DEFENCE Minister Davies Chama says the PF are not in the business of scheming to fix any opposition politician, including UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema, because he cannot win elections.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu said that the ruling PF was demonising the opposition and slapping them up with trumped up criminal charges so that they fail to stand at next year’s general election.

He predicted that after targeting NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili, who was jailed last month, the next target would be Hichilema.

But in an interview, Chama dismissed Archbishop Mpundu’s accusations as irrelevant, saying the opposition were not a factor ahead of the 2021 general election because they could not win elections.

“Was it PF that took Chishimba Kambwili to court? You have been following these matters. If I am taken to court and jailed, can I accuse the UPND? Is that being fair? We are not in the business of fixing people. PF is not in the picture…(Chilufya) Tayali is an opposition leader, he took his fellow opposition leader to court and the court made a judgement; why should the PF be brought in this? That it wants to ‘fix political opponents?’ For what? For us, they are not even a factor, they cannot even win! Why fix a person who is not going to win? These are irrelevant matters! Unfortunately, it is coming from people of the former collar, I don’t know if he is still wearing a collar. Why should the PF take Mr Hakainde Hichilema to court, for what? If he has a case, he will be taken to court. If he has stolen, he will be taken to court, not by PF or government officials, no. If you steal, the long arm of the law will catch up with you, it is as simple as that,” said Chama.

“You cannot hide by saying, ‘Mr Chama is a politician so he is immune.’ Are you saying that all politicians are immune from criminal prosecution? Only ordinary people can be taken to court? If you are doing an illegality, there is no politics, you are alone. Zambia is a democracy. In 1991, Zambia chose to be a multi-party democracy and we are not intimidated. We will never be intimidated because the power is vested in the people. We are at peace. So, those who are imagining criminality or imagining persecution that is the problem in their minds. They don’t need to bring us the picture that ‘PF is scheming this,’ we don’t scheme! Our business is to make sure that we transform this country. 24/7, we are thinking of how we can better the lives of the Zambian people that is what we concentrate on a daily basis, not scheming. They don’t match us, they don’t even exist. We are not troubled at all.”