By JAMES KUNDA –
THE Patriotic Front (PF) has said it is baseless for the United Party for National Development (UPND) to blame the ruling party for the problems being faced by the Post Newspaper (in liquidation) and its proprietor Fred M’membe.
PF deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya has also distanced the ruling party from claims that it is muzzling the Mast Newspaper.
Mr Bwalya said in an interview yesterday that it is “hypocritical” for UPND president Hakainde Hichilema to support the Post, an institution he once claimed the PF was shielding from meeting tax obligations.
“The UPND and Mr Hichilema know very well that the PF and President Edgar Lungu have nothing to do with the problems at the defunct Post newspaper. It is hypocritical for UPND to sympathise with the Post just because they expect the newspaper to back them,” he said.
He said Mr Hichilema was on record castigating Dr M’membe and suggesting that the Post was behaving like a “political party”.
Mr Bwalya said the UPND would not draw any political mileage from criticising Government over the closure of the Post as the people agreed with the decision by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to
demand that the institution meet its tax obligations.
He said the party could not do anything to stop ZRA from pursuing the Post because the institution owed Zambians colossal sums of money.
Mr Bwalya urged the proprietors of the Mast newspaper to prove the institution’s existence by furnishing ZRA and other institutions with relevant documentation to avoid getting into conflict with law enforcement agencies.