Africa-Press – Zambia. LET’S FOCUS ON THE INAUGURATION TO BE HELD ON 24TH AUGUST – MEANWHILE EMMANUEL MWAMBA AND OTHERS REFUTE CLAIMS THAT THEY WERE ADVISING PRESIDENT LUNGU NOT TO CONCEDE
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According to our constitution, inauguration is supposed to be held on a Tuesday after 7 days from the day of declaration of the President-elect. The 7 days is to allow anyone who wish to challenge the elections to go to petition.
However, I don’t expect anyone in his right thinking mind to petition this election because Zambians have spoken resoundingly and nothing will change this. Therefore all those trying to scheme anything, other than inauguration are labouring in futility and risking the peace of this Country.
Meanwhile News diggers is carrying a story that some State House presidential assistants and some Zambian diplomats who were in the country to help the Patriotic Front in campaigns have been persuading President Edgar Lungu not to accept election defeat, impeccable sources have told News Diggers.
The sources explained that the aides, diplomats and PF surrogates who include Sukwana Lukangaba, Zumani Zimba, Andrew Chellah, Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba, Anthony Mukwita, Milingo Lungu and Amos Chanda among others, want President Lungu to annul the election results by commanding ECZ not to declare Hakainde Hichilema the winner.
“The President is surrounded by people who are actually influencing him not to accept defeat. His advisors are telling him that he has the power to annul the election outcome. This is why you saw them issue a statement that the elections were not free and fair and asking ECZ to stop announcing the results. These are the people who have been engaged in electoral shenanigans. What they are telling the President is that he should not concede defeat, they are saying he has the power to do so. You need to call them and ask why they are trying to mislead the man,”the source said.
When contacted, the said State House assistants, diplomats and Pf agents denied the allegation. Chella claimed he had not met the President since Friday.
“There is no one advising the President in those lines. It is baseless. I have not seen him since Friday.” Mukwita referred the questions to Chanda
“The best person you should be getting in touch with is Mr Amos Chanda. He is the spokesperson for the campaign. I am here in my capacity on leave to come and vote. So if you get in touch with Mr Chanda whom I know you guys have a very good relationship with, he will be in a much more informed position to comment on anything. I do not have the authority to make any comment.”
Chanda said he would never advise anybody to reject the will of the people. “I would never advise anyone to do anything unlawful or to interfere in the will of the people. I would not do that at any point,” he said.
Milingo Lungu said: “No, it is not true.” Meanwhile, Mwamba who was in the country as at yesterday said it was unfortunate that some people wanted to destroy his name during the crisis.
“No please don’t put me in those lines. The Presidential advisors are known. So don’t include me those lines. How do you clarify something that does not exist? Abantu bachita fye manufacture (people just cooked up a story) and they want you to report but Mr Mwamba denied. But it would have taken legitimacy to the foolish things. People want to destroy names during this crisis.” Efforts to reach Lukangaba and Zimba proved futile by press time as calls went unanswered.
