The President doesn’t fire ministers without evidence – Mweetwa
CHIEF Government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says there’s no way President Hakainde Hichilema would fire a minister based on public outcry noting he can only fire when investigations have been done.
Speaking on Hot FM’s Hot Seat today, Mweetwa stated that the hiring and firing of ministers is up to the President who is also well informed.
He said President Hichilema is well informed with concrete information and not public opinions stating that what the public may think is the case may not be the truth.
“If leadership were that easy that the moment there’s a public outcry he fires then he would be firing everyday. The president is well informed not by what people say but what is on the ground.”
“We can’t inquire why he makes such decisions, he doesn’t just decide, he has to invest effort and time, he has to be informed. He takes time to investigate so don’t think he will fire just because you want a certain minister to be fired there has to be investigations done,” said Mweetwa.
This follows concerns raised by the disappearance and reappearance of 16 trucks which had carried drugs for the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) from Mozambique and were later found at a private house in Makeni putting the former Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo and ZAMMSA director general Victor Nyasulu into conflict with the public.
Mweetwa stated that the President doesn’t need approval from the public on why he should reshuffle or fire ministers.
He further added that the reshuffling of ministers should be viewed in a positive as it doesn’t mean that the President has lost confidence in a certain minister.
“I wouldn’t want to characterise the reshuffles in terms of the president losing confidence in the minister. There is no requirement that the president must tell us why he is appointing a certain person.”
“He’s a listening president so he reshuffles to rekindle public confidence in that minister. The president doesn’t appease friends. He won’t take an action just because people have spoken, he maintains friendship that is decent,” said Mweetwa.