Outgoing President Edgar Lungu has described the political violence that led to the death of Patriotic Front North western province chairperson Jackson Kungo as an act of terror.
Mr Kungo was on Thursday 12 August gruesomely murdered in cold blood in broad daylight by political cadres at Kyawama secondary school in Solwezi.
Speaking during Mr Kungo’s burial in Solwezi, President Lungu stated that it is inhuman to kill, beat, instilling fear and displace people over politics.
He said a lot of PF members are still hiding for fear of being killed by political opponents.
“Some are in Lusaka under the protection of the party PF while others are hiding in the bush and have vowed never to go back to their hometowns until their safety is guaranteed, ” said President Lungu.
He said it is unfortunate that Zambia has started experiencing terrorism under the disguise of democracy which he said should be condemned by all well meaning Zambians.
He mentioned that what is being experienced in the country is not the democracy which was envisioned by Dr. Kaunda and Dr. Chiluba Zambia’s first and second presidents in 1991 during the reintroduction of multiparty democratic system of governance.
“And I told the President-elect Hakainde Hichilema point blank when I met him, that UNIP lasted for 27 years, but what brought them down was violence, MMD lasted for 20 years and what brought them down was violence, we! The PF have lasted for 10 years and what has brought us down is violence, the UPND will be lucky if they will last for over 5 years because of the violence that has started being perpetrated by our colleagues,” he said.
He said he has seen trending videos showing the harassment of police officers, ordinary citizens, torture of PF members, destruction of property among others by UPND members.
“I have seen this! And when I told my colleague the President-elect Mr. Hakainde Hichilema that control your people, but he is saying am still the commander in chief you are the one to do it. But I can assure you that am doing everything possible to control the situation but him as leader has a big role to play in controlling his people,” he said.
He has assured the president-elect that he is going to work together with him within the confines of law in ensuring that the country is safe.
“And I will handover power peacefully, and I want to appeal to all PF members to stay away from violence because I do not want this country to plunged into chaos,” he said.
And PF Secretary General Davies Mwila has given a five day ultimatum to all those involved in the killing of Mr. kungo to hand over themselves to the police.
