PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says the people will soon get fed up of PF if some undisciplined top officials are left unchecked and scandals continue to characterise the ruling party. The Head of State said this when he addressed party officials in Kasempa last Friday, stressing that the same way that people got fed up with UNIP and MMD, they would also get fed up with PF because of scandals.

“The people that saw UNIP get out of power are the undisciplined members of that party, the people who killed MMD out of government are the undisciplined members and the members who will remove us as PF, are the undisciplined members in the party. People got fed up of the chairman in the UNIP days because he was busy looking at other people’s things and getting land and all those things, people got fed up. Similarly, people got fed up with MMD because they were allocating land illegally and doing all sorts of things, people got fed up. Sooner than later, people will get fed up of PF if we allow ourselves to be dominated by thugs and criminals in the name of leaders. So for that reason, don’t expect that you will get the support from the party, from the President, from the chairman, from the Vice-President [or from] any of us the top leadership in the party if you misbehave because you are leaders. We will deal with you,” said President Lungu.

It is good to hear that the the President is still concerned about the image of his government. We thought he stopped caring about that a long time ago, looking at how much rot has taken place under his watch. Hearing the Head of State warn his party officials that Zambians would get fed up of PF if they keep embroiling themselves in scandals was pleasing. This is the kind of message that we want to hear from State House. This is what it means to provide governance oversight. When a President keeps quiet in the face of criminality involving ruling party officials, it gives the impression that those illegalities are committed with your blessings. So we commend the President for pointing this out to his party.

But we have some bad news for Mr Lungu. If his worry is Zambians getting fed up with his administration, then he is four years too late. Zambians are not actually fed up, they are fatigued with the PF. They are suffocating in PF scandals because there has been a lack of political, economic and social guidance for the country and for his party. Many Zambians have no kind words for the PF and if this sounds like an exaggeration to the President, then it is time for him to exhume his head from the sand where it has been buried.

When President Lungu says people got fed up of the MMD because they were illegally allocating land to themselves, has he looked at the damage that his party has caused in that area? Mwebantu, what is President Lungu’s WhatsApp number so that we can send him a video of his Secretary General Davies Mwila from January 2017 in Kabwe where he was filmed ordering party officials to share land among themselves.

Addressing party members during his tour of Central Province at Hindu Hall in Kabwe on Monday, January 16, 2017, Mwila urged councillors to share plots amongst themselves, saying land was a game of mathematics that benefits only the clever ones.

MWILA: “Yalya ama plot ba mayor, nimwe mu kwete amaka. Ama plots nga yali 500, ba councilor, nimwe mu kwete amaka yakweba ati aweh, mwachita advertise 300, mwafumyapo na 200. Namu kwata amaka. 200 mwafumyapo, 300 mwatwala ku chintu bwingi and 200 mwa akanyamo naba ward chairman naba nani. I have told you, the chairman is PF. Just in there pa pa pa, it’s mathematics, ubwali bwa mbusa, [bwakulya akachenjele] [a discreet meal for the wise is only shared among the clever ones]. You throw 300 to the general public, then you know that this 200 even our people should benefit.”

Mr Lungu, what action did you take against your Secretary General for encouraging this lawlessness? You did nothing, and that gave us the impression that you supported that directive from the party chief executive. If cadres are grabbing land from innocent citizens, it is because they have seen that doing so has no consequences. So how do you think Zambians feel about this? You think they are fed up? No, they are furious about your party and your leadership that has tolerated lawlessness for such a long time.

The PF has not only been allocating land, they have been grabbing people’s plots. Under PF, title deeds mean nothing, really. If the cadres like the land you occupy, they come and remove you and there is nowhere you can go. We have reported cases and named PF culprits who have not only been grabbing land, but assaulting the rightful owners, and getting protected by the police who should be arresting them. These frustrated Zambians can’t wait for next year to kick PF out of office.

It’s good for the President to call for discipline from senior members of the ruling party. But has he looked at the character of the people he has appointed to run the governing party? In March 2018, the PF suspended its deputy secretary general, Mumbi Phiri. What was she charged with? Gross misconduct! Against who? The President of the Republic of Zambia. She issued disparaging remarks towards the President right in his face during a fundraising event in Chilanga, and all she got was a suspension for 30 days, which she has probably forgotten about by now. Can we say the President is serious about discipline in PF? If he is fed up of this indiscipline himself, he should imagine how angry Zambians are.

Even his Cabinet Ministers are not disciplined. What did President Lungu do when his Lands Minister Jean Kapata poured water on Chishimba Kambwili at Parliament grounds? What did he do about the violent conduct of his Lusaka Province Minister who slapped the then Roan member of parliament? Are there any worse scandals that President Lungu wants to see before he can realise how fed up Zambians are? Those stealing gold are also PF officials, what do you expect from citizens?

It’s too late bwana President, but you should be the last person to complain about indiscipline and scandals because you are the chief manufacturer. In fact, you are also a product of indiscipline. Have you forgotten how you were elected party candidate at a shambolic convention in Kabwe, 2015? Sir, you are the top beneficiary of the PF indiscipline, embrace it and wait for judgement next year.