PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu and his leadership ‘ni ba mwankole’ who have made it easier for his party to win elections in 2021, says former Sinda member of parliament and UPND chairman for agriculture Levy Ngoma.

And Ngoma says the PF’s failure to enact the Constitution Bill Amendment Bill Number 10 of 2019 confirms that the ruling party is no longer the people’s choice.

In an interview, Ngoma said Zambians were now aware that President Lungu and his leadership ‘ni ba mwankole’, who pretended to be humble when they were in fact lying to Zambians.

“And if the PF wants to see whether Zambians are serious or not, let them field in Edgar Lungu as their presidential candidate. It will be a serious checkmate! By 11 hours, they won’t have a candidate. And they have wanted so much that Edgar Lungu should be their candidate. And if anything, Lungu is the easiest to beat this time around. And you know why? Because they have already sang ati ‘ni ba mwankole,’ (they are deceptive) you have heard it. These are people that, on one hand hold a Bible and on another are busy persecuting candidates. It’s not what you portray to be, ‘ati balaipanga ukuba humble,’ (they pretend to be humble,) but they are not humble,” Ngoma said.

He said President Lungu demonstrated that he was not humble when he called Zambians ‘tupuba’ (fools) during the commissioning of the Arcades Fly-over Bridge in Lusaka last Friday.

“They have forgotten where they come from, where they came from in Jack Compound, where people are unable to have three meals per day. Now, because they stay in air-conditioned offices and houses and having seven meals per day, where they came from in Jack Compound they have forgotten. This is the leadership of one President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who, when they bring certain developments, which is not even up to standard, like these fly-over bridges they are constructing, and then they start insulting you ati, ‘tupuba tuletalika’ (fools are disagreeing),” Ngoma said.

“Zambians today, under President Edgar Lungu, are being referred to as ‘tupuba.’ Who does that? So, if 50 per cent of the people in Zambia do not agree with the kinds of development the PF has brought, then the President is literally saying over 50 per cent of Zambia ‘tupuba.’ That’s an insult, a slap on the face of the Zambian people!”

And Ngoma said the PF’s failure to enact Bill 10 confirmed that the ruling party was no longer the people’s favourite party.

“The end of the PF is a process and it did not begin today. The PF has long been ousted from that altar of being the favourable party; they were removed from that altar of being the favourable political party way before the issue of Bill 10 started. But Bill 10 just cements further that position. This is a party that you cannot toy with, Zambians know that. How do we know? We can see the reaction of the Zambian people with Bill 10’s failure to go through. See the reaction of the peasant farmer, the man on the streets, the teachers, all civil servants, the police and everybody! It has just exemplified the situation,” he said.

“There was so much jubilation and that is a sign that the PF is hated by majority Zambians. Inward, there is a fire in so many hearts of the Zambian citizens because of the mismanagement of this beautiful country. And what we are seeing now is members of this same party calling Zambians as cockroaches and rats!”

Meanwhile, Ngoma expressed worry that the PF’s rampant tribalism, perpetuated by senior government officials, could trigger civil war in Zambia.

“You know what happened in Rwanda? It’s because of the same language. This is a party that is on the verge of causing civil war. Now Bill 10 has just brought everything to the fore. When you look at the tenacity and firmness of the members of parliament, where they were able to just refuse to be part of a raw deal, means that we still have people with integrity,” said Ngoma.