{"id":53238,"date":"2023-12-05T19:21:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T19:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return"},"modified":"2023-12-05T19:34:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T19:34:28","slug":"former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return","title":{"rendered":"Former Government Chief Whip Warns UPND Government: Focus on the Economy, Not Lungu\u2019s Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>Former Government Chief Whip, Steve Chungu, has issued a stern caution to the UPND (United Party for National Development) Government, urging them to shift their focus away from the political activities of former President Edgar Lungu. Chungu stressed the need for the government to address pressing issues facing the country, with the ailing economy taking top priority.<\/p>\n

In a candid statement, Mr. Chungu pointed out that the government should not concern itself with whether Mr. Lungu intends to make a return to politics. The former Luanshya Member of Parliament underscored that, like any citizen, Mr. Lungu has the right to re-enter politics if he so desires, and the UPND government should not obstruct him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Lungu has the right to come back into politics if he wishes, and the UPND government should not stop him,\u201d Mr. Chungu stated.<\/p>\n

Chungu further emphasized that diverting attention towards preventing Mr. Lungu from reentering politics would be a misallocation of the government\u2019s efforts, which should be directed at issues that hold greater significance for the people of Zambia, particularly the struggling economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe alleged that stopping Mr. Lungu from participating in politics would be tantamount to misdirecting its energies to non-important issues of no value to the people of Zambia,\u201d the former Chief Whip stated.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Mr. Chungu criticized the police\u2019s recent action of preventing the opposition Socialist Party from holding a public rally at Changanamai grounds in Kitwe. He regarded this as a negative development for democracy in the country and expressed concern over the alleged suppression of opposition parties since the UPND government assumed power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe observed that ever since the UPND government came to office opposition political parties have not been allowed to freely express themselves,\u201d Mr. Chungu noted, highlighting a perceived decline in democratic rights since the change in government.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. Former Government Chief Whip, Steve Chungu, has issued a stern caution to the UPND (United Party for National Development) Government, urging them to shift their focus away from the political activities of former President Edgar Lungu. Chungu stressed the need for the government to address pressing issues facing the country, with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":53237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-53238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Government Chief Whip Warns UPND Government: Focus on the Economy, Not Lungu\u2019s Return - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Government Chief Whip, Steve Chungu, has issued a stern caution to the UPND (United Party for National Developmen ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Government Chief Whip Warns UPND Government: Focus on the Economy, Not Lungu\u2019s Return\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Government Chief Whip, Steve Chungu, has issued a stern caution to the UPND (United Party for National Developmen ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-05T19:21:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-05T19:34:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/12\/sm_1701792176.955636.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"514\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Former Government Chief Whip Warns UPND Government: Focus on the Economy, Not Lungu\u2019s Return\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-05T19:21:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-05T19:34:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return\"},\"wordCount\":329,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/12\/sm_1701792176.955636.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/former-government-chief-whip-warns-upnd-government-focus-on-the-economy-not-lungus-return\",\"name\":\"Former Government Chief Whip Warns UPND Government: Focus on the Economy, Not Lungu\u2019s Return - 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