STOP THREATENING ‘NEW COMERS, KAPATA TELLS PF

Sun, 18 Dec 2016 09:47:40 +0000

By OSCAR MALIPENGA

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Central Committee chairperson for elections Jean Kapata has told those claiming to be old members to stop intimidating and harassing ‘new members’ in the party.

And Ms Kapata has charged that there was urgent need for the secretary general Davis Mwila tomake it clear as he visits the provinces that every member was equal regardless of the date when they joined the party.

In an interview with the Sunday Nation yesterday, Ms Kapata said there were no positions in the PF as new or old member, adding that whether a founder member or two days old everyone was equal.

Ms Kapata said the people who are saying MMD had taken over PF were doing it out of malice and jealousy, adding that they must stop and leave the party as united as it was.

“Even ba Sata (Michael Chilufya Sata) came from the MMD and formed his own party. If people did not leave the MMD and other parties like UNIP to join him (Sata), he could not have won the elections in 2011 because winning is about numbers.

“This issue of saying MMD has taken over PF, it is not MMD… even in UPND as we speak today there are more PF people, GBM was in PF and in MMD, Guy Scott was in PF and in MMD,” Ms Kapata said.

She urged those claiming to be founder members and old in the party to stop being jealous of the new members who had been given cabinet positions.

She said the issue of the party being infiltrated by the MMD did not arise because those people had denounced MMD.

Ms Kapata said that in politics people were free to change from one party to another.

“…the new comers should not be uncomfortable… they must be comfortable because they are welcome…they have denounced their previous party. Only those who have not denounced “their parties need to be treated with caution.”