UPND vice-president Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba says Hakainde Hichilema was excited to see Chishimba Kambwili and the party will work with him because they don’t “bloody care” what others think.

And Kambwili says his peace making mission to Southern Province was just the beginning of proper reconciliation.

In an interview after visiting HH at Mukobeko with Kambwili, Mwenya Musenge and Obvious Mwaliteta among others, GBM said the UPND was a very welcoming party.

“They had planned to come and visit our president Hakainde Hichilema after coming from Southern Province where they were treated to a thunderous welcome which clearly shows that they have been accepted by the people of Southern Province and they have been forgiven. The chiefs were excited to see Kambwili and Musenge in Southern Province. Like I have always said, Southerners have always been good partners of the Bemba people. It is just that a few people want to bring a rift which does not exist. From time immemorial, we have been partners. If you look at the political history of this country, Bembas and Tongas have worked together and even now we are working together and we shall continue working together whether one likes it or not, we don’t bloody care about that,” GBM said.

“Our colleagues came to visit our incarcerated president and the president was quite excited to see Dr Kambwili and honorable Musenge. We went in at the same time and a lot was discussed which I cannot reveal but all I can say is that they are insisting that HH should be released unconditionally. That’s their plea to Edgar Lungu because they feel that the man has not done anything for it to warrant him to be incarcerated for this long, close to four months. Which I also agree with. I was part of that motorcade at the time that president Hakainde Hichilema was in Western Province and I saw nothing wrong, we never committed any offense whatsoever to warrant his incarceration. I equally say that he must be released immediately and unconditionally.”

He said the UPND was not petty.

“You were talking about the reunion of the Kambwilis and us the UPND, I think we are not petty as the UPND and we have never been petty. Look at how they welcomed me when Edgar Lungu expelled me from PF, they embraced me without any hitches. This is the same way they have welcomed Kambwili also. Anybody, any well meaning Zambian is always welcomed by the UPND which is perceived to be a Southern Province party which I don’t agree, it is a party for all Zambians, those who mean well and speak for the Zambians. So our appeal is that anybody who wants to join us are free to join us no matter which province or tribe they come from. We are a very accommodating party,” he said.

Asked if he saw stronger political ties with Kambwili going forward, GBM said; “We feel stronger. Politics is about numbers if you didn’t know. That is why I am appealing to any well meaning Zambian to join us whether he is from Eastern Province, North Western, wherever, the more people you have the more support you have and the bigger and stronger the party becomes. And that is actually our wish that we become stronger by the day.”

And in a separate interview, Kambwili said the country needed unity of purpose now more than ever.

“I went to visit my dear brother president HH who is incarcerated at Mukobeko Maximum prison. You may be aware that yesterday, I went to make peace with the people of Southern Province and I think what came out of that meeting is that we need unity of purpose in the country. we need to show love to one another and unite as a country because right now, Zambia is fragmented. Even the voting pattern will show you that the country is divided. Now we need to rebuild this unity in this country by respecting one another, feeling for one another and loving one another because that is the only way this country will develop. In a country where there is tension based on political affiliation, tribe, creed, race and so on, there is no development. So I promised the chiefs in Southern Province that our meeting marked the beginning of proper reconciliation,” Kambwili said.

Earlier, Kambwili told journalists at Mukobeko that President Edgar Lungu was so scared he would soon start accusing monkeys at State House of wanting to stand in 2021.

“The man in State House is scared, scared to the effect that we may hear very soon that they are suspecting that those monkeys at State House want to stand in 2021. So they will start arresting monkeys if people are not careful. And I want to apologise to the people of Zambia that had I known that this is the behavior of the man that I went to campaign for the whole Zambia, ending up so sick, I was not going to do it. The man has got a bad heart,” said Kambwili.