 I would like to seek your indulgence, all of you. I know that this announcement that I'm making comes at a time when there's a development in the country. And a lot of you, from your comments that I've seen, you are having a lot of speculations as to exactly what my announcement is going to be. Let me say this without disappointing anybody, that the two issues, or the major issue that has broken as breaking news today concerning Honourable Stanley Kacubo's resignation, has hit all of us at the same time. And when we arranged to make this announcement that I'm about to make, there was no information about Honourable Kacubo resigning from his ministerial position. So, in effect, being honest, there is really no connection between the announcement that I'm making and the resignation of Honourable Kacubo. I know from your comments, it appears as though the whole idea of this coming life to you was to do with the resignation of the Honourable Kacubo. However, what I would do tonight is that after I make my short announcement, I am going to make a few comments on two critical issues. First of all, the actual resignation of the Honourable Kacubo itself. And I'm also going to just talk about another development that has come, which is a very strongly written statement by Ossida, which I think a lot of us have read today. I think that that is also worth bringing into center stage to look at some of the contents of that very long statement that has been made by Ossida. But today and tonight, it is not for me to talk about Honourable Kacubo per se. But last week, we announced that the movement for multi-party democracy will be holding an end-of-year press conference. We wish to announce that the said press conference shall now take place on Thursday the 28th of December at Grand Palace Hotel at 10 hours. We have already sent the special invitations to editors-in-chief of several media houses in the country, those that are recognized and those fully registered media houses. And we hope that you have received your invitation. And if by any chance you have not yet received your invitation, please make sure you get in touch with our National Secretary Honourable Elizabeth Chitika on 097-7-8-5-8-3-9-3. Let me say that again, 097-7-8-5-8-3-9-3. And if you are an editor-in-chief of a media house and organization, we'd like you to call so that they can arrange the pickup for your invitation. We are doing this because of the limited space in this event and that we want you to be part of it. But we want to make sure we reserve a seat for you by you calling the number that I've just given to you. I wish to promise the Zambian people that this event is going to be a heart-to-heart discussion with leaders of the media, but also more importantly, the Zambian people. So many things have happened over the year, from January until now. And we have not commented on a lot of things and soon I'm going to explain to you why we took that stand. Zambia has absolutely no reason to be a poor country in this region, on the continent of Africa, and also globally because the riches that we have, a lot of it we cannot even account for it. And so we think that we need to manage ourselves as a people in such a way that the politics that we exercise moving forward become politics that unite us, politics that inspire us, and politics that are going to make Zambia a great nation. And so I will speak from my heart and it will be an honest discussion. So in this press conference, I shall cast light on the many national issues that have stood in the way of our prosperity as a nation. Not to confront our issues or difficulties and challenges is not a sign of wisdom as some people claim, but a reckless approach in our continued effort to better the lives of our people. On Thursday, I pledge to brutally honest, to be brutally honest over political, economic, and social issues and tricks that have kept us poor, divided, and backward. We need to deal with these sacred cows before we cross into 2024. We must start afresh with a renewed national spirit that works to advantage all Zambians and not only a few and create a spirit that unites us together. Fellow Zambians, on Thursday morning, in my conversation with the nation, we shall deal frankly with most of the optics. When I say optics, I'm talking about the way that politics is being viewed in our country and I'm going to address those issues that have been pertinent in 2023 in relationship to how we are going to handle them in the coming year. I will deal, number one, with the state of democracy, with the information going out over the past number of months that there has been a restriction of democratic space in this country. I'll deal with that brutally and honestly. Secondly, I will deal with the state of the economy and the current cost of living. And here we are going to talk about the cost of milling me. We're going to talk about the exchange rate. We're going to talk about the fertilizer. We're going to talk about everything that relates to the well-being economically of our people and I will be honest with the Zambian people on these issues. I'll also take time to talk about the weaponization of tribe, an issue that has touched my heart deeply, that we need to really deal with this subject, especially that we are dealing with matters of old cultural groupings that are being revived like Umosukumawa and for us from Northern province, it is the issue of the Kola Foundation and nothing wrong with those organizations. But what are we hearing from all these developments? Now, what is the country feeling that now we have to start to talk about these cultural groupings and how do we deal with it moving forward? And I think that time before we lose this year, I would like to delve into this tribal issue. People have raised issues of the appointments to constitutional offices, being restricted to three regions of the country. We have heard about issues of tribalism being talked about from the opposition side and one of the opposition leaders, Honorable Kambuili, has been imprisoned for hate speech and all these issues must be dealt with before the year closes and I want to deal with it. And there are certain people that have always asked Nevers Moomba, where is that Nevers Moomba that talks about issues? Well, I think that Nevers Moomba has never changed and I just want to make it very clear that I have been extremely consistent on matters of state. My vision