Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo says the PF disciplinary committee has not summoned him, but has merely invited him to appear alongside Minister of National Planning Alexander Chiteme to clarify some issues.

And Lusambo says it takes one idiot to know another.

Lusambo and Chiteme were summoned to appear before the PF disciplinary committee for allegedly causing confusion on the Copperbelt and undermining provincial chairperson Nathan Chanda.

But in an interview, Lusambo said he was ready to go and “mingle” with the committee.

“PF is a democratic party and there is no one who is bigger than the party. And if there is an issue which they want to clarify, they don’t need to summon us. What they have done, they have just invited us to go and appear before the disciplinary committee. So they have not summoned us, they have just invited us to go and appear to the disciplinary committee, that is all. Our party a democratic party for us we value democracy than any other thing. The President is a democratic President, the entire party is democratic, we have freedom of speech, freedom of association. We are going there to mingle with the committee because we know exactly what is there, we know what is happening, we know what they are expecting from us, we know. It is a procedure thing,” Lusambo said.

And commenting University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers Union (UNZALARU) general secretary Kelvin Mambwe’s remarks that if elections were held today, only those who were enjoying with government or idiots would vote for PF, Lusambo said only an idiot could identify another.

“It is only a thief who can know a thief. So if they are saying ‘idiot’ it is only idiots who can know idiots!” Lusambo exclaimed.

“So for us we are not going to be moved by those people who would want to say things in the manner which won’t help anyone. It is more like you are in a house and there is an issue and now instead of sorting out that issue amicably, you want to go public and start issuing statements to the general public. It is not the general public that sorts out the issue, it is not the general public that sorts out the issue, it is not the media that sorts out the issue, it is dialogue that sorts out the issue.”

He said government would not tolerate any civil servant who decided to participate in active politics.

“For me, I know that the Minister Higher Education comrade Brian Mushimba is doing everything possible with Madam Kayula (Siame). There are doing everything possible to transform the higher education sector in our country. I can assure you that UNZA is not the only institution we have, we have a lot of institutions in our country. So for me I can assure that all those will be sorted through the Ministry of Higher Education. Even in these institutions, there are now people who want to participate in active politics. And we want to urge them that as a government, we don’t tolerate any individual, especially in the civil service, to start participating into active politics,” said Lusambo.

“And they like making a lot of noise, we want them to go and register in numbers and vote. Let them vote for the best candidate who is His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. The vote is very important because it the same vote which will pay that lecturer who is complaining today. It is the same vote which will buy medicine in the hospitals. I pity those people who don’t vote and they complain. If you don’t vote, don’t complain. That is why I am saying it is only a thief who can call another person a thief.”