Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:50:00 +0000
EDITH Nawakwi and her camp have started doctoring lists for delegates to the FDD convention which she is keeping as top secret with the hope of ambushing her potential challengers, it has been claimed.
‘‘But we are keeping an eagle’s eye on her and we will soon pounce on those promoting illegality,’’ says Chama district FDD chairperson Yotam Mtayachalo.
And Gwembe FDD parliamentary aspirant in the 2016 elections Sebastian Mwiinga has said party mobilisation had become a challenge in Southern Province because Ms. Nawakwi had blocked the party from paying the people the party used to man the elections.
Speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr. Mtayachalo said there was a ‘‘systematic and well-calculated plan’’ by Ms. Nawakwi to purge all progressive minds from the party whom she had allegedly subjected to expulsions, suspensions and all sorts of reprimands to consolidate her position.
He said no one will intimidate those calling for the convention because that was what the constitution stipulated, adding that no amount of mudslinging against proponents of the convention would derail them from ensuring that democracy prevailed because the party did not belong to a selected few.
“While they are attacking some of us with the hope of silencing us, they are also doctoring lists of people purported to be delegates to the convention.
The idea is to register as many people whom they are paying as possible and then ambush Ms. Nawakwi’s opponents to the presidency by calling for a snap convention but they are just wasting their time.
“We want to make it clear to them that we are a step ahead of what they are planning and we will not allow people who don’t qualify to attend that convention even if it is to be called tomorrow. I have been a trade unionist and I am not the kind they can easily intimidate.
‘‘I resigned from my position as Copperbelt chairperson because I did not want to be part of the failure and there is no way I will now succumb to pressure by allowing them to abrogate the party constitution,” Mr. Mtayachalo said.
“We don’t hate Ms. Nawakwi. She is a very good person who has contributed so immensely to the development of the party but the problem is that she has allowed herself to be directed by some chaps who are there in order to get coins from her for their own survival. I don’t need FDD in order to eat. I am only here to ensure democracy in our party,” he said.
And Mr. Mwiinga has said party mobilisation had become a challenge in Southern Province because Ms. Nawakwi had blocked the party from paying the people the party used to man the election.
“Where do we even start from with party mobilisation when we owe people who helped during the elections a lot of money yet they hear that other people are being sponsored as delegates? What do we tell them?
Time for democracy to take root in FDD is now and that starts with the removal of Ms. Nawakwi,” Mr. Mwiinga said.
