Transport and Communications Minister Mutotwe Kafwaya should enjoy the commissions that he is getting from Huawei rather than accusing former ministers of not having done anything sensible when they were in office, says former Chief Government Spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili.

And Kambwili says he will not waste time discussing Kafwaya whom he described as a small boy “wearing very big jackets drunk with unknown powers”.

On Sunday, Kafwaya said it was strange for former ministers who served in government to attack the ruling party today when they did nothing during their time in office.

“There are a lot of colleagues who were ministers. When they were ministers, they could not do sensible things but today, they are saying they want to be presidents so that they can help the Zambian people. How are you going to help the Zambian people just because you are president? When you were given a role as a minister, you did nothing! In fact, when we remind you that even mining you did in Lower Zambezi, you start running away saying, ‘no, it is Cabinet’,” said Kafwaya.

“When we ask you how Cabinet can approve a policy, which is not sponsored by a Minister, you cannot answer the question. You are given a good chance to help the Zambian people, you steal their cash. Up to today, people are suffering, people are dying, you cannot have the remorse that ‘now, I want to be a leader, let me show some leadership I go back to these people and say when I was given chance to run this, I mismanaged it, let me pay back.’ But what all of you are saying is, ‘when we become leaders, we are going to do the right thing’.”

But in an interview, Kambwili, who is now National Democratic Congress (NDC) president, dismissed Kafwaya’s argument, saying he was known countrywide because of the works he did when he was in government.

The NDC leader served in various different government portfolios since 2011, with his last one being Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services before President Edgar Lungu dropped him in November 2016.

“Honourable Kafwaya is a nobody in politics! Let him continue to enjoy the commission he is getting from Huawei, the deals he is making with Huawei over the towers. I will not waste my time to discuss political decimals. There are allegations that he gets commissions from Huawei who are sponsoring activities in his constituencies. He is a political non-entity. Who knows that Honorable Kafwaya exists? If he was talking about me, I am known all over the country because of my performance. I have not been known for nothing, I have been known for hard work. Kafwaya is just a bootlicker, who got his appointment through bootlicking by saying, ‘yes’ to everything even if it doesn’t make sense. He is a political zygote. Those are small boys wearing very big jackets drunk with unknown powers, so when they go on the radio, they talk about anything that they don’t even understand,” Kambwili said.

He said current ministers in the PF government should desist from insulting those that served before them.

“…Everything that they are enjoying, those were our plans with Mr Michael Sata; they are just commissioning our projects, nothing else. So, let them not insult people that have worked for this country. Kafwaya is not even born yet politically. He is still in the Fallopian tube. If we were stealing money, why not take us to court? He is government, he is a Minister; if he has got that evidence, why hasn’t he taken us to court? Why hasn’t he reported to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)?” wondered Kambwili.