for Zambia shall be saved, cannot be changed now. I remain committed to this country and to what we can become as a people and that's why I think it is important for us to close the year by answering some of the very difficult questions that have arisen in the course of this year. I will also take time to talk about the honest story about the movement for multi-party democracy. The optics are that, well, look, Nevers Moomba and his team found a vibrant MMD and ran it to the ground. For the first time, I want to talk about that and I'm going to deal with it on Thursday as we announce the future and the new direction for the movement for multi-party democracy. I will also talk about the state of the corruption fight and obviously this is important because without us succeeding in this fight, I think that we are eating away from our destiny as a country and I'm determined to put it on the table just as it looks like. We will also be discussing certain issues that have been brought up by many people including the international travels of the president, an issue that has been raised by many people and I would like to deal with that as well. The other thing I'm going to deal with is of course the PF crisis that the PF is facing and just answer the question, is there any outside interference in the challenges of the patriotic front? Are we will deal with that subject without fear or favor? And then obviously I'm going to stop by dealing with the status of Zander as a Christian nation. Is it just a tag or are we in pursuit of becoming that Christian nation that represents the values of God in the manner in which we treat each other and in the manner in which we govern ourselves? And during this press conference, the media chiefs would be at liberty to ask any question and I would like for them to proceed and ask any question without constraints and let us prepare ourselves for Thursday. Now, as I close, that's the announcement I wanted to make, a press conference that I believe will be life changing in many ways, very defining on Thursday and I would like for you to be there to join us as a movement for multi-party democracy determines the future, first of all, of our organization, but also deal with these very critical issues in our country. Today we have heard the news about Honorable Kakubo who has resigned from his office as Minister of Foreign Affairs for our country. As a party, we recognize that Zambia has suffered in the past with difficulties of ministers or those serving in public office, resigning when it becomes unsustainable for them to continue holding public office. It's not very common to us because at the end of the day we hear this in the United States, we hear this in Europe when a minister or a cabinet minister falls short of the expectations that the country has or his appointing authority has, they step out of government in order to give, first of all, the investigative wings time and an opportunity to deal with that situation that is at hand. And I think what has happened today and allow me to say this is a commendable act by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, commendable because we need to see more of this. Zambian public officers and ministers in government must come to a place where they realize that they must have life outside public office to the extent that if there is something that develops while they are serving and they think that they cannot sustain themselves in government until that issue is dealt with, they should be moral enough to do what Honorable Kakubo has done, step aside, allow the investigative wings to do their job. And this actually helps their appointing authority. It helps the president so that he is not constrained politically by all the different comments. I think it is important, of course, for the president to discharge such a minister, but also for the ministers themselves to come to a place where they realize that the office of a minister is in public trust. And if that trust is compromised, they must be big enough to do what Honorable Kakubo has done. My own view of Honorable Kakubo is that I've known him to be a steady hand in this government. I've listened to a lot of his speeches internationally, I've interacted with him in my time where I have been dealing with monitoring elections on the continent, I've been in constant touch with him and he seems to be fully aware of what Zambian foreign policy is and what needs to be done. I found him to be a wonderful guy to work with and as an upcoming leader, I was very, very hopeful and continue to be that this thing that has befallen him is something that is going to work through and come out on the other side. A stronger, reformed, or whatever else because we don't know what is involved in this situation. But I can say that he stood there as an example of a leader that can represent our country and give us the pride that the country deserves when they put a leader ahead of them. The other thing that we have read today and as I close is a strongly worded statement by Ossida. And I have chosen not to really address it today, but only to say, I'm going to address this during the press conference, only to say that I think as a nation, time has come for us to become truly open with each other, especially if we want to improve our future. And not to be intimidated to exchange views, but also at the same time making sure that we are moving together to create a better future for our people. So this statement, I will deal with it paragraph by paragraph maybe until we understand the spirit that Ossida is trying to exude concerning many, many developments in the nation. So again, may I apologize to those of you that were expecting me to make an announcement relating just to the resignation of our dear brother, Hon. Bocacubo, but actually we had planned to do this announcement earlier to talk about the press conference on Thursday. I've come live to you myself because of how important this conference is going to be. To be very defining and maybe hopefully hear different numbers in terms of how we need to plan for the future as a nation together. And I hope that you are going to make yourself available for those of you that have been invited. And if you are an editor of a media house, please make sure you call the number of our national secretary as we give it to you. May God bless our great republic and happy holidays to all of you. Thank you and God prosper you.