United Party for National Development (UPND) deputy secretary general Patrick Mucheleka says his party is excited that Dora Siliya has been promoted as Chief Government Spokesperson, saying she will facilitate the downfall of PF, like she did with the MMD.

Commenting on the appointment of the Petauke Central member of parliament as Minister of Information, Mucheleka said the appointment signified a complete handover of the PF to the former ruling party MMD.

“Of course she (Siliya) is going to deliver by further facilitating the defeat of PF. Remember she is the same one who delivered the defeat of one Rupiah Banda. We are actually very grateful that PF has brought Dora Siliya because our work has actually been made much easier. Zambians do remember her very well for her insults. Dora Siliya is MMD, she is one of the people who have taken over PF and they have pushed out the owners of PF. It’s just that people don’t listen when we tell them, those of us who have been studying the political history of this country have said time again that they use the same people. Remember how they used Chishimba Kambwili when he was Minister of Information, he worked so hard and went out of his way, they used him to insult other people but in the end Chishimba Kambwili was eventually thrown out,” Mucheleka observed.

“Look also at what they have done to Kampamba Mulenga, they used her so much and now that they are done with her, they have dumped her at Ministry of Fisheries and then they have brought their own people. The bringing back of Dora Siliya actually makes the complete capture of PF by the MMD. Honestly, do you expect anything new to come out of Dora Siliya’s mouth? It will just be the usual boasting and insulting of anyone who is perceived to provide checks and balances on them.”

And Mucheleka said original members of the PF were also not happy about Siliya’s promotion because they understood her true intentions.

“It is even worse for those who have remained in PF and given away the hard earned victory over MMD in 2011 within such a short period of time. We have gone round full cycle at 360 degrees back to where we were in 2011 with Dora Siliya at the helm of the government as Chief propaganda minister for MMD masquerading as PF. Along the way, they have of course enlisted the support of a few hungry PF original members who they are using to push out others. So it’s a complete take over because there is nothing that Dora Siliya is going to do. She has just been brought back to facilitate the defeat of PF and one Edgar Lungu, History has a tendency of repeating itself and indeed it has repeated itself in this era,” he said.

Mucheleka wondered what ‘miracles’ Siliya could perform to make PF popular again.

“If PF thinks Dora is going to be a spin doctor who will do miracles, what miracles will she do, when she failed to so the same for MMD? She will just continue from where she ended. A wolf will always be a wolf even when she tries to wear a sheep’s skin. A wolf is a wolf, so Dora will just continue from where she ended in terms if insulting those in PF, those in UPND and indeed other Zambians. So for us as UPND, we are very grateful that Dora has been given that position again because she will make things easier for us,” said Mucheleka.