LUSAKA Province PF chairman Paul Moonga says the opposition is trying to bribe Judges to disqualify President Edgar Lungu from standing in the August election.

And Moonga has wondered why people keep saying things are expensive in Zambia when various commodities are finishing from shelves.

At a press briefing, Friday, Moonga said by October last year, the opposition constituted a team of lawyers to be on standby, waiting to petition President Lungu’s eligibility once he files his nomination.

“Unfortunately for our colleagues, they have spent five years with no manifesto to show the people of Zambia that this is what we are going to do when you vote for us. What are they doing? They finished, by last year October, they put a consortium of lawyers together waiting to petition the eligibility of our President once he files his nomination. Our colleagues, the opposition party and the alliance with our intelligence reports that we have, instead of spending their time and energy mobilising their would-be voters, they are busy mobilising the most expensive lawyers who can go to court after filing nominations 12th of August but they know that the following day they will be in courts of law but they are fighting our President, [that] he is not eligible to stand, what a shame,” Moonga said.

“A football team is busy scouting for players so that they can win the league, you are busy trying to work with the referee to give you a red card, what a nonsense! I am also aware as much as I trust our Judiciary which are men above board but I am also alive to the situation like Malawi, in Malawi it was a simple majority, the opposition, I don’t understand how the opposition in Malawi behave, how the Judiciary in Malawi can nullify a duly elected government when the constitution does not allow for a simple majority. We got lessons from Malawi which I think the opposition are leaning on. But not all judges are the same, believing that they can buy some few judges to nullify the credibility of our candidate as their focus.”

He said the opposition still had time to mobilize voters.

“Instead of putting money to grow the party, they are busy putting money to see how they can corrupt a judge to nullify our candidate, we are very much alive and aware and we are watching the judges in Zambia, kindly don’t fall prey to these monsters who have no manifesto for this country, whose agenda is to become President of Zambia at any cost. Our message to our opposition is that they still have time to cultivate, find voters than wasting money to pay lawyers. Let that money go to buy motor vehicles, motor cycles, food for their foot soldiers,” he said.

And when asked what the ruling party was doing about the high cost of commodities, Moonga said there was a high demand for goods.

“When there is so much demand for a commodity, the prices go up. One time I go to this supermarket in Makeni, I went to buy some minced meat, he said K80, I said ‘you are a thief’. Then he said come back tomorrow, you find the meat finished. If the commodities are very expensive in the shelves, how are they finishing? Why are they buying when they are expensive? Zambia has abundant food, it is a question of working hard and buying the food,” said Moonga.