Cage PF SG

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 13:43:33 +0000

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) secretary general Davis Mwila does not need to be reminded that being the political party in power does not entail perpetrating lawlessness.

It is irresponsible of Mr Mwila to insinuate that the only way the PF members will benefit from Government is by engaging in illegalities.

Why should Mr Mwila incite PF cadres to take over the running of bus stations and markets, let alone acquire land from councils dubiously? Does he know that his utterances amount to criminal conduct?

It is actually incomprehensible to just think of how Mr Mwila as Chief Executive Officer of the governing party can be so careless in his statements on crucial Government policy and position.

It is equally common knowledge that political cadres in this country have over the years been involved in wanton disregard of the law, particularly with regards to land allocation and running 0f bus stations and markets.

And to have a senior party official from the governing party publicly parrot illegality is not only unacceptable but also demeaning the efforts that the Edgar Lungu administration has made to restore orderliness in the governance system.

Undeniably, Mr Mwila’s careless utterances have put the PF in a very awkward position. It has opened itself up to a flurry of negative criticism which should not have been had the PF chief executive officer meticulously associated thought to his speech.

By virtue of ordering the PF cadres to acquire land in dubious ways, Davis Mwila has virtually usurped power from legally constituted agencies that are mandated to superintendent over the proper alienation of land in this country.

We are cognisant of the fact that there is high demand for land in urban and peri-urban areas of our country, hence creating this scarcity. But still this does not justify Mr Mwila’s careless instruction to the Kabwe mayor to clandestinely reserve plots and share them among the PF members.

The orderly management of bus stations and markets in this country is legally the preserve of local authorities and it is otiose for the PF SG to direct the PF cadres to forcibly take full control of them on account of being in power.

We do not think such disorderly conduct makes the PF party any attractive. As a party, the PF seems to take two steps forward but almost instantly take one step backwards.

The PF leadership ought to know that being the governing party places a higher premium on their conduct and manner of expressing themselves on various national issues.

Surprisingly, it appears to have become characteristic of the PF secretary general to issue logically flawed statements on matters of party and national interest. Not too long ago, Mr Mwila is on record to have undemocratically influenced the PF’s choosing of the deputy mayor of Lusaka. It had to take President Edgar Lungu to intervene in the matter without whom the party would have been deeply divided.

How about Mr Mwila’s divisive statement on the Copperbelt when he instructed Copperbelt Province Minister Bowman Lusambo not to issue statements to the media without his approval and ordered PF members to have nothing to do with Independent MPs on the Copperbelt?

This time around, Mwila is at it again. He advocates for illegal acquisition of land which action has the potential to cause anarchy in the country. Is Mr Mwila indirectly challenging the PF Kabwe Central Member of Parliament on his uncompromising stance to rid the council of illegal and corrupt allocation of plots?

We urge the PF central committee to admonish the party secretary general and let him know that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Thus, he must resist this temptation for the good of the governing party.