Former Law Association of Zambia President Linda Kasonde has denied calling President Edgar Lungu a thief.
Some news reports indicate that Ms Linda said Zambians do not scrutinize the leaders they vote for and that is why they end up even voting for thieves.
This was allegedly said when Ms. Kasonde featured as a discussant during the Levy Mwanawasa Memorial Lecture recently at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
But in a statement issued this morning, Ms Kasonde said at no time did she utter those words.
She said not only have words that she did not say been attributed to her but also the actual remarks that she made have been taken out of context.
Below is Ms Kasonde’s full statement
RESPONSE TO REPORTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ALLEGING THAT I CALLED PRESIDENT EDGAR LUNGU A THIEF
My attention has been drawn to a story circulating on social media alleging that I called President Edgar Lungu a thief. It is alleged that I made the said remarks during the 10th Memorial lecture held for President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre on 18th August 2018.
Please note that the story is false. At no time did I utter the alleged remarks against President Lungu. Not only have words that I did not say been attributed to me but also the actual remarks that I made have been taken out of context.
On 18th August 2018 I was one of the discussants at a public lecture delivered by Dr. Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika on the life and legacy of President Mwanawasa. Below are the short remarks that I made on that occasion:
REMARKS BY LINDA KASONDE AT THE PUBLIC LECTURE COMMEMORATING PRESIDENT LEVY PATRICK MWANAWASA’S LIFE AND LEGACY
Distinguished guests, fellow Zambians, I am deeply honoured to be seated here as a lawyer, a younger citizen (no longer a youth) and a woman. As Dr. Lewanika stated in his lecture, the freedom struggle continues. Indeed, as a democracy, more so as a fledging democracy, we must live with the fact that democracy is always under threat. That is true in any democracy as we are seeing globally. Democracy is about allowing the marketplace of ideas to thrive. President Mwanawasa is reported to have complained about criticism in the media and yet he did allow a free press to flourish. A notable exception is the prosecution of satirist Roy Clarke for an unflattering satire of President Mwanawasa and then Vice-President George Kunda SC which nearly resulted in Mr. Clarke getting deported. This was perhaps a moment of personal weakness but we are here because President Mwanawasa is widely celebrated as one of if not the best President that Zambia has ever had.
As a keen follower of history, I must depart from the view held by one of President Mwanawasa’s biographers that ‘It matters how it ends’. It does, but I also believe that it matters how it starts. Contrary to some believers, leaders do not drop from the skies. They live and work amongst us. We can see where they came from and anyone choosing a leader will ignore a leader’s past at his peril. President Mwanawasa was previously known as a student leader at the University of Zambia, he was a former Vice-President of the Law Association of Zambia, a celebrated and skilled Advocate, a former Solicitor-General of the Republic of Zambia before becoming the Republican Vice-President and then President. We see his integrity when he resigns as Republican Vice-President because of corruption in the government; we see it when he attempts to follow the rule of law. Dr. Moses Banda tells me that as an economist working as an economic adviser to President Mwanawasa, he was often inconveniently reminded that the economic strategy that he was proposing was contrary to the law. This meant that it could not be done or the law would have to be amended. I am told that President Kenneth Kaunda, the first Republican President, shared this trait.
Dr. Lewanika talked about the ideas and values for which the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) stood, at least at its inception. Values are another thing that are sorely lacking in our current politics. I have said on other platforms that good institutions need good people. This is because it is the values of the individual that allow the individual to keep themselves in check – avoiding corruption or removing oneself from a situation where the environment is such that reversing corruption is untenable. The fight against corruption is always a good thing. Corruption is a cancer that is now endemic in our nation. What can we learn from the fight against corruption during the Mwanawasa era? I think that it is that the fight against corruption must be sustained and not just against political enemies. It cannot have been easy for President Mwanawasa to fire one of his own ministers, former Lands Minister Gladys Nyirongo, for corruption. Today we see lowly police officers being caught taking bribes. But we must be careful to look at the root causes of corruption. What is happening in our society that makes people think that it is okay to steal? That it is okay to be corrupt? I’m told that people who worked for President Mwanawasa feared him. People felt restrained against excesses. Fear of a leader in itself is not a bad thing if accompanied by love or respect. As a leader, it is tempting to want to oversee everything, I have been guilty of this myself. The ultimate test of a leader is seeing how people behave in their absence.
Today, ten years down the line, we are here to celebrate the legacy of a Zambian patriot who through his own living will stated that he wished the best for the Zambian people. We accept that no one is perfect, President Mwanawasa included. We are here because he planted a seed, even one as small as a mustard seed, that today is still flourishing. Writer and poet Dr. Maya Angelou used to say that “You have no idea what your legacy will be. Your legacy is every life you have touched”. That is why we are here.
