PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says the ghost of Bill 10 will haunt the UPND for killing it, and that come 2021, the opposition party will pay for doing that.

And President Lungu has insisted that he is eligible to stand in next year’s general elections.

Speaking when he met the clergy in Kapiri Mposhi, Thursday, President Lungu wondered what was toxic about Bill 10.

“You have talked about delimitation of Kapiri into two or more constituencies, I am afraid that cannot be done now. We intended to get that done through Bill 10, Bill 10 died. And once Bill 10 has died in the manner it has died, it cannot come back in this life of Parliament, that is one reason. The other reason is that the people who killed Bill 10 are still in Parliament so they will kill whatever we take. Even if the law allowed us to resuscitate Bill 10, currently we still have those people who walked away, they are still there so they will walk out. So we think it will be a waste of time. So what we want to do is to sensitize our people to vote [for] responsible citizens who will be accountable to them, who will take on board their interests and articulate the interests of the Zambian people in Parliament, not selfish individuals. On this score, what the church can do is simply to mobilize the membership so that we register as voters so that we can go and vote our own people who appreciate good things like Bill 10,” President Lungu said.

“In short of that, those people will still be there, they will still be frustrating us like they did this time and we will keep crying. So I think we have an opportunity in a few months’ time August 12 to go en masse, to go and cleanse that House, the National Assembly and bring in God fearing, well meaning people who will hear…Somebody said Bill 10 was poisonous, bill 10 was toxic. What is toxic about desiring women to have a special quota in Parliament and represent themselves? You tell me. What is toxic about having the youths also have representation in Parliament? What is toxic tell me? What is toxic about our friends who are disabled to participate in issues of governance in Parliament? What is toxic about that? What is toxic about curing the defects we have in the current constitution which says when you petition, you can only petition for 14 days after the elections and the matter be concluded thereby.”

He said the UPND were hypocrites.

“You saw what happened and we are saying in Bill 10, let us have a longer period so that people can articulate their arguments and present their case properly so that the court can decide properly whether they have lost or whether somebody has won. We wanted 30 days, they said no, so what is toxic about that? I don’t understand why we have people hypocrites in that fashion. They told us for example that they don’t want deputy ministers we conceded we removed it from Bill 10. Now they are saying in Bill 10 they were deputy ministers,” he said.

President Lungu said the UPND would pay for killing Bill 10 and he insisted that he would come back in 2021 because he was eligible to stand.

“Now they are saying the issue is that Edgar Lungu wants to go for a third term. The courts have ruled that what I did that half measure, one year eight months or so that I was President when Mr Sata died was not a term, the court has ruled. But now they want to bring it back. What kind of people are we dealing with? We are dealing with hypocrites and those people should not be given a chance. When somebody says we have issues here, what you need to do as brothers and sisters is to discuss those issues,” President Lungu said.

“We expected those people to go into Parliament and say ‘delete this clause, this one we don’t agree that is why they are there but they chickened out and went away. And now they are saying in Bill 10 there was Edgar Lungu. Edgar Lungu is coming back in 2021. It is not about me, it is about the law and when we make laws they are interpreted by the courts of law. And the courts have made a ruling on this matter and I don’t think it’s helping anyone to debate the issue of Bill 10 but because they have got no reasons, no explanations they want to find an excuse to mislead Zambians so that they can forget the big crime they have committed of killing Bill 10. So for us, the ghost of Bill 10 will haunt those people come 2021, they will have to pay for killing Bill 10.”

Meanwhile, President Lungu asked the clergy to pray for him.

“Thank you so much for wishing us well in 2021 and we pray that you continue praying for us so that we continue holding together as one Zambia one nation in peace, love and unity that is what we have been all along. Dr Kaunda did not plunge us into chaos, President Mwanawasa, President Chiluba did not plunge us into chaos, President Rupiah Banda did not plunge us into chaos, I think the late President Sata did not plunge us into chaos. I don’t want to be the one to plunge Zambia into chaos. What kind of cursed leader am I? So pray for me,” said President Lungu.