HOME Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has dismissed claims that the ruling party wants to arrest UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema, stating that the said claims are just concoctions meant to gain political mileage.

Speaking on Hot FM’s ‘Hot breakfast show’, Monday, Kampyongo also disputed allegations by UPND national spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa that the PF was attempting to poison Hichilema.

“Those allegations [that the PF intends to poison Hakainde Hichilema] are baseless. They are not factual. They are creating their own lies and believing them. And it’s so surprising, because two days ago, Cornelius Mweetwa deceived his people and followers that those suspects who are being held by the police, these family members who have disappeared (the Hatembo’s), were going to appear in Monze. And then they started mobilising cadres to go and camp in Monze and do all sorts of things to prevent those people from moving out of Monze. Now, this is lawlessness and I must warn them. If they want political relevance by engaging in lawlessness, making false allegations, we are not going to tolerate them. It’s so shocking that they can make such allegations without giving proof. Because if the Police want to arrest somebody, Mr Hakainde Hichilema has been summoned before by Police and we don’t have to do estimations,” he said.

Asked if there was any arrest warrant for Hichilema, Kampyongo said there was no such a thing.

“There is no such a thing. It’s all just concoctions meant to gain political mileage. But it’s a dangerous way of conducting politics. This country is governed by laws so let’s not use politics to start breaching the laws. They are just concocting these things to gain political relevance. Let me just make it clear, let them acknowledge this violence and deal with it. But to go and pretend that the Police disrupted their adoption process, that wrong. Its themselves that are threatening each other but Hakainde will come to a radio station and say ‘no, it’s the PF’ who are chasing his people,” Kampyongo said.

He added that he was shocked that a person of Mweetwa’s calibre who had a chance to be in the Police service could be making such kind of propaganda.

“What kind of nonsense is that? Let him sober up and provide leadership. His people are almost killing each other. You heard what their former MP from Mbabala said. A sitting MP had to run away from his people that he worked with who were almost beating up his family. You want to pretend that all is well, what kind of leadership is that? So, let them not blame the police because the police have got a responsibility. Let them know that when the people of Zambia decide who their leader should be, then they have decided and no one should coerce people using underhand methods of violence as a way of coercing people. The PF is the party with so much competition both at the ward and at constituency levels. The adoption has been going on. No one should pretend to have more rights because we are all Zambians,” Kampyongo said.

“The job of State police is to protect the Head of State. You see what ignorance can do right? I’m shocked that a person of Cornelius Mweetwa’s calibre who even had a chance to be in the police can be making such kind of propaganda. He is a colleague I know, but I don’t know what kind of character he is. He is the one who said ‘I am not going to stand’, only to change and say ‘no, I will stand’. Now I was listening to that press statement and I don’t know what sort of a President HH can make. Already you are accusing the police of disturbing your adoption processes. And you decide not to talk of the violence that has characterised their adoption processes. Starting from Chingola, his own district chairperson was clobbered, the police had to intervene for them to continue. How do you blame the police?”