ECONOMIC Front leader Wynter Kabimba says the more President Hakainde Hichilema projects himself as self-righteous, the more he show how much he is yearning to take revenge against those who tormented him.

And Kabimba says President Hichilema wants his own Director of Public Prosecutions, but the way he is addressing the matter does not give confidence in the rule of law.

Speaking when he featured on Diamond TV, Sunday, Kabimba accused President Hichilema of slowly turning into an authoritarian leader, saying he was not being truthful about him not seeking revenge.

“HH prides himself that since he came to power, he has promoted the rule of law. I think he does not understand the difference between law and order and the rule of law. The Constitution states that one will be given a fair hearing before the courts of law but all these things are not happening. When you look at the people that have been arrested in the last eight months under UPND, they have breached all these principles. [Raphael] Nakacinda was bundled into this Land cruiser just for defaming the President. You cannot say you are promoting the rule of law. Look at the joke the country is turning into. HH is quiet. The more he continues on projecting the argument that he is so self-righteous and the best man that Zambia has ever had, the more he is coming out that he is yearning for a day when he is going to take revenge against those that tormented him. The hypocrisy that ECL spoke about is emerging,” he said.

“HH is not being truthful that he is not seeking revenge. HH while in opposition said he will repeal this law because it is a bad law. Citizens must be free to express themselves. Since he became President he has gone mute. Instead, we have seen most of his critics being victims to this piece of legislation. The donors that wanted regime change have gone quiet. I have not even seen any pastoral letter from the clergy condemning the detentions happening. I have not seen any pastor or NGO complaining that people are being humiliated instead of facing justice as established by law. So when does a dictator become a dictator? Is it after eight months or two years? That is what HH is becoming. He is generating into a dictator, an authoritarian leader. The exact criticism he had against Edgar Lungu.”

And Kabimba said President Hichilema wanted his own DPP but the way he was going about it was wrong.

“This is a very unfortunate situation. To prove that the DPP made a decision against public interest or against the administration of justice is very difficult. The DPP’s powers are very wide under the Constitution. And the parameters under which he or she would misconduct himself or herself are very narrow. So you have seen this being turned into a UPND agenda. You have seen UPND cadres being given so much time on ZNBC. So this is a UPND agenda. HH wants his own DPP and maybe he is right but the way he is going about it is wrong. The way he is going about it does not show leadership and does not give confidence that the rule of law that he proclaims about is not achievable under his administration,” he said.

“He is actually fanning this agenda. The DPP is a very junior officer to get into a contest with the head of state. Part of the DPP issue is already in court on whether she granted Milingo Lungu immunity. So I found it unfortunate and received it with a sense of shock and shame that the head of state would spend so much time on the DPP issue. He should allow the institutions that have received the complaints. The way it stands now, he has already prejudiced the outcome. Nobody is going to think that the DPP has been given a fair hearing.”

Meanwhile, Kabimba said he did not see the Constitution being amended under the UPND government.

“We must walk away from this myth that you can have people at permanent secretary level in the civil service that are non-partisan. Those people are appointed by the President in office and invariably they come from the party. So you cannot bury your head in the sand and say this group of men and women is non-partisan. PSs, Attorney General and everybody that is appointed by the President in my view and from my experience cannot be dealt to be non-partisan. Every President wants to work with people that he thinks are close to him and will understand his vision. All Presidential appointees must be attached to the term of office of a President,” said Kabimba.

“The propaganda that UPND mounted against Bill 10 was that we were sitting at Mulungushi because we wanted to extend the term of office for Edgar Lungu. I had friends of mine who are educated that confronted me with that propaganda. They campaigned even amongst PF members and took advantage of a divided PF and they succeeded in shooting down Bill 10. Now it is his turn. He does not have the two-thirds majority in Parliament so he needs others to achieve his objective. The issue of the Constitution will be their battles around the neck of the UPND. They acted selfishly. So I cannot see the Constitution amendment taking place under UPND unless by another government and hopefully the EF government.”