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Development People’s Party (DPP) leader, Dr. Kafula Mubanga, has accused President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration of practising selective justice and weaponising state institutions against perceived critics.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday, Mubanga alleged that the government was applying double standards in its pursuit of justice while simultaneously engaging in political patronage.
He said Zambians also needed to understand what he described as the true cost of the administration’s efforts to buy the silence of traditional and religious leaders.
Mubanga claimed that while the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) was allegedly being used to intimidate the Catholic Church, the government was engaging in the same conduct it publicly condemned.
“The Development People’s Party stands today in unwavering solidarity with the Catholic Church and His Grace Archbishop Alick Banda,” Mubanga said.
He argued that while the former Patriotic Front (PF) government supported chiefs and the Church as partners in development, the UPND administration was using public resources for political optics.
According to Mubanga, government spending on vehicle distributions raised serious concerns.
“Your government has spent a staggering US$18.44 million on vehicle distributions,” he alleged, adding that over US$16.5 million was spent on 288 double-cab 4×4 vehicles for traditional chiefs, approximately US$1.8 million on utility and mission vehicles for selected church leaders, and more than US$140,000 on motorcycles for chief retainers.
Mubanga questioned whether the DEC was genuinely fighting corruption or being used as a political tool, describing the summoning of Archbishop Banda as a direct attack on freedom of the pulpit.
He said that while the Church served as a refuge under the PF administration, it was now under surveillance.
“We ask President Hakainde Hichilema: why is the DEC silent on the US$10 billion allegedly lost to tax avoidance in the mining sector? Why is it silent on the US$600 million lost through mineral royalty incentives?” Mubanga asked.
He argued that instead of pursuing wealth allegedly leaking out of the country, the government was targeting a religious leader who had refused to be silenced.
“The DPP stands with the Catholic Church. We stand with Archbishop Banda. We demand an immediate end to these targeted investigations,” Mubanga said.
He argued that a nation that persecuted its prophets while granting windfall tax incentives to foreign mining firms risked losing its moral and economic direction.
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