It’s unfortunate that Antonio Mwanza whom I have fed for a very long time has decided to bite the hand that has been putting food on his table, New Labour party (NLP) president Fresher Siwale has charged.

And All People’s Congress (APC) leader Nason Msoni says he cannot ask for a job from President Edagr Lungu because he is overqualified to work in a government full of clowns.

Last week, Mwanza charged that Siwale and Msoni were bitter with President Lungu because the Head of State denied them jobs after campaigning in 2015.

Speaking to News Diggers in a walk in interview, Siwale complained that the former FDD Spokesperson was being ungrateful after being taken care of when he was fired from Zambeef for stealing meat.

“It’s unfortunate that my young man Antonio Mwanza whom I have fed for a very long time has decided to bite the hand that has been putting food on his mouth for a long time. It seems the young man does not love himself because if he did, he would have not allowed to be sacrificed by PF. He is too new in PF, he doesn’t even understand how PF functions, he should have allowed seasoned members of PF to respond to the issues I am raising. I was a senior member of the Patriotic Front, I was Co-Secretary General with Guy Scott and I was also Spokesperson for Michael Sata for the 2006 elections. So for the young man to engage himself in a debate he does not understand its really unfortunate. I have raised the issue of Identity theft of the President and he has failed to respond, I have also raised the criminality of Chief Justice Ireen Chirwa, she has not responded I am still waiting,” Siwale said.

And Siwale claimed that he refused job offers from Michael Sata’s PF who constantly sent the current president Lungu’s Political Advisor Kaizer Zulu to invite him to State House for a job.

“For Antonio to cast aspersions that I am looking for a job, for his own information, I was very close to the late Michael Sata. I refused job offers from him, he (Mwanza) can go and ask Kaizer Zulu how many times Kaizer came looking for me. I refused to meet Michael Sata at State House because he represented what I did not believe in. So that’s why I say that President Lungu is an identity thief and I cannot ask for a job from a grave scavenger who goes to scavenge a name, he gets certificates of a dead man and starts to be pretending to be a lawyer when he’s not. It is not enough to hide behind silence, where is Tasila [Lungu]? She should have come and said ‘this is my father’ but why is she hiding? And Esther Lungu, whey hasn’t she come out to refute that she was a maid of the late Edgar Chagwa Lungu? So their time is up,” said Siwale.

“I know what I am talking about and I am on firm ground. Even when I say the office of the President is vacant, I am on firm ground. Legally speaking, there is no President in Zambia and Zambians must just start preparing for the elections. The 2016 elections never took place, all the documents they used came into existence on 12th August, a day after voting. So where did they get the nomination forms? Where did they get the declaration forms? Let us not divert from real issues which we find ourselves in Zambia, a small boy like Antonio must not start trivialising these issues. By the way Zambians must know, who is Antonio Mwanza? Antonio was fired by Zambeef for stealing chunks of meat. And PF gets a thief to be speaking for them, a person who stole chunks of meet and was fired from Zambeef. This is a son of a refugee, a bandit from Mozambique. So when we are talking about refugees, this is why he’s reacting like this because he’s not a stakeholder in Zambia. I feel sorry for this boy because he has to go back to Mozambique to go and resolve the many problems in that country.”

And Msoni said he could never work in President Lungu’s government because he was too qualified.

“Firstly, I have never sort for any job from Mr Lungu and it’s obvious that Mr Mwanza doesn’t know me and my current status. Because if he did, he would not have made such an outrageous statement. Secondly, I think there is no other President of all the Presidents that have served this country, including the incumbent President that is more qualified than me. So when Mwanza says I was not appointed [by President Lungu] because I am not qualified, that’s laughable, it’s a big joke. Mr Msoni has more than three Masters Degrees in different fields and over qualified even to be employed in public service or anywhere else. So such misleading statements are unfortunate,” he said.

“The young man (Antonio) can still eat quietly without abusing some of the colleagues that he left in the opposition. In politics, you should always bear in mind that those you leave behind, you don’t attack mercilessly because you don’t know at what time they would become relevant to you. And to the contrary, Mr Lungu only appoints people who are unqualified. Look at the clowns that he has in government, are those clowns qualified? It’s laughable, Mr Bowman Lusambo is he qualified? Mr Antonio Mwanza should be serious… kwena umwaiche uyu takwaba amano ai, naleti limbi alikwata amano. Look at Mr Bowman in Lusaka, surely can Mr Bowman Lusambo be moire qualified than me? Because even Mr Lungu himself is alleged to be a complete drop out.”

He said Mwanza did not know President Lungu enough to defend his roots.

“I don’t think it’s right for Mr Mwanza to join these issues that he doesn’t understand. There is nobody in this country that understands when we say Mr Lungu is from across, we know Mr Lungu more than he does himself, Mwanza has just known Mr Lungu on account of his eating basis. He went to PF to eat, so he will say anything to continue eating in PF. We are not seeking any jobs from Mr Lungu because we know Mr Lungu is a selfish man in any case. Even the relatives he claims he has in Petauke, he has not given them any jobs. Can you tell me the names of the people from Petauke he has given jobs? So we are not looking for any jobs from Mr Lungu, all we want is that Mr Lungu should find it in his heart to work for Zambians. He should be able to respond to the needs and challenges that Zambian people are facing,” said Msoni.

Meanwhile, Mwanza said he could not be fed by Siwale because the opposition leader is just a helpless man who is suffering from dementia and does not do anything for a living.

“I am so happy that people can now see the people they are dealing with in Mr Siwale. I think he’s suffering from dementia and he needs help. The issues I raised had got nothing to do with him as a person. I have raised issues to do with the status of President Lungu. Those issues are that; one, Mr Siwale knows that President Lungu is a Zambian and he knows also that there is a judgment by the Supreme Court with regards to nationality. Number two, the issue I have raised is that Mr Siwale doesn’t run any political party, what he has is what we call ‘nashala neka party’. So those are the issues he should respond to. And if you look at Mr Siwale, who needs feeding and who can feed the other between me and Mr Siwale? How can I go to Mr Siwale and ask for feeding from him? What does he do that I can ask for feeding from him? There is nothing he does. So let him not reduce this debate to personalities,” said Mwanza.

“I think he has dementia and he needs help. And Mr Siwale and comrade kaizer Zulu have been colleagues for a very long time so I will ask comrade Kaizer to look after his brother and see how he can help him, not in terms of money but he needs psychological help.”