PRESIDENTIAL Spokesperson Anthony Bwalya says the government is committed to ensuring that past atrocities are thoroughly dealt with.

In an interview, Bwalya said there was need for government to clean up the whole system, adding that the right legal apparatus was needed to deal with all past atrocities.

“You know what the President has always said, in order for this administration or any administration to be able to bring to conclusion the atrocities that were committed against this country and its people, whether it’s the violence, whether it’s corruption, you need literally to clean up the system from top to bottom and make sure that you have the right kind of legal apparatus in place. You have to return the integrity of the Judiciary in its proper place, you have to return the integrity of the Judicial Complaints Commission in its proper place, you have to return the intensity of the ACC to its proper place, you have to return the integrity of the police to its proper place,” Bwalya said.

“In other words, your entire legal apparatus must function and in order for it to function, it has to be anchored on credibility. So we all know that even the legal apparatus in this country was broken, everyone is complaining about it. So you cannot prosecute cases as complex as that in a vacuum. So even the legal apparatus has had to be built and we continue to rebuild that. Once and when the state is ready to move [on this] and many other atrocities to their logical conclusion, the Zambian people will be proud that they have a government for the first time that is working to deliver injustice for them, for there are so many injustices that we have. So it is a process, it is a difficult and complex process but one which would be undertaken without reserve.”

And Bwalya said President Hakainde Hichilema had shown magnanimity by interacting with former president Edgar Lungu.

“President Hakainde Hichilema is not only keen but vehemently resolved to positively transform the tone of public leadership in our country, so that leadership prioritizes the delivery of dividends to all our people. This unprecedented shift in the tone at the top is visible across all spheres of public life; from the President’s disdain for violent caderism to his enduring love for democracy and the protection and promotion of civic, political, and economic rights for all, to his commitment to tenets of peace and unity (both here at home and abroad), or/ and indeed his pursuit of inclusivity as a means to ensure that all voices are heard equally when it matters the most,” he said.

“We have also now witnessed a rare show of magnanimity in the modernity of Zambia’s politics, where a sitting head of state, both privately and publicly, extols his predecessor; not as a matter of political convenience, but because we are redefining public leadership and what it should mean to all our people – especially when the nation needs to rally together and hold hands, as is the case with the departure of our beloved former Republican President, H.E. Rupiah B. Banda (MHSRIP).”

He said there was need for all citizens to rally behind President Hichilema and build consensus on the many challenges that the country was facing.

“The President desires that this show of national love and unity must transcend this our darkest moment as a nation, and project itself further into the future, as we battle to rebuild and reconstruct our nation – together. There must be a new desire for all of us to rally behind the President and the new administration and build consensus on the many challenges our country is facing, among them the threat of a spike in the cost of living arising from disruptions and distortions in global supply and distribution channels given the conflict situation in Ukraine,” said Bwalya.

“We have a nation to build. We have neither the time nor the luxury for counterproductive bickering, and therefore the President will continue to extend an olive branch even to those who disagree with him, so that we can continue on the warm path of promoting peace and unity among our people, for inclusive development.”