Thu, 08 Jun 2017 10:36:27 +0000
By Oliver Samboko
A UPND district official in Siavonga has called for removal of Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) from’s post for allegedly abandoning the opposition party and its leader at the point of need.
The Party official who requested for anonymity, said Mr Mwamba had proved that he was a coward who could not be trusted with the responsibility of his office.
“Therefore the party’s national management committee (NMC) should convene an emergency meeting to elect a new vice president,” he said
He said the incarceration of UPND President Hakainde Hichilema and the subsequent disappearance of Mr Mwamba was working against the party’s chances of winning the 2021 general elections.
The official further said instead of providing leadership to the party at this crucial time, Mr Mwamba had seen it fit to hole himself in foreign lands when the PF was busy preparing for the elections.
Meanwhile Mr Mwamba has said that the warning by Government spokesperson and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Kampamba Mulenga to him that he faced arrest for issuing contemptuous statements that were denting the country’s image abroad were a mockery of democracy.
In a statement posted on his face book account,Mr Mwamba who has been in hiding since Mr Hichilema was arrested for treason, said all statements attributed to him both on local and international platforms, he had been mindful of the court process.
He claimed he only issued statement about inhuman, tyrannical and underhand methods that the Police allegedly employed to bring up an arrest and subsequent charges against Mr Hichilema that left a lot to be desired in a country perceived to be democratic and a stickler to the rule of law and constitutionality.
“Let me make it plainly clear that I am a vice president to my incarcerated leader and therefore, they do not expect me to be mute over his detention on a matter that is neither here nor there.
“It is obvious that they are now embarking on a fishing endeavour to influence the court that contempt has been committed, but this has been their modus operandi from the onset. Setting the pace for action by the police to intimidate any one that has divergent views to theirs,” he said.
He said the dwindling image that Zambia was facing was the PF Government’s own making and not him, UPND or any other citizen and our alliance partners and therefore it wass not wise for Government to point a finger at him. He also claimed that Zambia’s democracy had been raped, freedoms of citizens curtailed and voices were being silenced by those in power.
He said the matter in court against Hichilema was in public knowledge and had received commentaries, statements and innuendos from PF functionaries at all levels, including from Mumbi Phiri, Sunday Chanda, Frank Bwalya and civil servants Amos Chanda and Emmanuel Mwamba but Government spokesperson Mulenga had not advised these, that their statements were contemptuous.
