Patriotic Front Secretary General Davies Mwila has blamed Kaumbwe PF member of Parliament Listed Tembo for their loss of Lusinde Ward in Eastern Province saying it speaks volumes about his ill performance as area MP.
Meanwhile, Mwila says under the stewardship of President Edgar Lungu and his ever-increasing popularity, PF has continued to grow from strength to strength in every Province.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, Mwila welcomed the position taken by the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue and the three Church mother bodies that the Church would chair and lead the processes while the Secretariat would be provided by both ZCID and the Church.
He added that It was gratifying to hear from the Church that a cordial meeting was held at which President Lungu and UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema had “brotherly” discussions.
And Mwila said they had received with great joy, news of PF election victory in most of the elections across the country.
He further commended members of other political parties for their peaceful conduct.
He however regretted the ruling party’s loss of Lusinde Ward in Kaumbwe Constituency of Petauke, saying Eastern Province was PF’s stronghold.
He said in a by-election, the loss of a ward election spoke to the ill performance of an incumbent member of parliament and local party leadership, adding that their loss in Lusinde Ward was an indictment on the area MP.
“In a by-election, the loss of a ward election speaks to the ill performance of an incumbent member of parliament and local party leadership. The loss in Lusinde Ward is an indictment on the area Member of Parliament Listed Tembo who was also campaign Manager for the by-election. Let me state that this is happening in a ward where the MP resides,” he said.
Mwila added that the party would review Tembo’s performance and deal with him accordingly.
He directed the provincial leadership in Eastern Province to get down to the ground and submit a full report to his office in 14 days.
Meanwhile, Mwila said the PF’s victory in Mangango constituency showed that the nation’s democratic process was substantially maturing.
He said under the stewardship of President Lungu and his ever-increasing popularity, PF had continued to grow from strength to strength in every Province.
“We are particularly humbled not only by the overwhelming embrace of PF by the people of Mangango Constituency, but also by the warm and emphatic nature of the embrace. The statistics and pattern of the vote demonstrates that the good people of Mangango Constituency have voted for enhanced development in their constituency,” he said.
Mwila said democracy was more important than that which divided people.
“To our colleagues in the opposition; our democracy is much more important than that which occasionally divides us. We need to continue on the path of issue-based and peaceful co-existence beyond elections – void of regionalism and sensationalism,” Mwila said.
He advised the opposition to respect foreign nationals.
“As the country we have been complaining about unemployment and I believe that investment creates jobs for our people. And once we start talking about foreign nationals who are bringing investment in Zambia, we are just killing ourselves. I will advice our colleagues from the opposition that let them respect the foreign nationals. But that does not mean that the investors should do whatever they want to do without being regulated. As government, we have to regulate the foreign investors,” said Mwila.
Asked what the PF was doing to protect investors, Mwila said government was dealing with the issue through the ministry of foreign affairs.
Mwila added that PF was too sweet that’s why people were fighting for positions.
