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Kenneth Kaunda, saying no one from his office is aware about it.
According to impeccable sources, The Post newspaper editor Fred M’membe and Lusaka lawyer Mutembo Nchito visited Dr Kaunda at his home on Wednesday and duped him into signing the statement.
The sources said Dr Kaunda did not pay attention to the contents of the document he was signing as he is still ill and on medication following his hospitalisation in Namibia recently.
According to the sources, the duo went to the residence of Dr Kaunda on the pretext that they were checking on his health and whilst there, they convinced him to sign the statement which he did not fully understand because he was partially sedated and indisposed.
The sources said the former president was duped into signing the document because he was told that because of his stature as a former head of State and as an ambassador of peace, his influence would permeate through the public based on the message he gave prior to the epoch 1991 multi- party elections.
Chief of staff in the Office of the First President Godwin Mfula said in an interview on September 14 that he always prepares Dr Kaunda’s statements and had it truly been authored by the former
President, it should have been printed on an official letterhead.
The document was delivered to the Zambia Daily Mail by an unidentified man who dropped it at the reception.
“I am Dr Kaunda’s Chief of Staff and I prepare his statements. This particular statement is not his and we are therefore refuting it,” Mr Mfula said.
Dr Kaunda’s Press aide Sunday Musonda said in a separate interview that the Office of the First President did not issue any statement and neither is it aware of any other statement that could have been issued by the former President.
Mr Musonda explained that from the time he returned from Namibia, Dr Kaunda has been at his home recovering and that it will be criminal for anyone to attempt to issue such a careless statement and attribute it to him (Dr Kaunda).
“Upon receiving word of this statement, I conferred with Mr Mfula who also expressed ignorance about it.
“This statement was not issued by Dr Kaunda and that is not his language,” Mr Musonda said.
He said Dr Kaunda is a peacemaker and he would not issue such a careless statement.
Mr Musonda advised those that are “scheming” to bring Dr Kaunda’s name into disrepute to respect “the old man” and allow him to recover fully.
The statement was urging the Electoral Commission of Zambia to deal with serious concerns raised by stakeholders but do not seem to be attended to. – Zambia Daily Mail.
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