NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili says he will not stop speaking for the people in his constituency even if he is arrested 50 times because it is his constitutional duty to represent them well.

And Kambwili says he feels sorry for Luanshya Mayor Nathan Chanda because he seems in a hurry to become a member of parliament.

Meanwhile, Kambwili says businessman Valden Findlay is now defacto vice-president.

Speaking when he featured on Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk, Tuesday, Kambwili said he was not scared of Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo and his police command, who along with the Luanshya Mayor, wanted to see him arrested for defending people’s rights.

“For me, I enjoy being treated like that, especially when I have not done anything wrong. I am representing the people of Zambia, so it’s a plus for me and it’s a blessing! You must remember that even Jesus Christ, the son of God, suffered for the people. Jesus was crucified for speaking the truth and for wanting to save humanity. So, it’s Biblical that those who mean well to speak on behalf of the people are treated the way I was treated… when you are a member of parliament and people come to your house and say: ‘we have a problem’ and you speak to them, then here comes a small mayor in the town, calls the police: ‘oh, they have a meeting here with no permit, arrest them,’ and he calls Kampyongo: ‘ba Minister, there is an illegal meeting here.’ Kampyongo calls Katanga and tells her: ‘arrest him’, that’s the order of the day,” Kambwili said.

“You see, the problem with my younger brother in Luanshya is that he’s so desperate to be MP and he thinks that when I am out, he can automatically go there. But leadership is from God and I would want to advise him that he’s treading on a very dangerous path and the people of Luanshya are watching…I have tried to hold meetings with people in my constituency, but these same people and Kampyongo have…and it’s very impossible such that I even follow the law. Because as a member of parliament, I am not even supposed to notify the police when I am having a meeting but doing so because they have been looking for ways to make breach the law so that they can arrest me. Fortunately, I have been law-abiding.”

And he explained how Kampyongo and Chanda, among others, used the police to plan his arrest.

“I have been briefed; all the meetings to plan my arrest were being held at the Luanshya Mayor’s house. I am told that they took two boys to the Mayor’s house so that he could give them money to turn against me, but the boys refused to get on the police vehicle and said: ‘as far as we are concerned, our relatives know that we are in police custody and we have no right to see the Mayor.’ I feel sorry for this boy, the unprofessional conduct he’s showing… I really feel sorry because they are destroying the moral fibre for which Zambia has been known for,” he explained.

“I will not stop doing my job, even tomorrow, if people come to my house I will talk to them because that’s my constitutional duty! I will not be scared of a small boy, Chanda, a small boy, Kampyongo, the unprofessional Katanga; unprofessional Simbote; unprofessional Kapeso; I will not be scared of those people. If they want to arrest me 50 times, they can go ahead and do it. I have been doing this for the past 12 years, how many groupings have been to my home and I have resolved their problems? Do you know why people trust me? Because I am honest, I believe in calling a spade a spade… so I just feel sorry this boy because he thinks that ‘oh when he’s arrested and convicted, then I will become MP. But it doesn’t work like that.’

Kambwili bragged that he was more PF than Information Minister Dora Siliya who had been asking him to leave the party.

“It’s people like Dora who have messed up governance because for them, it’s all about survival. Dora does not believe in what PF stands for and she never believed in what MMD stood for! Dora only wants survival; she wants to be minister at all costs. Even if she’s told: ‘turn to your left where there is a lion for you to be minister’, she will do it! She has no principles! I am more PF than Dora because she doesn’t even know what PF stands for. So, Dora is not the right person to ask me to leave,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, Kambwili questioned President Lungu’s cosy relationship with Findlay.

“If Findlay is claiming that he’s President Edgar Lungu’s very good friend, where was he when President Lungu was suffering in Chawama? Did you even hear that Findlay has taken mealie-meal or money to give President Edgar Lungu when he’s (legal) practicing license was removed? Findlay is actually de facto Vice-President because everywhere the President is locally, you will see him there. Today (yesterday) in Parliament, there was an issue of solar hammer mills, whose deal was it? So, this is where they bought this huge plane (K1.4 billion Presidential Jet Challenger) they are now boasting that he’s got a plane! And I feel sorry for Amos, he must stay away from this issue of Findlay because it’s going to put him in an awkward position. He should learn from Richard Sakala,” warned Kambwili.