PF MEDIA director Sunday Chanda says Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) president Felix Mutati should tame his secretary general Lucky Mulusa’s excitement before it becomes injurious to his persona.

And Chanda says the PF wants democracy to thrive and would hate to see MDC’s lifespan shredded to pieces before it starts to walk.

Meanwhile, Chanda says no right thinking member of the PF would want to join MDC because it is a party led by people who were fired from government.

Last week, Mulusa said Zambia is right in the last stages of a failed State.

Mulusa, whose last post in government was Minister of National Development Planning, also revealed that he broke ranks with the Patriotic Front after noticing that collective responsibility was turning into collective irresponsibility among government officials that he was working with.

But in an interview, Chanda said Mulusa failed to comprehend collective responsibility the whole time he served in government.

“We have welcomed the formation of MDC because it is testimony that contrary to what the doom sayers have been propagating. Zambia’s democratic space is not shrinking but it is growing. Those who believe that the democratic space in Zambia is shrinking are those who have outlived their usefulness to the democratic equation of this country and they cannot offer any relevance anymore. And I don’t think they must bring it to the democratic space. They must leave it on their inability to reinvent themselves. The democratic space in this country is growing and flourishing. When you see new political parties being birthed and of course some of those forming them are people who have been in the democratic space for some time. We can pride ourselves as the Patriotic Front and say that we have scored well in terms of growing Zambia’s democratic space,” Chanda said.

“And unfortunately, for the whole period that Mr Mulusa served as either an advisor to the president or as cabinet minister, he failed to comprehend one thing called collective responsibility. It is immoral that Mr Lucky Mulusa will today wish to project himself as an angel of light when the decisions which were made were made under the binding of the collective agreements. I am happy that his leader honorable Felix Mutati understands collective responsibility better than his secretary general Mr Mulusa.”

Chanda said Mulusa was probably under the influence of alcohol when he described those fire trucks as wheelbarrows.

“And I want to place it on record that probably, Mr Mulusa was drunk when he made those remarks about the 48 fire engines. Mr Mulusa was 1/10, I believe that he was probably drunk when he made those remarks because as minister, he was expected to understand tender processes, procurement procedures better than any other person. But clearly I think speaking off the cuff and under the influence of something and I would want to suspect it was under the influence of beer, he made outrageous remarks as a senior government official showing that we were dealing with someone who was incapable of comprehending collective responsibility, and also to understand that there are institutions set up by law to oversee tender procurement processes and that that is not the doing of the president. But clearly here is a man who did not understand what he was up to,” Chanda said.

And Chanda said Mutati should tame Mulusa’s excitement before it causes damage to his persona.

“Let me advise Mr Mulusa that his attempt to drag the former Finance minister in his rhetoric might just prove to be more injurious in the long run for Honourable Mutati. And we advise Honourable Mutati to ensure that he zips Mulusa’s mouth and if he can tame and manage his excitement because he can cause irreparable damage to the persona of Honorable Mutati,” Chanda said.

Chanda said the MDC should focus on issues if it wants to remain relevant in politics, warning that failure to do so might cause casualties.

“And we also want to place on record here that Zambia will rise above its current challenges including this COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the economy and the adverse effects we’re feeling today. Mr Mulusa is being hypocritical when he talks about government borrowing because had government not borrowed, the Chingola-Solwezi Road would have been in the same state. And unless he doesn’t believe that we did well to wipe off his tears by ensuring that that road was worked on. And it is also important that we caution the MDC and its leaders that they are far from being set. And if they want to be relevant, we would advise them to focus on issues, otherwise there will be major casualties. From the point of view of the Patriotic Front, we want democracy to thrive and we would be hurt to see MDC’s lifespan shredded to pieces even before it starts to walk. So, if Mr Mulusa wants to tell lies about President Lungu and the Patriotic Front, we will have no option but to tell the truth about him,” he added.

Meanwhile, asked if the PF was not afraid that it would lose some of its members to the MDC, Chanda wondered what would motivate a right thinking member of his party to join a party led by people who were fired.

“Democracy provides for the freedom of choice. It provides for people to move from one political party to another. And whether we like it or not, Zambian politics are nomadic. But we would want to really understand what would really motivate any right thinking member of the Patriotic Front to move from a party that is winning elections to a party that is being led by people who were fired, not even people who resigned but were fired by His Excellency President Lungu,” said Chanda.