Former NDC secretary general Mwenya Musenge says the door for him to re-join the PF is completely closed and he is currently pursuing a new vision under the soon-to-be registered New Development Congress Party (NDCP).

Commenting on Lusaka’s St Ignatius parish priest Fr Godwin Mulenga’s call on all former PF members to return to the ruling party and fulfill late president Michael Sata’s vision, Musenge said the country had endured too much confusion, in terms of governance, since the death of the ruling party founder.

“The call from the Father is a very humble and genuine call. But the ruling party has to do a lot more to attract old members to trickle back, it is not just about talking about the vision of late Michael Chilufya Sata that will encourage people to get back and say ‘let us drive that vision’. There are a lot issues that need to be resolved in that house for anyone to get in touch to go back to PF. Indeed, it’s important that there should be unity of purpose within PF. It is extremely unfortunate that we lost Michael Sata at a critical time when we needed him most because he had actually exhibited the leadership that we had been yearning for as a nation. Within the short period that he governed, we saw a lot of changes, we saw a lot of projects and there was the rehabilitation and construction of new roads across the country. And after his demise, we have endured so much confusion in terms of governance,” Musenge said.

“But Michael Sata shall not come back to us, it’s us who are going to join him and I want to believe that we have learnt a lot from him, especially that some of us have actually been mentored and nurtured by him, and by deciding to come up with new political parties, we are striving to carry on with the vision that Michael Sata had for this country. So, there is nothing wrong with what the Father said, but it all depends on how the PF can reorganize themselves as a party and become attractive so that people can be enticed to get back. But for us, we are on the verge of registering a new political party and we have already decided to move on and we have already moved. For me, personally, I have no intentions of going back to PF, I don’t have those intentions. I think that door is completely closed, we are pursuing a new vision, we have already made it very clear that we are busy trying to register the New Development Congress Party. So, this is where we are focused as at now and we would rather spend more time offering checks and balances to the party in government.”

Asked to specify what stopped him from re-joining the PF, Musenge said the PF showed traits of dictatorship when its central committee decided to expel him for expressing divergent views.

“I was a member of the Patriotic Front, and at one particular time, we differed on a few issues, which prompted the party to expel me and that has to do with the expression of divergent views and one serious aspect on which I was expelled on was my disagreement with them to incarcerate HH and also for going to Chimbokaila to visit him when he was in detention. So, my clear conviction was that whatever was done at that particular time was a breach of my fundamental rights. If your colleagues cannot accommodate divergent views from members, then that particular organization starts shifting into dictatorial leadership. So, it was basically those few issues that I felt there was no need to be fighting with my colleagues, but to move on. After all, in Zambia, we have what is known as the multi-party dispensation where if you want to play your politics, you can go and make a political party and continue playing your politics, this is where we are,” said Musenge.