Monze Central UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu has appealed to his fellow opposition MPs to reject the controversial Constitution Amendment Bill 10 of 2018 because that is what Zambians want.

And Mwiimbu has denied allegations that he owns land in Forest Reserve 27 and challenged people advancing this narrative to produce evidence.

There has been speculation on social media that the ruling PF has already secured enough votes from some rebel UPND MPs to make the two thirds majority needed to pass Bill 10.

And in an interview, Monday, Mwiimbu said he could not state for certain that all UPND MPs would reject the Bill because matters of conscience were tricky.

He, however, appealed to his fellow UPND MPs to be on the “right side of history”.

“I hear my sweet name is being mentioned that I am one of those who will support the Bill. Please, let it be known that I will never support the current proposed Constitution Amendment. My views are very clear, they are on record. The people have spoken that they don’t support that particular proposed Amendment Bill Number 10, and I am 100 per cent with the people. I was even proposed to be part of the [Parliamentary] Select Committee to scrutinize that particular amendment, I was nominated to be part of it, but I have recused myself. It does not serve my interest,” Mwiimbu said.

“As far as I am concerned, the UPND MPs are unanimous! They are not going to support the proposed Amendment Bill Number 10 unless there is something I don’t know. Obviously, these things hinge on the conscience of an individual; you might be assured that they are going to do that, but they will do something completely different. But I would like to call upon all my friends in the UPND to support the rejection of the proposed Constitution Amendment. Let each and every member of parliament search their conscience and be on the right side of the people for the sake of posterity.”

And Mwiimbu denied allegations that he owned land in Forest Reserve 27.

“Why is that people are saying I own land there? Why can’t they produce the documents from Ministry of Lands to show that I own land there, like they have done for the others? I don’t own any land in the Forest Reserve, I don’t! I challenge anybody to produce evidence to say that this is my plot and my name is appearing on that particular certificate of title or offer, which is in my name,” said Mwiimbu.