Patriotic Front Lusaka Province chairman Paul Moonga says it is rubbish for Mazabuka Central UPND member of parliament Gary Nkombo to describe President Edgar Lungu’s State of the Nation address as blasphemous.

During his debate of the Presidential speech at the opening of the 4th session of the 12th National Assembly last week, Nkombo charged that it was blasphemous for President Lungu to say the country’s economic challenges were an act of God when changes in the environmental system were not unique to Zambia.

Nkombo further castigated the PF and government for de-gazetting Forest Reserve No. 27 whose plots have been shared among prominent people and said the UPND would re-gazette it once it takes over power.

But commenting on Nkombo’s sentiments in an interview with News Diggers, Moonga said the opposition lawmaker was being “stupid” in his reasoning.

“I have always seen Gary Nkombo as an intelligent young man with fine English. But unfortunately, his debate over the Presidential speech on the ceremonial opening of Parliament, I have found it to be very absurd. He talks the President saying his talk about climate change was blasphemous to God. But climate climate world over is the main problem that every country is struggling with to see how best we can overcome it. Climate change has brought misery in the world, not just in Zambia. Climate change has destroyed the Bahamas in America. So to see Gary Nkombo stand in Parliament to condemn the Presidential ceremonial speech which was centered on how best we can accelerate development under climate change, an MP chose to shy this by talking rubbish in Parliament. So if an opposition member of parliament cannot give solutions to the ruling party, why should we have opposition members of parliament in the House?” Moonga asked.

He further wondered why Nkombo and the UPND would want to re-gazette Forest Reserve 27 and repossess all the plots that had been allocated to Zambians when the beneficiaries were Zambians and not foreigners.

“It is so shocking that he went further to say when the UPND comes in power, when HH is sworn in, Forest 27 will be gazetted and all the houses which would have been built there will be destroyed. What kind of stupidity is that? Why would you come into power with an agenda of destroying what the ruling party has put in place? Forest 27 is benefiting Zambians, not foreigners. Now I am so scared with UPND character of thinking because it means whatever the PF government has put in place, they will come and gazette and destroy. How many districts have we put in place? From 23, we are over 120 districts now. So all these districts that have been put up by PF in order to take services closer to the people, UPND will come and destroy them. UPND will come and destroy all the new roads because UPND doesn’t want anything that PF has put in place. UPND will degazette the dual carriage road which we are doing now from Lusaka to Ndola, what stupidity!” Moonga said.

“If UPND comes into power, all those roads we are doing from Kafue roundabout…because these guys don’t see anything sensible in what PF is doing, they will come and destroy them. You shall never hear them praise government where it has done something right. Look what’s happening near Arcades there! The road is being expanded because PF is looking ahead that we need to de-congest the city because by 2020, there shall be so many cars in the country that we can’t be able to drive. But can they even praise the government for that matter? The answer is no! Their sole purpose is that HH must go to State House, they have only one agenda which is for HH to be President. The other agenda is that only a Tonga should rule, they are a bunch of tribalists! They are so stupid that they only look at the tribe and not the quality of a leader. Now I find that kind of thinking to be very stupid.”

He further charged that HH would never be President of Zambia if it was not in God’s plan for him to be.

“Remember, stupid is not an insult, it’s the failure to reason by one Gary Nkombo, the young man who I always thought was very intelligent, very brave, but alas, the young man is just singing praises for HH, ‘HH 2021 when he comes into power’, which power? To be a President is by God’s grace. When God says yes, nobody can say no. So if God allows that HH will be President, then he will be President but they should not claim it because it’s not by power or mighty, it’s by the grace of God… Garry is drunk with money, when you are drunk with money, you become very stupid and think everybody is a fool. But Gary should understand that looking after people is not the same as keeping cattle or goats, becoming a leader is a gift from God. Let HH become a councilor first, let him go to the council chambers then he can think of becoming a President. To become a President fipelwa naba Yahweh (it’s a gift from God),” said Moonga.

“So let them keep dreaming ‘HH, Zambia forward’, what is Zambia forward when you want to come and destroy the development that is going on? Is that forward? That is backward! So they should change their forward to Zambia backward since they only want to come into power and destroy what PF has done. But my advice to my dear Gary Nkombo is that ‘you are intelligent enough, don’t destroy your political career by becoming a praise singer for HH’.”