UPND secretary general Steven Katuka says the party is not affected by musician Saboi Imboela’s defection to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) because she was not a big factor.

Reacting to Imboela’s defection in an interview yesterday, Katuka said Imboela had not been active after the party left her out on adoptions.

“What was Saboi in the party? And have you heard from her from last year after adoptions? The woman wanted to stand in Kafue, after she was left out, she went away. So it is nothing new for us, she hasn’t been active, she hasn’t said anything. And for us it is healthy for her to go wherever she wants to go. You know society is very dynamic, I know she wanted to stand in Kafue. Now that there is somebody, she must be finding a route to use for her to stand in another political party but it is not a threat to us. I don’t think she was such a big force that without her we will start crying, no!” Katuka exclaimed.

He wished Imboela well in her new endeavors.

“While we are not happy to see people go, but if she had decided to go, she is free to go away. We worry about people who hold positions in the party that are left vacant, for us to start looking for someone to fill the position. But the ordinary membership of the party, others move even without announcing. So many shift from PF joining us, others move from…it has no impact whatsoever. So if she has decided to chart her way into the other party, we wish her well in her new endeavors,” Katuka further said.

Meanwhile, Katuka said politicians were using the same tricks of announcing fake defections to build momentum.

“Last time before elections we were told that 3,000 had defected in Solwezi to join the PF and after elections we were surprised that we beat them hands down. So they are using the same trick that has not worked before and announcing some people who are not there. That’s a joke of the year. You see we must be serious with what we do and say. Davies went with a chopper, a government chopper to go and do a party programme which attracted a lot of children, wastage of public resources, your money and my money wasted completely which did not yield any results,” said Katuka.