ASPIRING PF presidential candidate for 2021 Kelvin Bwalya Fube says some ruling party members of parliament fear losing their seats if the party maintains President Edgar Lungu as its candidate.

And KBF says the politicians who are in office today do not think straight.

Meanwhile, KBF says President Lungu must apologise for mocking suffering Zambians.

Speaking on Muvi TV’s The Assignment Programme, Sunday, KBF said it did not matter if PF had spent a lot of money on printing President Lungu’s regalia as that would not prevent him from being on the ballot in 2021.

He also said some PF MPs were worried about losing their seats if President Lungu remained PF candidate.

“Even when ba [Micheal] Sata died, there was his regalia and we used it for Edgar Lungu. Don’t do that regalia, be strategic. Political questions are not resolved because people are dancing in the street singing someone’s name, no, there are legal issues, one, thee are also realistic issues about the chances of whether or not we can reclaim power with this candidate, those are issues, whether or not the party is popular enough with this candidate, those are issues so don’t just gross over issues because someone said. He is the President up to 2021 and I will respect him, i will support him up to 2021. Let’s cross the year. I will be on the ballot, come sunshine, God gives me health, we cross the year I am there, I will be on the ballot, I will be on the ballot,” KBF said.

“There are others, there are others within PF, we talk, some of them are very scared, very scared ones because they don’t know where they are going, they don’t know whether or not they are coming back. Some of them are expressing worry as to whether they will retain some of their seats if they run with the President. Those are real issues, it’s not just being popular, you see me here and you think, no, it’s real issues and remember there is a constitutional issue as well. After a certain time, a member of parliament can leave, there will be no by election because there is no time for the by election so let’s wait. I don’t want my brother the President to come and say I have been betrayed, no, memo have come out in the open, I have said my feelings, I have put my cards on the table and I am saying let’s rescue the party, step aside Mr President, you have done your bit, namubomba (you have worked), right now it’s time for you to retire and enjoy your retirement that’s all I am saying.”

And KBF said the politicians who were in office today did not think straight.

“A leader needs to inspire his people, a leader needs to give hope to his people, he needs to speak life into the nation economically, that’s how leaders are going to be respected, this country has never been at war, we have never been at war, why are we poor. Why are we poor? There is no reason, no justification at all…The kind of politicians we have in offices today don’t think straight, all they think is I am going to this political office, I am going to make money out of this office. If you are going into politics to make money, that’s not your business, stay out of politics, you are a thief, that’s my view. You go into politics to serve, if you are not ready to serve, stay out, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” he said.

Meanwhile, KBF asked President Lungu for mocking suffering Zambians by saying he laughs when people say things are bad in the country.

“The President said that? I shudder to think, I have no comment, I feel sorry, are we living in the real world the real Zambia, the same Zambia I am living in, the President can’t see the poverty levels, I am touched , I am really touched. If the President said that, it is unfortunate, I wish he could take it back, he should not play with the emotions of Zambians, Zambians are suffering…We live in the real world some of us, we talk to people, we must be serious when we talk to the nation especially if you are president. I am running for office and I am a serious person when it comes to the economy that statement is very unfortunate, I think the President must apologise to the Zambians, it’s not fair. Zambians are feeling the pinch, what is he laughing at? What is the President laughing at, that people are dying? That there are no medicines in clinics, that teachers can go three months without salaries, is that what he is laughing at, are we serious?” he asked.

KBF said President Lungu had intimidated the ACC.

“I think if I was to grade the fight against corruption right now, on a scale of one to 10, I would give the government two…When the Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating some of your ministers, don’t go on public fora as a President and start saying that ‘the ACC is after me’, they are not after you, they are after the corrupt or allegedly corrupt people, leave it, stay out of it, as easy as that, why are you getting involved? If you really want the fight against corruption to be believed, then stay out of it. Let the arms of government, let the arms of investigation investigate your ministers. If they are going to be proved innocent by a competent court, let them be proved without your interference because the moment the President speaks, people listen. What do you think the President meant when he said the ACC is after me, how can the ACC be after the President who is immune? He can’t be prosecuted, has he forgotten that, he is lawyer, I am lawyer, I know the President can’t be prosecuted whilst he is in office, I know the President can’t be prosecuted until his immunity is removed, so why did he make that statement, the Anti corruption was not after the president, no the anti corruption Commission was after alleged corrupt people and unfortunately some of them were in his government,” KBF said.

“I repeat, no cabinet minister will be investigated without the President being briefed let no one cheat you, he sanctioned it. Why did he grow cold feet, is that what you mean when you say he had information, what information? ACC briefed him, they had information, why didn’t he just allow the process to go on without interference, it’s not correct. Lawlessness is not going to be allowed. Even if you are connected to the powers that be, it’s incorrect, corruption is corruption. We must fight this cancer or else no one will take us seriously. In the administration of justice, no one will take us seriously, in our economic fight because the problem we have is when people are abusing their office but because they are connected to you, you are going to come to their aid.”

KBF also said 30 days was more than enough time for former ministers to pay back the salaries they illegally accrued in 2021.

“Now, the Constitutional Court in it’s ruling, which is I think four, five years ago, was very clear. I do understand that my senior brother Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the President, gave his opinion but you see an opinion is just an opinion, it only becomes part of the law once the law is agreed to by the court. In other words, the courts interpret what you claim to be a valid legal opinion. So in this case, the ConCourt said the President was wrong. In one word, the President misled his cabinet colleagues and that obviously led to what we have faced up today, they have to pay back that money. The 30 days that have been given is good enough a period for me because this decision was made four, five years ago. Obviously the ministers must have known that the ConCourt, being the final court of arbitration, there was nowhere to appeal so they should have prepared for this. It doesn’t matter how much political mileage, political support you have, if the ConCourt rules against you, that’s the end of the story,” he said.

KBF said while he played a role in getting President Lungu into office, he was not responsible for the mistakes which the Head of State had made.

“When you put someone in office, you are not responsible for the decisions that he takes, I am not responsible for Edgar Lungus decisions, he is. Now, you said ba Sata, yes, ba Sata used to come to my office with other people like the former minister Bob Sichinga, state counsel Mumba Kapumpa, GBM, and other people. We used to sit and plan what we wanted to do for this country where some of the people in leadership part of those discussions, no they were not, so how can they execute something that they were not part of in the planning stages, how can they? They have come to eat where they did not kill the carcass, we have met them, you judge them, don’t judge me, I am not part of those decisions, I am not, I will not take responsibility for that. I was part of putting Edgar Lungu in office, yes but that’s not a crime, and I make no apologies about that, it’s not a crime to support somebody but if he messes up, he makes mistakes, that’s not me, ask him,” said KBF.