I FEAR PRISON -KAMBWILI

…as he explains fainting spells, backs listing ZAFFICO

Have you ever heard me answer back when people call me pachifentelo? I have only joked about it and said I am not made for prison and that is why you find that when they want to lock me up, my body refuses, kufenta mwe (I just faint).”

— Mr Kambwili

CHISHIMBA Kambwili has again confessed that his fainting spells are induced by fear of jail. And the embattled Patriotic Front Roan Member of Parliament yesterday repeated his fear of prison when he featured on a radio programme, where he also supported plans to list ZAFFICO on the Lusaka Stock Exchange. And Mr Kambwili says it is retrogressive for some politicians to threaten to reverse the listing of ZAFFICO or any other company on the Lusaka Stock Exchange should they be elected into office. Mr. Kambwili says there is absolutely nothing wrong with the listing of ZAFFICO on the stock exchange as this is one of way of raising capital to improve the company's performance but that it is laughable for some opposition leaders to allege that ZAFFICO has been sold. He, however, insists that Government should ensure that only Zambians benefit in the buying of shares in ZAFFICO once it is listed which should not in any way benefit foreigners and those in government at the expense of ordinary Zambians. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba is quoted as having threatened to reverse the listing of ZAFFICO on the stock exchange and that all those who would buy shares would be doing so at their own peril, while UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema recently claimed that the company had been sold to the Chinese and that he would equally reverse the process. Asked why he faints each time he faces arrest, Mr Kambwili said, “I am not made for prison and that is why when they want to lock me up, my body refuses and I faint.” Featuring on Hot FM’s breakfast show yesterday, Mr. Kambwili said he had no problem with people calling him pachifentelo and never took offence over such jibes aimed at him because his body was not made for police cells or prison. “Have you ever heard me answer back when people call me pachifentelo? I have only joked about it and said I am not made for prison and that is why you find that when they want to lock me up, my body refuses, kufenta fye (I just faint),” Mr. Kambwili said as presenters laughed. And Mr. Kambwili said Parliament must not be reduced to a headmaster-pupil affair where a small joke leads to a parliamentarian being chased from the business of the day, insisting that a sense of humour was important for the business of the day to be conducted smoothly. He insisted that his previous altercation with Presidential Affairs Minister Freedom Sikazwe in Parliament when he called him a witchdoctor was purely a joke which his colleague took seriously. “The insinuation that Freedom Sikazwe is a witchdoctor was a light moment. If you watch the South African parliament, people are not chased for those small things. And I don’t think it is right for that Parliament to start behaving like a school headmaster towards pupils. That parliament sometimes has to have some humour. “We must crack some jokes for the business of the house to move smoothly but obviously, some people don’t like jokes and I think my brother Sikazwe took it personal but I believe that if someone tells me that I am a witchdoctor yet I am not, I will not get upset. When you get upset, then there is some underlining factor,” he said. Meanwhile, Mr. Kambwili lambasted one caller who asked why he was hard on Chinese while turning a blind eye to other investors, describing him as a blue-eyed boy for the Chinese. “I’m not targeting the Chinese but I don’t support anybody who pays low salaries. When I was minister of Labour, I went to Zambian, Indian, and European companies but I think the Chinese are too much. This man says he is paid K3, 000 and what is K3, 000 by the way? So, because you are paid K3, 000, we should not speak for others who are paid K250? “That is madness! When your friends are suffering, sympathise with them. Don’t make a name for yourself so that the Chinese can give you more by going to them and telling them that you spoke for them. We know these tricks. You are a blue-eyed boy or you speak for the Chinese,” he said.