Renowned political strategist and lawyer Kelvin Bwalya Fube (KBF) says the Patriotic Front leadership lives in fear of being banished by President Edgar Lungu and as such, members are not performing their duties.

And KBF says the morally bankrupt PF under President Edgar Lungu has made numerous mistakes that are difficult to defend, hence his decision to write a book as a wake up call to the Head of State.

Speaking during a discussion program on Radio Phoenix yesterday, KBF said individuals in the PF were pre-occupied with protecting their positions instead of executing their duties as expected by Zambians.

“The fear among the people in PF is that when you speak, and you sound politically incorrect, you are going to be banished. We should get that fear out of ourselves. If you are going to be just singing praises to the President, because you want to keep your job, then you don’t deserve your job in my humble view. Because your job is to advise, your job is to bring out the short comings. But they don’t do that, they are afraid of being banished by the President,” KBF said.

“If people are going to be blind to the fact the this is an age of information, then they are fooling themselves. We have got comparisons where a road is being done from Mombasa to Nairobi, we know what the cost of the road is. We know what the road between the Beitbridge from South Africa to Zimbabwe is going to cost. We know the distances of these roads. So lets not pretend. And when we see the figures come out [in Zambia], people are talking. Now why have the opposition taken that and started criticising us when we can correct it ourselves? But when you bring out such things, it’s a question of simply saying look you cant fool people. Dollars are Dollars in Kenya and Dollars are the same Dollars in Zimbabwe and in South Africa. They are quoting in dollars and the distance of the roads are known. So, what is so special about these roads in Zambia that they cost more than those in Zimbabwe or South Africa?”

He said there was so much information nowadays indicating that the PF government was corrupted and that President Edgar Lungu’s silence over the matter implied that there was a problem.

“I have heard some people arguing that they will add hotels along the roads and things like that, but who wants to sleep on a 300-kilometer road? I can drive back and forth to the Copperbelt. I have been to meetings, I have been to courts in the morning back and forth and I have come back to my office to work. So, for me it doesn’t really make sense. We should be open enough to say we have made a mistake and we can correct it. Once we are magnanimous to that effect, Zambians can respect us. But when the opposition start singing about it every day and you don’t correct it, you have got a problem.”

“You must understand that up to 30 per cent of our budget has to do with procurement. We have a problem when 30 percent of your budget goes to procurement and the procurement is done corruptly. It’s a very wrong thin to do. And that’s what I was trying to highlight because there are statistics that prove that its not just the road network where there is corruption no! its in every area of procurement. And this goes to the civil servants who have institutionalised their own ways of stealing by making their wives go into procurement, their friend go into procurement. Its called insider trading. Its cartels being formed, because they are the ones designing tender jobs, they are the ones giving this information to their friends. Not political cartels but economic cartels. Now we can’t keep cheating the Zambian people that we are being morally upright when we know that we are cheating.”

He said President Lungu needed to get rid of individuals who have brought the name of the party into disrepute.

“There are a few individuals in the PF who are rafting at the core. They want to steal left right and centre. You will find their names popping up in every corner and in every deal. And the President has not been credited with disciplinary action. He must begin to act to save the party. Because we cannot as a party have the same name popping up in the corruption scandals. Loyalty to the President is not Patriotism. Critical information is kept away from the President,” he said.

And KBF says morally bankrupt PF adding that he recently turned down a position from the party’s leadership saying he does not want to be tagged as morally bankrupt due to his association.

“I don’t want a position in the party right now because you will be branded. When you mix with certain people, you know what they say, show me your friends and I will tell you who you are. And for me I am saying to the President we are prepared to work but help us. Let us help you where we know we can help you but some people we do not need them. How are we going to defend, how are we going to explain when these people are still sitting next to you? It’s a moral issue. In politics there comes a point where you have to take a moral decision. I was given an appointment recently which I turned down. Not because of anything but because I had moral questions on certain things and I said no I can’t. This should be the norm,” he said.

Meanwhile KBF says he wrote his book titled “Zambia must prosper” to remind President Lungu that his mistakes were difficult to defend.

“But the truth is out here in the real world, people are saying what is the president doing? That’s why I wrote this book, it’s a wake-up call. I’m trying to tell the President that people are crying out here. It doesn’t matter what people out there are telling you. So, we need to get rid of people we don’t need because some people we really don’t need them. Right now, it is difficult to defend my party. When you go into the budget and try to analyse the budget, there the amount of money we are paying on loans kills this government. It kills the Zambian people. Why are we paying all that?” asked Fube.

“I have always argued that part of the problem in developing this country is the loan system. The loans that we take must always reflect our intentions as a people. The problem we have is some people when sitting in those governmental offices take loans not caring what the next generation will be. Now it will tie them down for the next 20 to 30 years, they will just want to get their commission and move on. And the truth of the matter is, its also stealing.”