I hope that future generations will take a leaf from the Mwanawasa Foundation by preserving and even dissecting the history of our leaders. We need to know our history to understand our present. Often a reference to history could quite quickly resolve an issue today. I thank you again for this opportunity.
Insecure people are always on the defensive.
Its no secret that authorities are busy shutting people up for stating the truth.
Edger lungu is a very small man with no teeth.
Ms Linda Kasonde will always be remembered as the worst LAZ president ever!!
Bushe bufi, Lungu is a thief. Two years ago he could not even pay for his nomination fee, today he is worth K22 million, where did he get that money from?
Why was Edgar Lungu debarred and not allowed to practice law, it is because he stole money from a widow. What do we call anyone who has stolen?
Ms Linda Kasonde you are ageing fast, just my thought..
We can see where they came from and anyone choosing a leader will ignore a leader’s past at his peril……
if lungu was barred from practicing law for stealing….and i vote for him,its at my peril
Linda! That’s unethical! We know about the bribes you have taken….don’t open Pandora’s box
Linda must change her real name to something like Linda Hichilema or something that will make everyone know why she “codes” in her fights just like the COALITION OF THE WICKED & TRIBALIST UNION also called UPND.
She was the worst because she abrogated the principles that LAZ stands for and became an opposition wing of the Tribal Union.
This comes as a complete shock.
Every Zambian knows that Lungu is not a thief, and that he is not corrupt.
Well… if crooked Lungu denies that he is a thief, let him be audited from 2015 to today. That will vindicate him instantly. But he won’t do that because he’s scared of what we will discover…. That he’s a thief. Sorry but when it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. You don’t need to apologize for anything, madam. If you said it, you told the truth.
I have seen many pictures of Edgar Lungu with teeth. Are these pictures photoshopped?
A person who steals is called a thief. It doesn’t require Linda Kasonde to define him or her.
Lungu stole from a Lafarge widow, that’s why LAZ deregistered him.
He’s been stealing from Zambians from the day he got elected. His current wealth does not match his K45,000 salary + allowances.
LUNGU IS THE BIGGEST THIEF OUR COUNTRY HAS EVER WITNESSED. Not even FTJ or RB & sons come close.
(HH) is a Free Masson Satamist.
He is a satanist for those that are shaken by hearing of his name.
Satanist are seen by symbols like your own.
Guys with a low libido like iwe chi kudo’s you are the shetanists.
Linda Kasonde is a Bozo clown and both you and her are cheap UPND cadres. UPND as a party has really been ruined by Under 5 (HH) and his crop.
Iwe Chi Kudos Shut up man.
Iwe chi kudos, what the hell is in that ka brain of yours. Uza chenekwa
The brain decayed in 320 BC
Skeleton kudo’s.
You just woke up from your tomb and shouted “HH Satanist”.
You did not rest in peace you must maybe be criminated and PF carders must pee on your grave so rest in internal torment.
Who is talking about HH here You 1diot?
Birds of same feathers flock together, so you know each other, muzima and HH
HH has Three Mansions. People who have three mansions usually love blood.
kudos is Tasila Lungu. Sorry your father is umuchawa. Never a Christian in his life. He just walks around with teapots in State House for toilet paper.
they look worried the bunch of them, was it a funeral or memorial
We should learn to celebrate the departed with a smile
when did ECL become a thief? Before he was president or after?
Just asking because I want to know
When did HH become a thief? Before privatization or after? I am just asking.
The records are there at LAZ for everyone to see…a lawyer by the name of Edgar Lungu defrauded a client (widow) and that’s a thief.
Records are there that your small ‘god’ (HH) amassed wealth by selling our Zambian mines cheaply and getting commission. Massive unexpected retrenchments for young miners led to economic depression, many of the miners died.
and (HH) thinks he can enter State House, what a joke with such an omen behind him.
UPND cadres Gay Jay and this lipstick PlG Linda can try to prop him up, you can’t build the image of (HH), we all know he is a crook. Your Zambian Witch Doctor media can’t help clean up his image.
You can’t call ECL a thief to tarnish his name hoping that Zambians will be blinded enough to vote for an Under 5 Kaponya.
And your point being what? What has your silly HH got to do with Kasonde and me?
And your point being what? What has your silly HH got to do with Kasonde and me?
The records at the Zambia Privatization Agency show that HH was involved in inside trading and colluded with several stakeholders to enrich himself.
Did this ECL widow ,LAZ issue really happen,and why has Amos or Sunday Chanda clarified or denied it ever..
That’s the Zambian news for you. The paper wants to call you a thief so take an opportunity by attributing their intentions to some unfortunate person like Linda.
It is not just the papers, it more like the the whole country saying it.
As long as she did not mention anyone’s name she’s innocent but we know who the thieves are.
WE know HH as a thief! Who else do tribals call “Thief?”
Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbour! If everyone could cite the Ten Commandments as God instructed, people would have self-restraint and think before uttering any unplalatables! Remember that every idle word people say they have to give an account in the Judgement when the record books the Faithful Angels keep shall be opened! Take Care!
I have read and re-read Ms. Kasonde’s original and unedited statement and have not found the name Lungu or the conflation of the said name syntactically or allegorically or even tangentially with the word thief. The problem with people like Kudos and his ilk is that they see shadows and hear syncopation and dissonances where non exist. Linda remains squeaky clean and unfazed by the detractors who troll this website at the behest of their paymasters.
When Pilato sang that song about rats in a pot …they culprits became uncomfortable and threatened his life. Just look at them all rushing to China, to auction off assets and kiss Xi Jinping’s shoes without shame and pride in country where they are looked down upon as sub-human.
Fortunately we are adults and only CHILDISH and UNDER FIVES cannot tell what someone means.
ECL is simply charismatic and time is coming when HH, despite his stiff-neckedness, shall fall in love with this heroic, intelligent and wise leader.
Please give examples where Lazy Lungu has shown he is intelligent and a wise leader in terms of managing the economy (Not winning silly elections against your busy foool HH) give us example…inflation rate just went up 8.1% and you are singing blindly praises about charisma ..really laughable…a charismatic individual is a person who inspires devotion in others Lazy Lungu has none of those qualities….don’t delude yourself.
But Ms Kasonde,
You are comparing and contrasting Mwanwasa’s leadership style with the current corrupt regime led by ECL. You do not have to mention his name but the “thieving” inference is clear even to a blind man. You have stated the obvious and your denials ring a little hollow in my estimation. if walks, talks and quacks like a duck, then its most certainly a thief.
But Ms Kasonde,
You are comparing and contrasting Mwanwasa’s leadership style with the current corrupt regime led by ECL. You do not have to mention his name but the “thieving” inference is clear even to a blind man. You have stated the obvious and your denials ring a little hollow in my estimation. if IT walks, talks and quacks like a duck, then its most certainly a thief.
Ni chani ba linda. Manjenje manje? Continue to pompa yoself like you have always done. Your hero haluza is not the stuborn under 5 he was after a near 4 months visit to mukobeko. Continue. U will one day visit also. Tachakawame
The press is there to inform, educate and entertain. Unfortunately the current journalist is just there to promote hatred, division, scandal especially those belonging to groups that are not their favorite.
Spot on. It’s the same protagonists using the same strategy they used on FTJ.
But who doesn’t know that Lungu is a thief, worse than Kafupi FTJ Chiluba? It doesn’t have to come from Linda and whether people are stopped from saying it loudly, it doesn’t change the fact that Lungu is a thief, Kawalala, Lisholi! Respect or lack of it is not about what people say loudly to your face, but rather what they actually perceive and think of you and what they say about you in private. Again everyone knows we have a corrupt and a thief who steals everything, including the very presidency he’s occupying.
The people on this forum who represent the kind that always bury their heads in the sand, is the reason we still have to endure thuggish directionless politics with equally thuggish pillagers at the helm. In part, that is what Linda is alluding to. It’s the truth. As the saying goes;
” The proverb about a tattered basket, makes the man in rags nervous”
Right on @ Harold Muna; I agree with you 100%! Problem is the said people are either the direct beneficiaries of the said ‘thuggish directionless politics with equally thuggish pillagers at the helm‘ and/or they the actual corrupt leaders we are condemning. In most cases I know for a fact that usually the same person would post several comments under different aliases, either praising the current regime or dishing out condemnation of HH or anyone opposed to their puppet master. I know because I once tracked someone’s IP address and that address had several posts under many aliases… pathetic and I’m going to expose and shame them publicly!
By the way has anyone got a video of Aka Mbikusita’s lecture? Could you please kindly share with us?
PF minions are sick in their heads, how do you vote down a harmless request comment? That’s just sick!
It is good advise,let’s look at the way HH benefited himself in the sale of mines he got more money and than the government. He is a big chief.
Lungu is a thief !!
We know that line. Nawakwi coined it and Fred Mumembe used it to defraud Zambian taxpayers. Come up with something new please!!
HH is a Thief.
Larry Mweetwa has also confirmed that HH is a Thief.
HH is a crook who has hidden the privatisation loot in the paradise papers. UPND danderheads and sycophants are wants us to forget about this. Mwanawasa was not a saint and he realised late that he was corrupt through the wife and the Post Newspapers who were not paying taxes to the government and he was contemplating disbanding the task force on corruption where lawyers like Keith Mweemba and other UPND lawyers where using the task force as a cash cow. We know what happened so UPND group thinkers should not try to hoodwink the masses
UPND is A COALITION OF THE WICKED AND THE TRIBALS.
