PF member of the Central Committee Charles Kakoma has resigned from the former ruling party with immediate effect.

But PF member of the Central Committee Raphael Nakacinda says the party is not yet aware of Kakoma’s resignation, further describing him as an opportunist.

In a statement, Thursday, Kakoma said his decision to resign from the PF was a personal one as he intended to pursue other endeavours in life.

“After due reflection and consultations with my family and friends, I have today decided to resign from the PF. As a consequence of this decision to resign from the Party, I have also relinquished my position as a Member of the Central Committee (MCC) of the Patriotic Front. I wish to thank the Patriotic Front in general and the out-going President of the Party, His Excellency Edgar Chagwa Lungu for the trust and confidence shown in me by giving me an opportunity to serve in the Central Committee. I wish to state that my decision to resign from the Patriotic Front is purely personal as I intend to pursue other endeavors in life. As a senior citizen, I will continue to provide political, social and economic counsel to fellow citizens and stakeholders,” said Kakoma.

But in an interview, Nakacinda said the party was not yet aware of Kakoma’s resignation, further describing him as an opportunist.

“We have not received that resignation letter, we are hearing from you. But we heard rumors of him trying to apologise and find his way back to UPND. So we are not surprised, some of us. With Charles Kakoma, he is basically trying to survive. The question you should ask is whether or not when he defected to PF a few months ago, it was a genuine defection or he was trying to survive. If it was in principle, you join a political party not because it is in power, but you join because you believe in its ideologies. Even when a party is in opposition you are expected to stick with them because you believe in them,” said Nakacinda.

“So Mr Hakainde and the UPND leadership that he castigated a few months ago, what has made them become better today or change in his way of thinking? Is it because they are now in government and therefore all of the sudden they have become great people to work with? He was saying they are useless and they cannot take the country anywhere even if they won government. I think Zambians must see through such kinds of politicians and not even entertain a debate that may not really help the country move forward. I mean, opportunists are opportunists.”