In this audio, Lusaka lawyer Kelvin Bwalya Fube says fielding President Edgar Lungu as PF candidate for the 2021 elections will open the party up to attacks because the Head of State has made some mistakes.

And KBF says he is a unifying factor who wants to bring back DP leader Harry Kalaba, NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili and others who have left the party because they are “hurting”.

Meanwhile, KBF has insisted that the PF constitution gives him every right to challenge the presidency, adding that he does not believe President Lungu is averse to competition.

But acting Lusaka Province PF chairperson Paul Moonga has threatened to expel KBF if he continues disrespecting President Edgar Lungu.

Speaking when he featured on Diamond TV’s Costa programme, Wednesday, KBF said the party would have a better fighting chance if President Lungu stepped aside.

“It is not about failure, Costa, it is about the President being a target, please understand my speech. You see, what has happened on the political scene is that everybody now has sharpened their tools. Their spears, daggas are out against President Lungu as an individual and they have made everything personal, I don’t like that. We are, for lack of a better term, making the politics of this nation toxic, it shouldn’t be like that. The president must be respected and for me, I would rather the President steps aside with his integrity, with his posture as a president, as a statesman intact. Leave the fight for us, and what I am saying is that when the President steps aside, then the opposition must face us the PF standing, we as a party will be saying ‘right, shoot! What are you going to shoot at now?’ Because they will be saying this and that, that he failed there, he did this, he made those mistakes, he is human. It is normal to make mistakes but that doesn’t mean that when I say he must step aside, he is a bad person, that he is a bad leader, no, I didn’t say that,” KBF said.

“I am saying make it easier for us to fight without you Mr President because the opposition will have nothing to talk about if you are not there. The converse to that is that they are making it easier for the opposition to attack the PF, they are making it easier for the President to be a target. Why should he stand there and get shot, get insulted, it is not necessary. He has had his reign. I am trying to respect the president, give him a very presidential exist, and for me that is very good for the party. Let him support us from the back, he is a good general, let him support us from the back, we shall cover him, we shall defend him as a party.”

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And KBF said he was a uniting factor who wished to bring back Kalaba, Kambwili and others who had left the party because they were “hurting”.

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Meanwhile, KBF insisted that the PF constitution gave him every right to challenge the presidency.

“I am a member of the Patriotic Front, I have always been and I qualify to stand for the presidency as a member of the Patriotic Front. The requirement is that I must be a member for five years preceeding the application which I must lodge with the central committee. That, we ha vent reached yet, there is nothing about being a member of a ward or a branch or whatever, most of these guys, even some of our officials, have not read the PF constitution. It is a print I was able to be part of in the construction, so I know what is required of me as a member. Some of these central committee members don’t even know the article that refers to nomination of a candidate. Under Article 13 and Article 14 of our party constitution, I have a right as a member, I am given obligations as a member and I know, according to my party constitution what I am required to do, what I am not supposed to do. There are no procedures about how I present my views,” he said.

“If you ask the President personally, I don’t think he is averse to being challenged, I don’t think the President is averse to competition, I don’t think so, I know the President, I have worked with him.”

Asked if he had discussed his intentions with President Lungu, KBF said he had sent both his books to the Head of State.

“I gave him my first book, I sent him my second book, I am sure it will reach him by tomorrow so for me, that’s the way I communicate, I have friends in State House who I send things through and I am sure he has received my views. When he wants to talk to me, he does call me, sometimes I call, he is busy, I call the other people, we talk. So I am not averse to discussions, what I don’t want is the scenario where people start thinking the wamuyaya kind of scenario, no! It should not be like that, what’s wrong with competition?” asked KBF, who also said the rule of law had been raped.

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But at a media briefing, Thursday, Moonga threatened to expel KBF.

“We are warning Mr Fube that he has enjoyed luck for too long, he has been attacking the president for too long using the media but we are giving him the last chance to repent or we shall expel him as ordinary member. Finally, Lusaka province is firmly behind Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s government and Mr Lungu will always be supported by all the provinces in the country,” said Moonga.

“It is not easy for me to comment on this matter because I look at nincompoops and charlatans as not on my level that I should be commenting. Boys like KBF are too small for me to comment but I have no choice but to comment…I can only urge Mr Fube to stand as a ward councillor in 2021 then he can learn leadership of civic duties. Let alone, he can become a member of parliament. You can’t just wake up and want to be president.”