Luapula Province PF Chairperson Nickson Chilangwa who is also provincial minister has ordered District Commissioners to stop being foolish and start campaigning for the ruling party, warning that those who will refuse on grounds that they are civil servants will be fought and finished.
And PF Secretary General Davies Mwila says NDC consultant Chishimba Kambwili is a confused man who has now resorted to driving around in his shorts and insulting random people on the street.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya says he tried to advise former foreign affairs minister Harry Kalaba to stop admiring President Edgar Lungu’s throne, but the Democratic Party leader failed to control his envy.
The three were speaking in Bahati Constituency when they addressed PF supporters, ahead of the pending parliamentary by election in the area.
Chilangwa said it was foolish for some district commissioners to refuse to associate themselves with the party on the basis that they were civil servants.
“I welcome our colleagues, the District Commissioners who are here, we are glad you are here. Personally I don’t even bit about the bush, you can’t be District Commissioner if you are not PF, if PF lost power, you can’t remain District Commissioner. So what we hear around by some people that ‘me I am a civil servant’, that’s foolishness. Council Chairman, it’s the party that adopted you in order for you to become council chairman, now you hear that the Secretary General is coming, you fail to come, we shall see. Councillors don’t forget where you come from, some councillors here in Luapula have become pompous. All of you, we will finish you, respect the party,” Chilangwa warned.
“There are only two ministers who come to work in Bahati, who knows the challenges of Bahati, who know what people need in Bahati, that’s Dr. Chitalu Chilufya and Nickson Chilangwa, that’s all! So you should let Dr. Chitalu Chilufya be the campaign manager, we don’t want a campaign manager from outside.”
And Mwila said Kambwili demonstrated madness when he had an altercation with a foreign road constructor.
According to Kambwili, a compactor operator last week blocked the road he was using, almost causing an accident, and when he reversed to go and confront the ‘aggressor’, he discovered that it was a foreigner “doing a job which Zambians should be doing”, hence sparking an altercation.
The incident was followed by an announcement from NDC secretary general Mwenya Musenge who ‘expelled’ Kambwili on grounds that he was putting the name of the party into disrepute.
Mwila told PF supporters that there was nothing causing Kambwili to behave like that other than madness.
“You should welcome people who want to join the party from other political parties, politics is about numbers. NDC has no direction now, Kambwili is confused. He has now started standing on roads and insulting, in a short. When you see someone moving around in a short in public you must know that something is wrong with him, especially an elderly man with grandchildren, you must know that this man’s brain is not intact. So you should capitalise on all those people in NDC and let them join the party, even Mwenya Musenge himself. Some people are saying he has been bought by PF, who can buy Mwenya Musenge? Their party has just lost direction. How can you start telling your friend that he wants money for tyres? You know that there is no longer respect,” Mwila said.
“So President Edgar Lungu loves this province, that’s the reason he has given us Minister of Infrastructure Development Ronald Chitotela, Minister of Health Dr. Chitalu Chilufya, minister of Education David Mabumba, Minister of Water Development and the Secretary General of the Party. You have the whole party in your hands. President Edgar and the Party have their strength in Luapula Province, it is one of those provinces we rely on. So we do’t want to neglect Luapula because this is where votes come from.”
Mwila also said the party wanted a violence free by election in Bahati so that they could show the UPND that the PF was not violent.
“We don’t want violence during the campaigns for this by election. We want to show the UPND that we are not a violent party. This is our stronghold and we expect this election to be peaceful. We are not going to import anyone from Lusaka and we are going to leave everything in the hands of the police, they will deal with all those who will bring violence here. So for us as PF, our duty is to explain to the people what we have done, what we are doing and what we will do for them. Don’t forget that we only have two and half years before the next [general] election. Luapula University should be completed before 2021, let’s work on roads before 2021, so that we can point at these projects in 2021. That’s why our campaign will be based on issues,” Mwila said.
And Mwila also cautioned party officials to avoid being corrupted by aspiring candidates seeking adoption on the PF ticket.
“If you get money from the aspiring candidates and promise them that they will be adopted, they will just be disappointed because the Central Committee is going to adopt someone who is popular, someone who can make us win the by-election. So if you get the money, don’t expect us to do what you want. And no one can bribe us, how can you bribe the SG? Where can you even start from? That’s too far. And we don’t want people who are unstable, people who move from political party to the other. Loyalty is very important in the party,” Mwila said.
And Mwila said President Lungu would be the party’s candidate for 2021, saying even in developed countries, it was against national progress to disrupt the programmes of the incumbent President.
“Even in advanced democracies like the United States of America and the United Kingdom, an incumbent President is given another chance, they are not disturbed because of the programs that have been puting in place. Obama just left by himself, George Bush just left, Bill Clinton also just left, and even Trump will also just leave. So even us we have said even us in 2021 we shall continue with President Edgar Lungu. An incumbent President has more advantages because he knows a lot of people and more people know him, but for you to start introducing a new President it takes a lot of time,” said Mwila.
And Dr Chilufya said Kalaba’s desire for the presidency was going to finish him politically.
“We went to Lusaka with my brother [Harry] Kalaba, he however got confused and started admiring the highest throne. We told him to slow down and be humble, we already have a candidate for 2021, His Excellency Edgar Chagwa Lungu. But Kalaba refused to listen, hence today I have come back alone, my friend went and got confused. Bahati constituency will now see meaningful development because my friend failed to deliver as he focused on trying to get to the highest throne, thereby neglecting the constituency. This is why we need to elect someone who has respect for the President,” said Dr Chilufya.