue a joint statement to say we are going ahead, it simply means it is government who is telling you what to do. As the Electoral Commission of Zambia, you are supposed to be autonomous, where is the autonomy? You are announcing what PF wants to do in the elections. Shame on you wikaleka tuka sule abantu aba kashika. Ine bakashi bandi na bana bandi bali kashika. Wi kaleka abantu ba lelwa ati abantu aba kashika tabakwata amano muladu wa iwe (don’t make us start looking down on light skinned people. My wife and children are light in complexion, don’t let people start thinking that light people are not reasonable).”

Kambwili said the party would protest if ECZ did not reconsider its position on these matters.

“Please register voters using the normal registration in three months and stay away from the old register. Let the old register be the way it is and those who are on the old register let them go to vote, they don’t need to get new cards. Why should you go and spend money to print cards when people already have voter’s cards? Why are you insisting?And PF why are you the only party that is not against this thing by the Electoral Commission of Zambia? Because all the political parties have said maintain the old register, you the PF are quiet? So this is your agenda. If you are not going to maintain the old register and give enough time, twa la imya ama bumba, we will ask our structures all over the country to demonstrate,” said Kambwili