Democratic Party (DP) party spokesperson Judith Kabemba says Luapula Province Minister Nickson Chilangwa’s recommendation letter to have Harry Kalaba expelled from PF will not distract the party’s vision for the poor.

And Kabemba says Chilangwa’s political fortunes are dwindling.

In a statement, Kabemba stated that Chilangwa’s actions have only exposed his ignorance.

Kabemba also stated that her party had written to Kalaba inviting him to contest as its presidential candidate for 2021 general election

In his letter, dated April 14, 2018, which was addressed to the PF Secretary General, Chilangwa recommended that Kalaba be expelled from PF for allegedly breaching the party constitution.

“Following the Central Committee held on Saturday 24th March, 2018, and the deliberations on the above matter, we wish to re-affirm our position that Hon. Harry Kalaba should be expelled from the party (PF) as he has breached the PF party constitution, he has showed no remorse for his utterances and actions. His continued stay in the party is inimical to the interests of our party. Hon Harry Kalaba has lost all credibility in the party rank and file, as well as in Bahati constituency, Mansa district and Luapula province. I submit for your endorsement of our decision as petitioned by all the 11 districts and 15 constituencies in Luapula Province,” read Chilangwa’s letter.

But in a statement, Monday,Kabemba stated that by resigning from his ministerial position, Kalaba was equally ready for expulsion.

“Democratic Party says the letter to recommend the expulsion of Hon. Kalaba from PF will not distract him from making a decision that will be in the interest of the people of Zambia because that recommendation is simply a clear indication of how our politics have been reduced by some people. We expected Chilangwa to be intelligent enough and that he could play smart politics and make calculated moves, but it’s clear from his action that he is the opposite of what was expected. Surely, do you expect a person who could make a radical decision of resigning from his ministerial position as Foreign Affairs Minister for the sake of the 16 million Zambians who are suffering to be shaken or moved by a simple expulsion. Far from it,” Kabemba stated.

She stated that Kalaba resigned because he was “allergic to corruption” hence no crime was committed in taking his decision.

“It was expected that it is common sense that if Hon. Kalaba could resign from his ministerial position for the sake for the people who are suffering, then it means that he was more than ready for that planned expulsion. One would wonder if it is a crime for one to resign from his ministerial position because he does not succumb to corruption and does not entertain all those vices that do not add value to the people of Zambia. Hon Kalaba resigned because he is allergic to corruption, he is allergic to all those things that are destroying our country,” she explained.

“And for Chilangwa to see that as a crime, and as a basis of expelling Hon Kalaba from the PF, then it raises a lot of questions and surely every well-meaning Zambian could see that only then those that entertain corruption and all the things that are making the people of Zambia to suffer are the ones who will have an upper-hand in this government. It should suffice to say that people should have a conscious. Firstly, Chilangwa is a wrong person to have the guts to write the recommendation of the expulsion [of] Hon. Kalaba from the PF because Chilangwa is reaping where he did not sow. Chilangwa was one of the people that fought the candidature of President Lungu in 2015. He was the person who openly said that “no one would ascend to presidency using the back door”. In reference to President Lungu.”
She disclosed that her party had written to Kalaba inviting him to contest as its presidential candidate for the 2021 general election, adding that Chilangwa’s political fortunes are dwindling.

“Today these are the people parading themselves as PF saints. The people of Zambia have not forgotten what happened in 2015. Secondly, Chilangwa has got serious issues to attend to in his constituency. And, therefore, at a time like this one we expect him to concentrate on reconciling with the people of Kawambwa where his popularity is dwindling and his political career drowning like the Titanic instead of concentrating on spending his time writing cheap expulsions. Let me clearly state that the Democratic Party has written to Hon. Kalaba inviting him to contest as its presidential candidate for 2021 general elections and Hon. Kalaba is currently very busy studying the letter and about to make a decision that is going to change Zambia and make history in this country and so such simple issues as expulsion, which are meant on distracting his attention will not derail nor make him lose focus because Zambia is waiting for credible leadership that Hon. Kalaba is supposed to offer, Zambia is waiting for change, a paradigm shift on how politics are played in this country,” stated Kabemba.