Unfortunately for UPND, they believe their own lies and propaganda
This Linda is just a dunderhead smarting in nerd spectacles. Utterly clueless and waffling a lot of times hoping to score for opposition.
LAZ Presidents should have phDs better than Mushota.
why do we insult one onother as Zambians.I think we should be way above that.
according to this written statement in kasonde’s remarks,i did not see a word lungu.
Let us be fair in the way we judge others.
Let us try by all means to identitfy what is wrong and what is right.We should not support wrongs and shun away from what seems to be right and correct.
Offcorse we cannot all be cadres. But even cadres should have an element of inteligence and fair judgement in them in as much as they want to eat with both hands.
What’s delaying the impeachment process? What we have in Zambia is a kleptocracy !
And anyone defending Lungu is part of the problem , our country is slowing going to the dogs !
Wait until their stuffed pockets are empty, will they tell us the truth after mountains of apologies.
Lindu, you are UPND. Ule umfwila banani uluse. What have you done for zambians that you will be remembered for, nothing. Ama speeches aya bufi we ule iwe lyakwa habwa habwa
#10.1 Lazy tribal Jay Gay, ati “foolish HH”? Please don’t insult your tribal god just to hoodwink us, we know you and your tri.bal Hacks after I exposed you. Trib.al Hacks is simply that, a triba.list. He is “leader” of upnd because of his trib.e, he wants to rule this country to represent his tri.be and to report to his ancestors that his tribe finally ruled Zambia. But Zambians hate, no, actually loathe trib.alism and will nwver vote for him.
why are the PF rats on LT having airlocks ? was lungus name mentioned ?
kwena the guilty are afraid……
Because of UPND donkis and kaus.
If you cannot stick to the subject at hand, how can we have a proper flow of words?? If you can not produce facts to reinforce you statement where can we start from? Linda Kasonde has produced facts to qualify her speech,, if you are saying that she is is liar,, tell us where you are coming from,, In her speech she compares all the governments Zambia has ever had,, and point out that the Mwanawasa government was the best,, her Personal character is not part of the subject,, unless we have grade sevens on this platform,, cause even a grade twelve is better than the above
If you want to argue within the topic at hand,, Compare the Mwanawasa government with the current government( edigar Lungu) give us facts why you think PF is less corrupt, more innovative, compared to the Mwanawasa government,, other wise some of us will just take you to be a nagging grade seven, Yes it’s Political on a broader view,, which she has not pointed out,, Hence if you want to defend the current regime be smart enough to be within the subject whilst defending your view,, cause trust me,, Linda had a punchline and she has qualified her reasoning with proper facts
HH has never formed the government for the Republic of Zambia hence He does not qualify in this debate,, other wise you will be out of context,,
Integrity includes probity and accountability is mandatory. Let President ECL file a criminal complaint of defamation so that Linda Defends herself in the court of law. There is no smoke without fire, where did the defamTion come from then, if she did nit utter them… The source of the Article needs to state how Linda defamed Prwsident ECL. Not everything that you see at face value is the truth, but analysis and forensics can prove the truth. She must be in the dock to defend herself. Isn’t she the same person whilst sitting as President of LAZ supported and dined with lawyers who did things contrary to the law, and whom can she preach to about doing things contrary to the law. She failed to separate herself from her bandit lawyers who pillaged me in abuse of the judicial process,…
People just want incite government against Linda and once government reacts the same people will start crying to the international community. Bobi Wine has been severely beaten in Uganda and the West has kept quiet.
If you want to elect a saint, go to the Vatican.
This is politics, we have to out play, cheat and score against our neighbors and other foreign countries.
We are losing against China. Chinese are merciless predators.
This is dog eat dog my friends. Get the best crooks to clean shop now.
Just do not allow them near our treasury.
LET LUNGU PLAY FOR ZAMBIA TO WIN!
WE NEED A ZAMBIAN TRUMP!!!!!
No Mr Nice Guy HH. No sir, I want a defender that will break Neymar’s leg in the 5th minute.
The issue is not whether she said it or not but is it true or not true. Did Lungu steal from a client or he didn’t steal?
“Koswe inchito yakwe kwiba tabomba. Kubwendo bwakwa King Cobra kwalingila ba Koswe, apa inchito yabo Kwiba (A rat’s job is stealing and the Cobra’s hole has been invaded by rats whose job is stealing),” Pilato says in his song.
“Apa kubako careful naba Koswe, twalafwa bonse nga tatwa Kose. Nabengila na mufipatala, ukufuma kumisebo amatala; bena monse kano balyemo. Ukufwaisha sana fi cheese nabaya nomba nakuma Chinese. Bushe kweni ni mbeba iyi, mukusamwa yasuma imbwili (We should be careful with these rats, we shall die if we are not strong.