IMPEACHMENT IS TRIBAL
THE impeachment motion against President Edgar Lungu lacks objectivity and is merely the UPND’s continued persecution of the Head of State and promotion of tribalism, Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president Sean Tembo has charged. “We do not support the UPND motion of impeachment against President Lungu because it lacks objectivity, is onerous and promotes tribalism and undermines national security,” Mr Tembo said yesterday in Lusaka.
Mr Tembo said the impeachment also amounts to persecution of the Head of State and is a fishing expedition among other issues, therefore the party will not be associated with it in any form. Mr Tembo said UPND should note that there is a thin line between holding the Head of State accountable and persecuting him. Mr Tembo said the only offence which President Lungu had so far committed and would be to constitute a sound ground for impeachment is violation of article 122 of the Republican Constitution as regards the independence of the Judiciary. He cited threats issued against the judges of the Constitutional Court warning them not to decide against him over his eligibility to stand for a third term is being challenged before the said court. He said the UPND impeachment motion only contained the relevant violation of article 122 of the Constitution as its ground. “As Patriots for Economic Progress, we are in the business of holding the Head of State accountable and it has subsequently become apparent to us that our colleagues in the UPND are in the business of persecuting the Head of State. “It is for this reason that we saw it necessary to categorically distance ourselves, as PeP, from the UPND motion for the proposed impeachment of President Lungu going to allow ourselves to be part and parcel of the UPND’s inherent desire to settle old political scores under the guise of providing checks and balances,” said Mr Tembo. And two Patriotic Front (PF) leaders on the Copper belt have bashed the United Party for National Development (UPND) over the impeachment motion the opposition is pushing in Parliament. PF Copperbelt Youth Chairperson, Nathan Chanda and Chifubu Member of Parliament (MP) Frank Ng`ambi separately rebuked the opposition for propagating a motion to impeach Republican President Mr Edgar Lungu. Mr Chanda said MPs that were calling for the impeachment of the President should instead focusing on delivering development to the people in their constituencies. In a telephone interview with the Daily Nation in Ndola, he said the opposition is intent on painting the country “black” to the rest of the world. “Some politicians just want to use the back door to get into power because they know that they can’t beat the Head of State on ballot,” he said. Mr Ng’ambi described the move as baseless stating that the attempt has exposed the UPND of their desperation to form government at all costs. “I am dismayed by the attempts by the opposition MPs. The move is simply showing that they want to be in power at all cost. They just want to embarrass our President to the international community, “Mr Ng`ambi said.