By Patson Chilemba
Edgar Lungu should not be in Petauke campaigning right now, he should be in Lusaka fixing the debt problem which has damaged the country, says opposition MMD leader Nevers Mumba.
And pastor Mumba said at least the MMD was fortune to find a Levy Mwanawasa at the 11th hour when Frederick Chiluba’s third term bid was rejected, but the PF may not be too fortunate to find a replacement when President Lungu’s third term bid will be stopped.
Pastor Mumba also said his party has adopted a defiance policy against the police in conducting their party programmes, saying complaining about the PF was a waste of time.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, pastor Mumba wondered what President Lungu was doing touring the country campaigning for his third term, when there was a brewing problem created by his government’s default to repay interest on the accumulated huge debts.
“The only thing that PF has is money, the police and politics. And those are the only three levers they have got left. They don’t care about the economy. They don’t care about the debt and its sustainability because if they did they would pull back and concentrate on fixing the broken economy and start to care about the people they govern,” pastor Mumba said. “So I think that the Zambians will have to make a decision, is this the direction we want to take moving forward or not. I call on the President to come back to Lusaka and understand why he was elected President.”
Pastor Mumba said the desperate matter at hand required a serious President to be in office, working around the cloak to repair the damage his government had created on the country.
“The President must come back to Lusaka and assure the nation that although the PF has destroyed our name on the global market…start to rebrand the name of Zambia on the international market,” Pastor Mumba said. “He should not be in Petauke today, he should be in Lusaka trying to fix the name of our country which is totally damaged by our failure to honour our debt obligations. That is our position. Until that is done we don’t really have a functioning government.”
Pastor Mumba further said that President Lungu was elected to ensure that there was peace, order, equity for all Zambians to be free to exercise the freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of speech, but he had allowed a situation where he was the only one campaigning, while those in the opposition were being brutalised by police from mobilizing.
He said there was a clear strategy by the PF to seek to hold on to power through intimidation, saying they could not win a straight election in this country, and therefore they had to stop their opponents from campaigning.
“And the only weapon left now for them besides the actual rigging, are the police who have become the wing of political operation. So our resolve is as follows to announce to all members of political parties that complaining against the PF is not the answer. We must brace ourselves for the very worst,” pastor Mumba said. “We are going to defy the instructions and the orders of the police which are unprofessional and unconstitutional. We are going to do it without violence, but we shall resist with our moral strength as a nation and if you want to shoot us, kill us like they threatened to shoot me in Vubwi, I told them to go ahead because I believe that until maybe somebody prominent dies, democracy will never come back to our country.”
Pastor Mumba said this was the time for Zambians to embrace their rights without fear, saying the MMD would not fear the police, and adding “if we perish, we perish.”
“Second of all, if we fail to achieve a level playing field as a result of this new resolve and they continue to brutalise us and stop us from addressing our members then we are going to declare an electoral dispute now and declare that 2021 is already rigged and ask Zambians not to accept, and prepare Zambians not to accept the outcome of next year,” pastor Mumba said. “Because how do we go to next year when we can’t campaign and we can’t talk to our members, when we can’t get on the ground as they are, the PF? So there is no need for us to go all that way when the PF is the only party allowed to campaign.”
And pastor Mumba said the debate on President Lungu’s third term was a purely PF issue, whose effect should not even concern the nation as the constitutional provision was very clear on the matter.
“There are lawyers, state counsels (in PF), they can call for their own indaba to debate as to whether their candidate will be allowed to stand next year. And advise accordingly. If they advise the President in the same manner the MMD advised President Chiluba in 2001, then it will be the fate of the PF,” pastor Mumba said. “At least we were privileged, although we (MMD) decided to give a third term to Dr Chiluba even against the advice of the country and when it failed at least we found a Levy Mwanawasa in the 11th hour and won the election by 2 percent.”
He said the PF may not be as privileged to find a Mwanawasa figure within the shortest possible time to compete.
“So I think this is a PF decision and they are the ones who are going to suffer the consequences in case President Lungu is not allowed to stand,” said pastor Mumba. -Daily Revelation