PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says the people will soon get fed up of PF if some undisciplined top officials are left unchecked.

And President Lungu says top PF leaders who are going round the country claiming that they are going to take over the party and engaging themselves in criminal activities do not represent him.

Speaking when he addressed party officials in Kasempa, Friday, President Lungu said people were going to be fed up with the party because of some undisciplined leaders.

“The other thing I want to talk about is discipline in the party. And this time, I am talking about top leadership, the President, the National Committee and other top leaders we have to be disciplined. We will not be respected by our followers if we don’t respect ourselves and respect them. We will not attract new membership if we don’t respect ourselves. We are going to respect ourselves and respect the people by following the law and doing what is right and not taking advantage of our positions. I said this yesterday and I am saying it again; the people that saw UNIP get out of power are the undisciplined members of that party, the people who killed MMD out of government are the undisciplined members and the members who will [remove] us PF are the undisciplined members in the party,” President Lungu said.

“People got fed up of the chairman in the UNIP days because he was busy looking at other people’s things and getting land and all those things, people got fed up. Similarly, people got fed up with MMD because they were allocating land illegally and doing all sorts of things, people got fed up. Sooner than later, people will get fed up of PF if we allow ourselves to be dominated by thugs and criminals in the name of leaders. So for that reason, don’t expect that you will get the support from the party, from the President, from the chairman, from the Vice-President [or from] any of us the top leadership in the party if you misbehave because you are leaders. We will deal with you.”

And President Lungu said he was not involved in any criminal activities being conducted in his name.

“And if you go round breaking the law and saying ‘no, the President is backing me, I am going to be the President’ you are on your own. People are going round the country saying ‘I’m doing this with the party, SG is involved in this, the President is backing me in this’, illicit deals and all, I am not involved. Whether you are a party member, civil servant if you break the law in the name of the party President of the Republic of Zambia, the law will visit you alone. So in short this habit of name throwing and top leaders involved in criminal activities should stop now because the law will visit you one day. I am urging those who have been tempted or [been] attracted to this culture to stop now. So the Central Committee will sit shortly and decide the fate of our colleagues who have been allegedly involved in illegal gold mining activities and you will be informed accordingly. In PF, we don’t have sacrificial lambs or sacred cows, everyone is equal,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Lungu noted with sadness that some people in the party were saying he had messed it up the because he brought people from MMD and UPND .

“For those who were in the party in 2021, those of you who were with us in 2011, those of you who joined yesterday, you are all part of this political party PF. I am saying this because I have received some reports that some of you say ‘we started the party and you found us’ there is nothing like that. We believe in inclusion, we believe in serving the people. So those who believe in PF, I believe in you. In 2021 we will pick from you who is going to be our councilor, we will pick from you who is going to be member of parliament, we will pick from you who is going to be our minister. I am saying this because I have heard people that have formed their own political parties and saying ‘Lungu messed up PF because he has brought people who were in MMD and UPND’, shame to those people. The vision of Mr Sata was to build a national party where we all felt loved and wanted. If you are talking of a party which is embracing all manner of people, embracing of all tribes, which is a national character, it is PF,” President Lungu said.

He also called for 50 per cent representation of women in next year’s general elections.

“I am glad to hear that you are working well. Please identify sooner than later an MP for 2021. I don’t mind whether it is a man or woman as long as you are PF and a member, you are eligible to contest. I am saying this because Zambia is a member of the SADC and we have talked about these issues of women participating in the issue of governance it is time that Zambia began to set a standard and we want all women in leadership. So provincial chairman, district chairman, constituency chairman and all others please take note that we want to achieve a 50-50 representation in the 2021 elections. I know what I am talking about because the more women we have in our nation, the more responsible we will be. Time is gone when a woman was confined to a kitchen and was confined to take care of the children time now is for a woman to participate equally at 50-50 with others. So apart from the women, I am also saying we will have the youths in 2021,” said President Lungu.