State House says President Edgar Lungu doesn’t know the truth about what is going on regarding the gassing incidences across the country, and as such, he has nothing to say to citizens who are crying for his national address. If this is true, then Zambia is under very dangerous times.
This means the President is not in charge of the country. It means he is not in control of the system. It means people around him have truly usurped his power with the agenda of making him unpopular.

We want to make it very clear that we believe the Head of State is aware of what is going on, in fact, he may well be involved for reasons that have already been outlined by others. But our concern today is that if, indeed, the President doesn’t know who is behind this, then as a country, we are on auto pilot.

We have seen so many narratives around this gassing issue since it started, and only one makes sense to us – the State is involved. When we say the State, we don’t mean President Edgar Lungu, but the system. If we are to give a benefit of doubt to the Head of State, we would urge him not look too far when looking for people who are behind these acts of terror. There is a possibility that people within the party who want him out of power are at work (that’s assuming that the President is truly innocent).

What we have refused to believe, and we speak on behalf of many Zambians, is the narrative that the opposition, Seer 1 or some Satanist somewhere is financing this gassing operation. That is a very, very cheap lie meant to divert the public from the epicentre of the problems. In fact, this is not a problem, it’s a scheme. It’s an agenda well-planned and financed.

Why are we saying the State apparatus is involved? Because this crime doesn’t suggest any motivation for the individual actors. A criminal will gas a household, break in after the occupants have passed out and then steal before running off. A ritual killer or Satanist seeking blood would gas a household at night, break in, draw blood or whatever they want and leave. A terrorist would blow a school or a public gathering to send a message to their adversaries. A murderer will break in and kill.

This is not what is happening here. The agents in this gassing are out to cause harm and alarm, but not death. And they have been very choosy of target places. They have never gassed a drinking joint or night club, heaven knows why. Now, why would someone take the risk of gassing a school in broad day light? What would be the motivation for someone to gas a house and walk away without stealing anything?

The Office of the President Special Division cannot fail to get to the bottom of this in three months because any accomplished private investigator can solve it. With access to the State surveillance system and call records, even an inquisitive journalist can bust the criminals behind this, in a matter of days. So, it doesn’t make sense that the President doesn’t know the truth.

We are saying if President Lungu doesn’t know who they are and on whose instructions they are acting, then he is not in control of the system. His Presidency has been hijacked! If President Lungu has been told, and he believes that the opposition are behind this activity, then he is a very naïve Head of State.

It must scare citizens if their President is this uninformed about what is going on in the country. It means the country is not safe for anyone, including himself. It means people can be plotting his removal from office and he would have no idea. Now, that’s living dangerously. This operation is too big for the President to remain in the dark for so long.

Let’s forget about the opposition being behind this. If that was the case, we would have seen more UPND members being arrested, but what we are seeing instead is PF officials charged with terrorism and police officers being charged for abetting the crime.

The UPND may be desperate to form government, but they are not this organized and coordinated. They have no capacity to carry out a detailed countrywide operation of this nature without being caught.

If any UPND members are guilty of gassing in houses, maybe that would be the other kind of gassing, which is meant to surprise inquisitive noses, but they are not behind this terrorism.