NATIONAL Democratic Congress interim president Josephs Akafumba has charged that FDD leader Edith Nawakwi, Rainbow Party president Wynter Kabimba and Chishimba Kambwili are nomadic politicians who believe in nothing.

Commenting on the remarks made by the trio when they attended the PF conference on Saturday, Akafumba said it was disappointing that some political party leaders believed in nothing but themselves, with no fixed abode.

“I have been reading your [News Diggers] editorial, it is to the point. President Lungu described them as political nomads. A nomad is a person who has no fixed abode. They have gone closer to President Lungu in their belief that come August 12, 2021, President Lungu will return power. Immediately President Lungu loses power as he is going to lose, these political nomads will be on the bus going to another destination. People must have principles, you must believe in something. You cannot be a political leader where one morning you are on top of the hill, telling the country that ‘PF is the worst corrupt government that has ever ruled this country’, and all sorts of insults on the President, then the next day you change,” Akafumba said.

“Take for example Chishimba Kambwili, he is facing about three or so cases of defamation of the President. He made people believe that he stood on principles. There are audios circulating in which he said ‘he will never go to PF’. PF according to him is poison and if one goes there to eat poison, then you will die. But he has gone there to eat the same poison. So, really is this a leader that any one can trust? Leadership means people can trust you. These are the type of leaders who believe in nothing, they only believe in themselves. I like President Lungu’s speech that this ‘nomadic nature of politics in Zambia’, is this good for the country? No it is not and should not be encouraged. If people follow you, then you suddenly make a huge turn, losing all your followers, then you are not worth being called a leader, you are just a political nomad as the President has said.”

Akafumba praised UPND president Hakainde Hichilema for being one of the opposition leaders that had stood for what they believed in.

“They are political nomads, they believe in nothing! They have chosen to say ‘us we have come to support President Lungu’, why can’t they be honest to themselves and say ‘sir we have come here to join and we are sorry for what we did’, that is much better. This is the problem with Zambian politics, most political players are chancers and they believe in nothing. For this I give the highest kudos and respect to president Hakainde Hichilema. Remember he has been in opposition for such a long time, but he has stood for what he believes. So, to me the meaningful opposition really even for young ones, they must learn something from president Hakainde Hichilema,” he said.

“These political parties that believe in nothing, people will follow at their own peril. So it is time that political parties believed in themselves. Being in politics is not like being in a boys’ scout, you are promising to change people’s lives and you are the next government. I think even the PF must reach a time where they can say ‘no you insulted us too much, can you be on the bench for a little while’. Maybe for the purposes of votes yes, but giving such people responsibilities, are you sure that they will be with President Lungu when he loses the election?”

And Akafumba charged that Kambwili wanted to re-join PF because of his ‘tribalist’ nature and fear of being sent to prison.

“Now coming to what Chishimba Kambwili said that he is going to spill the beans, there is nothing that he can spill. First of all, how many meetings did he attend for the alliance? I can tell you that he attended only three or four meetings. I attended 100 percent of the meetings of the alliance. If that is the type of politics that he has, it confirms the nomadic nature of a person. Let him spill the beans even now. The main reason why he wants to join PF which the nation must know is his tribalist nature. They hounded Wynter Kabimba out of office, he was in that group. He has told me, (Edward) Mumbi and Fr Luonde that a Tonga cannot be trusted and therefore he cannot work with a Tonga. The second is that everyone knows that he has about three cases where he has been put on his defence. It is fear of being in the prison that has made him go to PF. So that maybe the powers that be can enter nolle, so we will wait and see how many nolles are going to be entered”, he said.

“Now to allege that I am going to give a reason why I left the alliance is not telling the truth. He wants to make himself relevant to the PF. He insulted the PF, so how does he want to make himself relevant to the PF? So, if he takes that root to try and malign an innocent person like HH who in good faith gave the position of vice president to the alliance to choose, no! Even God will say ‘no you are not being fair’. Let him go into PF let us see if they will give him the position of Vice-President. Let us see if they will allow him to field his candidates as NDC. We are in the alliance to stay, if we are to lose with the alliance, let us lose with dignity and honour.”