KAVINDELE BLASTS KATELE KALUMBA’S ‘DESPICABLE’ ATTACKS ON HH. .ex Veep says vitriolic social media video is a slap in the face to the presidency By DAVID KANDUZA IN a stinging rebuke, former Vice-President Enoch Kavindele has fiercely condemned Katele Kalumba’s viral, threat-laden tirade against President Hakainde Hichilema, branding the behavior as utterly “despicable” for a […]

KAVINDELE BLASTS KATELE KALUMBA’S ‘DESPICABLE’ ATTACKS ON HH
. .ex Veep says vitriolic social media video is a slap in the face to the presidency

By DAVID KANDUZA
IN a stinging rebuke, former Vice-President Enoch Kavindele has fiercely condemned Katele Kalumba’s viral, threat-laden tirade against President Hakainde Hichilema, branding the behavior as utterly “despicable” for a statesman of his stature.

The political arena was left reeling after a video surfaced across social media platforms showing Dr. Kalumba—a former Finance Minister—hurling disparaging remarks and issuing veiled threats against the Head of State.

While the footage was believed to have been recorded under the tense atmosphere preceding the August 13 general elections, its recent circulation had already triggered severe legal consequences, culminating in Dr Kalumba’s arrest last Thursday on charges of cyber harassment.

Speaking with palpable indignation from his home in Lusaka, September 29, 2026, Mr Kavindele did not hold back, expressing deep shock that a man who once steered the nation’s treasury could descend into such political vitriol.

“I was deeply shocked by what this man said,” a visibly disappointed Mr Kavindele stated.

“Kalumba’s behaviour is despicable and falls far short of what is expected of someone who held the position of Finance Minister in this country.”

For many, the attacks carry a bitter irony. In August 2023, President Hichilema exercised his executive powers to release Dr Kalumba from prison on medical grounds.

The former minister had served less than a year of a five-year hard-labour sentence, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2022 following a decade-long corruption case dating back to 2010.

Mr Kavindele bitingly reminded Dr Kalumba of this executive leniency, labeling the hostile utterances a deeply regrettable and ungrateful response to a presidential pardon.

“Even if you lack regard for the individual holding the presidency, the office itself must be respected,” Mr Kavindele warned, sending a clear message to the nation.

As public debate intensifies over the boundaries of free speech and political decorum, the former Vice-President had called on all Zambians to reject the politics of insults and to exercise their constitutional freedoms with responsibility and respect for the highest office in the land.