ANC shames NUMSA over Zambia’s political situation

Tue, 02 May 2017 10:14:53 +0000

BY Bennie MUNDANDO

NUMSA must be ashamed that a delegation of Africa National Congress (ANC) has spoken so well of the political situation in Zambia because it (NUMSA) is one of the international bodies some disgruntled individuals are using to propagate their smearing campaign against our country, ZRP has charged.

Commenting on statements from delegations of political parties from South Africa and Zimbabwe that graced the “Meet the President” dinner gala hosted by the Patriotic Front (PF) and the interactive forum in Lusaka, ZRP president Wright Musoma said bodies like NUMSA were an embarrassment to the civil society movement.

Mr. Musoma said NUMSA’s motive to brand Zambia as a bad country where peace and freedom had deteriorated under the current leadership had been curtailed by the good sentiments from the two visiting delegations from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

He said NUMSA would be rendered useless if it continued meddling in international politics by making unwarranted attacks on those in power at the instigation of its disgruntled allies in other countries.

“Both ANC and ZANU-PF came to Zambia and made very good observations about the political situation in Zambia which are an exact opposite of NUMSA’s claim about what is happening, and this should be a lesson to civil society organisations not to meddle in politics because that compromises their stance and render them useless.

“NUMSA has continued making wild allegations against Zambia over issues the union does not understand. An olive branch was extended to them to engage with the Zambian High Commission in that country so that its concerns could be ironed out but typical of compromised and useless organisations, they refused and continued making wild allegations but they have now been exposed,” Mr. Musoma said.

Speaking during a PF interactive forum last week, ANC national executive committee member Sifiso Mtsweni said neo-imperialists who sponsored the UPND in their failed bid to take over power were behind falsehoods in some international media organisations that there was political instability in Zambia.

Mr Mtsweni said ANC was aware of a scheme by some rich neo-imperialists that wanted to undermine the will of the people by pushing for regime change to suit their agenda.

“Various governments in the Southern African region sent their independent monitors here during the country’s elections that saw President Lungu emerge victorious. So, where is this fuss coming from? It is from the neo-imperialists that want regime change,” Mr Mtsweni said.

Mr Mtsweni said Zambia must continue being a country of law and order, and that anyone who wanted to bring confusion must be dealt with firmly.

“Those who seek to undermine the will of the people must be dealt with firmly. The sovereignty of our countries suffer from external politics. They sponsor opposition political parties to push for regime change,” he said.