Bowman Lusambo should start making arrangements to join UPND since he doesn’t like being outside the system because UPND is forming government in 2021, says Getrude Imenda.
Commenting on the Lusaka Province Minister’s threats that he would “crush and send into extinction UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema if the opposition leader did not stop politics of provocation”, Imenda said Lusambo was just a thug who never understood anything about democracy.
Imenda charged that Lusambo was just a money digger who always wanted to side with and join the ruling party.
“First of all, what does he mean by ‘if HH does not stop provocative politics’? What provocation has HH done? The problem is that when you have people who haven’t even been to school in politics, they don’t understand democracy. Hakainde is talking about things that are happening in our country; things like corruption, theft, not following the rule of law and constitutionalism. He’s talking about poverty, illiteracy, all those things. When you look at all these things it’s true they are happening. Right now I am in Mongu, coming from Sesheke, people are coming to me complaining about lack of money. Yet here is a government which is dishing out money openly to corrupt voters. But if Hakainde condemns that then he’s provoking, but what do they expect him to do as an opposition leader? The opposition party is responsible for offering checks and balances to the system, this PF government should be brought to account,” Imenda, who is UPND deputy secretary general for administration, said.
“But the likes of Lusambo, I feel sorry for him because he doesn’t understand. He’s a person who was just picked from the streets and then given a ministerial position which he doesn’t even understand and a lot of people have been picked like that but they don’t understand their roles because they have not been to school. As such, they only understand violence. There they are, they went to Sesheke, and they wanted to assassinate Hakainde Hichilema. I am not even surprised that Lusambo can say that, they wanted to kill HH because he’s an inconvenience to them. They want to be stealing openly and no one should raise his voice. But that’s terrible, these people were dishing out money, even Lungu, he went into the market in Sesheke giving out money. But really when we had the rule of law, you would know it’s not allowed during campaigns to start dishing out money like that. But these PF people are doing it openly.”
Imenda also mocked the PF for losing the Sesheke by-elections even after bribing people in the constituency to vote for their candidate.
“People in Sesheke are different from the people in Mangango, they understand issues. They may not have been very much to school but they have the wisdom in their own right. But the likes of Lusambo do not understand, that’s why they make threats. Let me tell you what they did in Mangango, when HH wanted to go and campaign in Mangango, they gave him a call out in Ndola. So this time, when he was going to campaign in Sesheke and Lungu was there, there is nothing wrong with them going at the same time. The constituency is big, if Lungu is going to the Boma, what stops Hakainde from going Imushu, to Lusu? Why should it, just because Lungu is in Sesheke central then Hakainde should not step foot there, says who?” Imenda wondered.
“We used to do this even in the MMD government but what we have seen in this government, I don’t think they are human beings. Look at what happened at Parliament on Friday… Kang’ombe has been voted for by the people of Sesheke central constituency, so who are those PF thugs going to dance at Parliament saying they will not allow him to go into Parliament? Is it their Parliament? What about the people of Sesheke who have put him there? So who are those thugs and who are they representing when they say they won’t allow him to go inside?”
Imenda explained that she had never seen the kind of lawlessness being witnessed under PF.
“I have never seen a regime like this one. It’s like we are not being governed by human beings, they have no leadership qualities, they are just thugs, they are just criminals, they are just corrupt. But the people of Sesheke rejected the PF violence, so who is PF to say ‘we don’t want Kang’ombe to go to Parliament’? so they don’t want Sesheke people to be represented in Parliament? Now if Sesheke comes and turns on them, what are they going to say? That is unacceptable and the like of Lusambo saying what they are saying… you have seen, those are reminiscent of the thuggery, the criminality, corruption and violence. But let me warn that Lusambo guy, Hakainde is here and he’s going to be President in 2021, whether Lusambo likes it or not. In fact, since Lusambo is a money digger who wants to be with the ruling party, let him start making arrangements to join UPND if he still wants to be in the system because he does not want to stay outside the system. He was in MMD and now he has joined PF, let him make arrangements to join UPND because UPND is forming government and instead of fighting Hakainde, let him just cooperate,” said Imenda.
