UPND youth chief says more civil servants will be retired 'in the national interest'

More public servants will be retired in the national interest, the national youth chairperson of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), Gilbert Liswaniso, has said. Mr Liswaniso made the remarks on Prime TV's Matters Arising programme on Saturday. Asked whether those who had already been retired were aligned with the opposition, he said they were. The Mast carried the same message on its front page on Monday under the headline "More to be fired". The comments sit uneasily with a statement by Vice-President Mutale Nalumango in Parliament, reported on 17 October, that the law allows retirement in the national interest but that the government does not intend to use it routinely. State House had also said President Hichilema had "nothing to do with the retirement of civil servants in national interest" after police spokesman Godfrey Chilabi was retired on that basis. Mr Liswaniso's claims are his own, and the report of them does not show them being verified. News Diggers said the full article was behind its paywall. **Source:** News Diggers, 07:00 CAT on 19 Oct. [https://diggers.news/local/2026/10/19/public-servants-retired-in-national-interest-were-working-with-opposition-upnd/](https://diggers.news/local/2026/10/19/public-servants-retired-in-national-interest-were-working-with-opposition-upnd/)