UPND will make it easy for us to win the 2021 general elections if they reject Bill 10, says Mporokoso Central PF member of parliament and Government Parliamentary Chief Whip Brian Mundubile.

And Mundubile has asked ward councillors in his constituency to improvise protective gear to avoid the spread of COVID-19 by distributing party Chitenge materials to tailors in their areas out of which face masks could be made for free distribution to the residents.

Meanwhile, Mundubile has implored the Clergy to educate church members about Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 10 of 2019 alongside the COVID-19 pandemic to let them know about how “progressive” the document is.

Speaking when he met councilors in Mporokoso, Monday, as part of his tour of the constituency where he is inspecting projects and sensitizing constituents on the Coronavirus pandemic, Mundubile said it would be easy for PF to defeat UPND next year if Bill 10 failed because Zambians would rise against the opposition party for objecting progress.

“Bill 10 was described as an evil document; so much was said about Bill 10 by UPND. But everything that was complained about regarding Bill 10 has been removed from the document now and all that is remaining is to go back to the House and vote. I know very well that there is no Christian who is going to forgive anyone who fights Bill 10 because the Christians are happy with the inclusion of the Christian values in the Bill. So the talk about deputy ministers is no longer there, the talk about coalition government is no longer there. So Bill 10 is actually very progressive in its current state because all the contentious issues were cleared,” Mundubile said.

“So as we are talking about COVID-19, we also have to propound on Bill 10 so that whoever wants to shoot down Bill 10, it will be very easy to decampaign them next year. If UPND goes and kills Bill 10, ninshi batwangushisha inchito mu (they would have made the job easy for us in) 2021 because everyone will rise against them. The women will rise against them, the youths will not welcome them when they go to speak to them, and the disabled will also rise against them. So what we are going to do as we get back to our constituencies is simply to go and tell the women what good things UPND wants to deny them by rejecting Bill 10.”

And Mundubile encouraged councilors to be creative enough and ensure availability of reusable protective masks to people in their areas during this period when the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to start making some efforts as councilors because the issue of masks is a challenge everywhere. But I think that we can start from somewhere. If you’ve got some Chitenge material… people on their own, there are people with old Chitenge materials at home, so we can start from there and make masks out of that…So councilors should lead the way so that our people can know the importance of protecting themselves from the COVID-19, that way, we can even lessen the spread of the virus,” Mundubile said.

“…as councilors, we have to be creative ourselves. Not very long ago, we distributed sewing machines in all the wards, so this may be the time that sewing machines are going to serve us. So we will provide some party chitenge to all of you; let that be the starting point so that the women that have got those sewing machines can begin to sew the face masks.”

Earlier, Mundubile donated music equipment to Queen of Peace Catholic Church where he called on the Clergy to join the sensitisation campaign on the dangers of COVID-19 and requested that this awareness be done side by side by with the positives of Bill 10.

“…We know that there have been a number of controversies surrounding Bill 10. But I am sure that if you follow the debates very closely, you will find that all the contentious issues in Bill 10 have been dealt with. So what we have now is a Bill that has been sanitized, a Bill that will speak to the aspirations of the Zambian people and especially the disabled, the women and the youths, going forward,” he said, adding that the effects of COVID-19 would be more dire on the marginalised groups if Bill 10 did not go through claiming that it would be difficult for them to progress in their endeavours.

“I wish to appeal to the Catholic priests to go through, especially the policy statement that the Minister of Justice put up in Parliament, which has now created certainty; people were doubting as to whether certain amendments were going to be included. But there is now certainty because the pronouncements on the floor of the House were very clear.”

And receiving the donation on behalf of his Church, Queen of Peace Parish Priest Fr Nicholas Chipoya thanked the lawmaker for his generosity.

“We have always looked forward to having the instruments that have been given to us for some years now. But it hasn’t been very for us to source for funds to purchase what has been given to us today. So seeing you fulfil the promise which you made to us is a dream come true. We are so grateful that you have sacrificed today to come and give joy to our parishioners in the name of the instruments that have been donated to our Church,” said Fr Chipoya.