Rainbow Party Secretary General Wynter Kabimba says the K60 buying price for a 50Kg bag of maize is fraudulent.

Speaking when he featured on Millennium Radio’s The Interview programme yesterday, Kabimba observed that President Edgar Lungu would not intervene this year simply because he did not need votes.

“The buying price of a 50kg bag of maize set by FRA is a fraud and let me explain why it is a fraud. Last year which was a year of an election, the floor price announced by FRA was K75 per 50 kg bag but because Edgar [President Lungu] realised that it was an election year, he personally intervened and said FRA or government is going to buy maize from the farmers at K85 because he wanted their vote but this year when he doesn’t want their vote, when he thinks that their vote is not coming until 2021. I watched him at the Airport when he was going and I was saddened and got disappointed to hear him say ‘well, this is a free market, this is a liberalized market. Let the people sell to the highest bidder we can’t interfere in this it’s not the job of government’ so today it has become not a job of government because he doesn’t need the vote from a farmer, it was the job of government last year because he needed the vote from that farmer,” Kabimba said.

He also insisted that expelled Roan PF member of parliament was free to join the Rainbow Party.

“We in the Rainbow Party welcome everybody in the party but we have ideals and values that everybody must subscribe to. So if Dr Kambwili or Mr Kambwili or CK, Junior Cobra is prepared to subscribe to those ideals without biting us since he is a Cobra, he is welcome and everybody is welcome to join the Rainbow Party as long as you subscribe to the ideals of the party,” Kabimba said.

Kabimba however said he did not take Kambwili seriously as he never exposed any corruption in government when he served as Minister.

“I had never heard ba Kambwili while he was eating in PF tell this nation that there was corruption in PF. At no time ever, even just in a whisper did he tell this country that there was corruption in PF. If anything, what he told the nation was that Edgar Lungu was a very humble leader and that Edgar Lungu was the best leader that he has ever seen in his life. What he told the nation was that Edgar Lungu was the man that he wanted to support. He was in the forefront of going round even during the period before the general conference of PF in 2015, he was in the forefront of going to harass Guy Scott at that time who was President of the party and acting President, he was in the queue that followed Guy to his farm to go and harass him to say that Edgar Lungu was the best leader,” Kabimba said.

“So, we in the Rainbow Party and I myself have got problems listening to those that would cry foul when the plate in which they have been eating is empty, so I can’t take him seriously. I don’t know what other members of the public think but for me, having worked with him and listened to him that time, listening to him in the post-Michael Sata era after Michael’s death and listening to him now, I can’t take the man seriously.”

And Kabimba charged that President Lungu abused his powers by declaring a Threatened State of Emergency.

“The President has abused is powers of proclaiming the so-called Threatened State of Emergency because these incidents [of fire] have continued and like we had seen there was a fire in Chilenje market yesterday that was as a result of some charcoal which was left smoldering there, then there was a fire in Kabwe General hospital just about a week or so ago. So unless the government can tell us the identities of those people they have apprehended and tell us the evidence they have against them, the rights of those suspects in custody and those of us that are outside whose rights have been restricted, are being abused by government,” said Kabimba.