Opposition parties knock ruling UPND over alleged plot to bribe South African judges in Lungu case

Various opposition political parties have criticized a leaked voice note of alleged conversations between Mafinga lawmaker, Robert Chabinga and Minister of Community Development and Social Services, Doreen Mwamba.

The purported conversation attempts to implicate President Hakahinde Hichilema in a plot to try and bribe South African judges handling the late President Edgar Lungu case in a Pretoria High Court.

The Forum for Democracy and development (FDD) spokesperson, Anthony Chibuye said the party found the glaring revelations in the audio as ridiculous and shameful.

“As a party we are shattered by this revelations especially that the person at the centre of the discussion is none other than Hakainde Hichilema himself,” Chibuye alleged.

“This fellow country men is the danger we are facing under this UPND criminals organization,” he added.

Chibuye appealed to the south African government through its embassy in Zambia to take the revelations in the audio seriously and establish the truth.

“How can South Africa sit and watch when its judiciary, which is held as one of the functioning judiciaries in the region is brought into disrepute,” he said.

Chibuye indicated that the party would report the Zambian government to the human rights bodies and the International Court of Justice for its breach of key conventions such as the Viena Convention on diplomacy and etiquette.

Similary, the Citizens First leadership has said that it was appalled by the alleged desperation, deception and dirty tactics by the ruling UPND administration to sink low and plot to bribe its way to secure the remains of the late President Lungu.

“As a Government in waiting, we can’t sit and watch the integrity of our sovereignty being shredded to tarters by people who don’t understand the value of governance and good foreign relations,” party Secretary General Vincent Chintu said.

Chintu threatened that the party would transcribe the contents of the leaked audio and submit to the South African authorities with an official cover note to provide context.

He said those trying to rubbish the leaked audio as Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated should prove to the contrary and the party was aware that this was not the first time the UPND administration was trying to hide their shame under the claim of AI.

“When the letters stopping the late sixth Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu from travelling out of the country for medical reasons first leaked, UPND were quick to brand the letters as fake and AI generated,” Chintu said.

Meanwhile, Stanley Muba’sa, Socialist Party (SP) National Youth Secretary cautioned citizens, especially young people not to fall for tricks meant to stop them from discussing matters of public importance.

“It appears the leaked audio has caused panick in the UPND camp. Hon.Chabinga and Hon Doreen Mwamba are alleged to be caught up in the audio sharing details of some dirty, crooked and corrupt ways, which could be used to force the court in South Africa to rule in favor of the Zambian government,” Muba’sa said.

Adding his voice to the conversation, President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Kasonde Mwenda, said the act of attempting to bribe foreign judicial officers in a sovereign nation was nothing less than a violation of international anti-corruption conventions.

Read More: Denied again! Presidency says Chabinga was never sent to S’Africa over Lungu’s remains, as lawmaker dismisses viral audio as AI fabrication

“The superficial and dismissive response from State House, which tried to brush this off as a so-called “AI fabrication”, is not only grossly irresponsible — it is an insult to the intelligence of the Zambian people,” Mwenda stated.

He demanded a public address from President Hichilema to the nation and a full forensic authentication of the audio by independent international experts.

Mwenda called for the suspension and investigation of Chabinga pending criminal inquiry and engagement with South African authorities to clarify Zambia’s position and cooperate in any ongoing judicial investigation.

“Zambia is not a banana republic. Our democracy, our legal institutions, and our people’s trust must not be trampled by state-sponsored thuggery or conspiracies carried out under the cover of darkness,” he said.

However, Chabinga has threatened to sue people sharing the leaked obstacle, stating that it was an AI content generated by his enemies.

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