State House's Clayson Hamasaka accuses Ian Khama of sponsoring a militia in Zambia as the former Botswana president keeps calling Hichilema a dictator

State House Chief Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka has accused former Botswana president Ian Khama of sponsoring a militia group in Zambia and has said that some suspects now in police custody are Mr Khama's relatives. He said Mr Khama is a hypocrite for criticising President Hakainde Hichilema in public without disclosing that connection. Mr Hamasaka was replying to Mr Khama, who has called Mr Hichilema "Africa's newest dictator" and questioned why Botswana sent a representative to the President's inauguration. In a Facebook post on Sunday, which he later deleted, Mr Hamasaka called Mr Khama the strangest of Botswana's leaders and said he had met Mr Hichilema to lobby for personal interests. Mr Khama repeated his criticism in an interview with Swaziland News published on Sunday, saying Mr Hichilema interfered in the elections to satisfy his craving for power, jailed opponents and clergy on invented charges, and kidnapped and tortured political activists. He offered no evidence for these claims in the report of the interview. Other Zambians have answered him. Former Vice-President Enock Kavindele urged him to respect Zambia's sovereignty and bring credible evidence. UPND Media Director Mark Simuuwe said the country's constitutional institutions, legal reforms and international standing speak for themselves. Nominated MP Judith Kabemba Nkonge called the remarks reckless and unbecoming of a former head of state, said they raised concern about possible outside involvement in destabilisation including support for opposition groups and militias, and cited Zambia's election to the UN Human Rights Council with 177 votes and SADC observer reports that recorded about 99 percent peaceful conditions. ## Background Mr Hichilema won re-election on 13 August and was sworn in for a second term on 2 September. In the weeks after the vote, security forces arrested opposition members, and some were charged with treason. Human Rights Watch reports that soldiers who seized