FORMER PF secretary general Davies Mwila has wondered why proprietors of China Energy Engineering Group, the company contracted to build FTJ University, have not been arrested if USD 33,750,000 was paid to them for the project.

And Mwila says those joining UPND are desperate and either want to eat with the party or have some active criminal cases.

In an interview, Mwila said the current Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya was in office at the time of the FTJ University project and knew how the money was moving.

“Why is honourable [Charles] Milupi concerned about the rebranding of our party? Rebranding is a PF internal matter and it is not something that UPND can be concerned about. Why is he worried about us? It means that it is a factor. And if we do not rebrand the party, is it his problem? He should just concentrate on his Ministry. Eight months from the time they came into office, they have never constructed any road, not even a gravel road or a toilet anywhere. They are just talking about theories, but the Zambian people will not eat theories. And maybe he does not understand the FTJ University, he should ask governor [Denny] Kalyalya because he was there. He should also ask [Felix] Nkulukusa,” he said.

“When you are getting a loan from China Exim Bank, for example at the FTJ University, if the loan was $300 million, the government has to pay $15 million upfront to Exim bank. So the announcement by Prof [Nkandu] Luo was that 15% had been paid to Exim Bank so money had to be released. The releasing of the money is not by the government. The contractor is supposed to be paid by Exim bank. The conditions are that you contract a Chinese company. So when the Chinese contractor’s works are certified, the money will come straight from Exim bank and not from the Zambian government. People must understand. Governor Kalyalya knows how the money was moving. They know who got the money. If the contractor got the money, why can’t they pick him? They have to arrest him. They can engage the Chinese Ambassador if he has gone to China.”

Mwila said government was just trying to divert the attention of people by not addressing real issues.

He cited the recent interrogation of DMMU national coordinator Chanda Kabwe by the ACC as one of such cases.

“This issue of throwing mud on PF will not help the UPND. They want to paint us black and that we are thieves. The recent incident of Chanda Kabwe where they said he was refusing to appear before the PAC but look at the embarrassment they had at Parliament. He answered them according to what they wanted and now ACC had to come in. He went to ACC and if you hear the interrogations being done, it is just rumours. DMMU bought a vehicle which was used by the Minister under the vice president’s office and that vehicle was later given to the national coordinator. When he was leaving the office, he handed over that vehicle. So what was the issue he was being interrogated about? It is a waste of time,” Mwila said.

“This is a circus. These are jokers. What do they want to achieve? They want Zambians to see that they are fighting corruption by just calling anyone. They are just wasting people’s time. Next time, they will call him to ask, ‘what about this house?’ We cannot be running a country like we are in UNIP. The fight against corruption must be genuine. It must be done professionally but if you are targeting people, they are bound to fail. They are just trying to divert attention because people want food on their tables. The economy is not doing fine and they must concentrate on that. Otherwise, we are running for a year and by the time it will be three years it will be too late.”

And Mwila said most people being investigated within the PF were innocent.

He added that those joining the UPND were desperate and either wanted to eat with the party or had some criminal cases.

“Most of the people they are following are innocent. Look at GMB’s cases. The cases that they have brought happened in 2013 and 2014 under Michael Sata. Former president Edgar Lungu took over in 2015, so you could see that they are just following people. That is why they will not succeed because they are bitter. The UPND leadership is full of bitter people and they will not go anywhere. They are worried because PF is intact. Anyone you see joining the UPND is desperate. It is either he wants to go and eat with them or he has some criminal cases. That is not for genuine people like us. We cannot follow UPND because that is a one term government,” said Mwila.