Zambia : Katele Turns On HH, Accuses President Of Failing To Protect Political Opponents
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NewsLusaka - Zambia: Former Finance Minister Dr Katele Kalumba has launched a blistering attack on President Hakainde Hichilema, accusing him of failing in his
Headlines 5 min.Read Katele turns on HH, accuses President of failing to protect political opponents By Lusaka Times Editor August 11, 2026 FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsAppFormer Finance Minister Dr Katele Kalumba has launched a blistering attack on President Hakainde Hichilema, accusing him of failing in his constitutional responsibility to protect Zambians holding opposing political views and alleging that the political environment ahead of Thursday’s general election has deteriorated dangerously.
In a direct address to President Hichilema, Dr Kalumba said he was speaking only days before the August 13 election because he had become deeply concerned about what he described as abductions, deaths and attacks involving people expressing political opinions different from those of the government.
“Mr President, my name is Katele Kalumba. I’m speaking to you directly from the election day,” he said, before referring to his past relationship with the President. “I’m thankful for everything you did to me, and I’m sure you should be thankful for everything I did to you.”
Dr Kalumba said he would not publicly explain everything that had previously transpired between the two men, saying President Hichilema already knew what he was referring to. He instead turned his attention to the current political environment, placing responsibility for the protection of citizens directly on the President.
“What is happening now is not in the interest of our country, and I believe that you are at the helm of it. You are responsible as the President of the Republic of Zambia. You are responsible to protect the lives of every Zambian under the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia,” he said.
He questioned what the presidency meant if the Head of State could not guarantee the safety of citizens expressing political opinions different from his own or seeking to provide alternative leadership.
“I don’t know what your job is if you cannot protect the lives of Zambians who are expressing a different opinion from you, and to provide leadership different from you,” Dr Kalumba said.
The former minister then delivered one of his strongest personal attacks against President Hichilema, saying his previous perception of the President had changed considerably.
“I’m disappointed, because I thought you were a good man,” he said. “What I have found out now is a man who was pretentious, a man who pretended to be a good man.”
Dr Kalumba went further, using extremely strong language to characterise the President and alleging that the country had witnessed “abductions, death, strangulation” and other acts in the political environment surrounding the election.
He did not, in the recorded statement, provide specific cases or evidence directly linking President Hichilema to the alleged incidents. His allegations therefore remain claims made by the former minister and are not established facts.
Dr Kalumba also compared President Hichilema’s leadership with that of late former President Edgar Lungu, arguing that his experience of both men had left him with a harsher assessment of the incumbent.
“You are worse than Edgar Lungu,” he said.
He said he had at different times been close to both political leaders and claimed he understood former President Lungu from both a family and political perspective.
“I was close to Edgar Lungu at some point, as I was close to you. In fact, closer to him. I understand him better, from the family level to the political level,” Dr Kalumba said.
The veteran politician then revisited his involvement with President Hichilema during the 2015 presidential election campaign, saying he had worked as a campaign strategist for him and had believed at the time that he was making sacrifices in support of a man he considered a gentleman and a civilised political leader.
“But as a campaign strategist for you in 2015, which goes to be my business, my family’s business, I expected you to… I thought I was sacrificing for you, a gentleman, a civilised human being,” he said.
Dr Kalumba then made an extraordinary personal accusation against President Hichilema, claiming that allegations he had previously been accused of making about the President were now words he was prepared to state directly.
“Now I’m going to say it to your face,” he said, before accusing President Hichilema of believing in “nothing else than satanism.”
No evidence supporting that allegation was presented in the recording, and the claim represents Dr Kalumba’s own accusation against the President.
The former minister also claimed he had previously defended President Hichilema when there were attempts to arrest him in connection with what he referred to as “San International Hotel.”
“I was trying to defend you. I defended you when he said he wanted to arrest you over San International Hotel. I knew much, and I still do, but I defended you,” Dr Kalumba said.
He claimed that his intervention had helped President Hichilema avoid what he described as a “trap”, although he did not provide further details about the circumstances or identify precisely who he said was behind the alleged attempt.
“I made sure you got out of the trap and nobody exactly knew what I was saying,” he said.
Towards the end of the recording, Dr Kalumba also referred cryptically to Cape Town, saying: “I knew what had happened in Cape Town. I knew…”
The recording ends at that point without Dr Kalumba explaining what event he was referring to or providing further details.
The intervention represents a sharp change in tone from Dr Kalumba’s public assessment of President Hichilema earlier in the election campaign. In May, the former minister said President Hichilema remained politically ahead going into the August 13 general election, although he believed the contest was becoming increasingly competitive.
His latest remarks, however, move beyond an assessment of the electoral contest and amount to a direct personal and political attack on the President just days before Zambians vote.
The allegations concerning violence, abductions and other criminal acts contained in Dr Kalumba’s statement have not been independently substantiated in the recording, while President Hichilema and the UPND were not heard responding to the specific accusations made by the former minister.
With Zambia heading to the polls on Thursday, Dr Kalumba’s intervention adds another forceful voice to the increasingly charged final stages of the campaign, while leaving several of his most serious claims unexplained and unsupported by specific evidence in the statement itself.
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