Members of Edgar Lungu’s own party, the Patriotic Front, have accused the president of undermining both the party and Zambia’s republican constitution for his own selfish designs.
In particular, concerned PF members have drawn attention to the president’s decision to appoint more of his own close associates to the party’s Central Committee, as well as his attempts to alter Zambia’s constitution by pushing ahead with the controversial Bill 10.
Mwembe Chileshe, a member of the party since its inception in 2001, has expressed his sadness and disappointment over President Lungu’s leadership of the party, accusing the president of failing to follow the PF constitution by appointing members to the central committee without authority.
President Lungu recently appointed his Minister of Defence Davis Chama and Member of Parliament for Kanyama Elizabeth Phiri as members of the PF’s Central Committee, in direct contravention of the party’s constitution.
Mr Chileshe also expressed concerns over the president’s push for Bill 10.
“Bill 10 would block any individual who may wish to petition President Lungu’s ineligible nomination to stand in the 2021 Presidential election. It’s for this particular reason that President Lungu is spending huge sums of taxpayers’ money to ensure that Bill 10 goes through and be enacted as law”, he said.
Mr Chileshe’s concerns arise as the debate surrounding Bill 10 resurfaces ahead of parliament’s reopening next week.
The bill has attracted condemnation from a variety of stakeholders in Zambia, including the UPND, the NDC, the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) and ActionAid.
Finally, Mr Chileshe alluded to another founder member of the PF – and prominent financier of President Lungu’s 2015 and 2016 campaigns – who has called on party members to question the president’s actions in appointing members to the PF central committee.