Patriotic Front deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri says National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Chishimba Kambwili wants to dent Intercity gang leader Commando’s image because he refused to join his party.
Last week, PF cadres attacked NDC supporters who had gone to offer solidarity to Kambwili at Lusaka Central police and the outspoken Roan PF member of parliament charged that Commando, whose real name is Eddie Gowa, orchestrated the incident.
He also alleged that Commando was a forienger and he needed to be deported.
“My dear Commando, we are giving you two days to leave Intercity or else we are going to instruct a group of cadres to start legal proceedings to have those cadres at Intercity removed. And I am just surprised, how can the police fail to arrest those cadres that came with machetes but arrested our supporters who were hacked and detain them? It is very unfortunate. So I am urging the police, we have opened up dockets for our people who have been hacked arrested and we want to see the arrest of commando. And by the way, ba immigration, that Commando is not a Zambian, even by his name you can tell Eddie Gowa is not a Zambian, he comes from Malawi so am asking the immigration to go and search this boy,” said Kambwili.
But in an interview, Wednesday, Mumbi said Kambwili was just bitter because Commando, who commands a lot of Lusaka youths, had refused to join the NDC.
“Those are lies, do you know why they (NDC) are attacking him? Because he commands a big crowd of youths. Kambwili has been calling commando [asking him] to go and join NDC because he knows that Commando has a large following of the youth. You very well know that Kambwili was national youth chairperson in the PF but he never cared about the youth. So that young man refused and asked Kambwili to say ‘have you ever called me in my life? What are you calling me for and why should I leave my party to come and join you?’ So because Commando has refused, the NDC now want to paint him black by coming up with all manner of allegations,” Mumbi said.
And Mumbi said it was not possible that Commando was the master mind of the attacks at Lusaka Central Police because the PF youth leader had escorted her to Petauke for a funeral.
“You remember it started with the lie that Commando was the one who organised the fracas at central police last week when it is not even true because I was with him when that happened. If you go to UTH today where I picked my nephew’s body, we used SGH and Commando is a very well known person, they will tell you that I was with him at the mortuary because we picked the body around 16:00 hours and then we proceeded to Petauke, Commando and his team escorted me and when that fracas was happening. That’s when we were burying my nephew. So is it a ghost that Kambwili saw when they said they saw Commando?” she wondered.
“And the other day when I called Hot Fm radio to comment on what [NDC spokesperson] Eric Chanda said, I condemned that violence and I even invited Eric to come and help us identify the people involved since he said they were PF, I phoned him after the radio station call and we agreed that we should meet so that I could help him because those are our youths and they can not do anything to me. Then the following day, Eric called the radio station again and he was just insisting that the person who organised that fracas was Commando and that’s when I decided to reveal that I spoke to Chanda and explained what we discussed and that Eric Chanda didn’t show up. So let me say again that Commando and the group, I was with them in Petatuke, they escorted me.”
Phiri said Kambwili had been speaking nothing but lies.
“You know, just like I told Eric on phone when we spoke, Eric Chanda moves with a cross so he shouldn’t be lying and now you can imagine this Kambwili again comes with a lie to say PF has paid K12 thousand to Commando so that he can disturb NDC meetings, for what? Kambwili has told a lot of lies and even you journalists have you gotten any proof out of what he has been saying? Kambwili has been saying that President Lungu has built a house near memorial park but that land is for the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the President never worked for foreign affairs. So you as journalists should also help us make some of these things clear. That land Kambwili has been talking about is for foreign affairs and Kambwili has a plot there, they are many as we have mentioned but has Kambwili ever denied that?” asked Phiri.
“No. And the President started building that house when he was deputy minister in the office of the Vice-President, the flats Kambwili has been claiming the President has built, those flats are for a woman and I can even take you there, the lodge he has been saying is owned by the President, the owner is Mr Sichamba from early 2000. So what is Kambwili saying? Do some investigative journalism and show Kambwili that he is a liar.”