Fri, 16 Jun 2017 13:14:00 +0000
By Bennie MUNDANDO
GOEFREY Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) should direct his energy at salvaging his party from ruin instead of threatening his opponents and some media houses.
Patriotic Front (PF) Northern Province deputy chairperson for elections Chibwaya Muma told the Daily Nation yesterday that he had observed with dismay, Mr. Mwamba’s continued attacks on his perceived enemies and media houses such as the Daily Nation and the public media instead of addressing issue affecting his party.
Mr. Muma said the antagonistic approach that Mr. Mwamba had taken in his obsession to fix perceived enemies would render the UPND a perpetual opposition political party.
He said it was unfortunate that Mr. Mwamba had continued with his hatred for the Daily Nation since last year, saying he was “shooting in the dark” as the major problem was not with his perceived enemies but the party itself as it was devoid of people that would provide sound advice to the leadership on what it needed to do.
He reminded Mr. Mwamba that there was no single political party that had waged a war against any media house and had won, adding that the path that the UPND had taken of harassing media houses was destructive and that the earlier the party leadership realised that, the better for party mobilisation and growth.
“We remember how Mr. Mwamba threatened to deal with the Daily Nation last year if the UPND won the election. Not long ago, he came back from wherever he was holed up after almost a two-month hiatus and the first thing he asked about right inside the court was where the Daily Nation reporter was. Why is he so obsessed with fighting his perceived enemies when his political party is almost in turmoil?
“Mr. Mwamba would do well to direct his energies towards rebuilding, mobilising, and reuniting his political party which is almost in disarray due to the incarceration of its leader Hakainde Hichilema rather than fighting other people. The problem is within the party and the more time he wastes fighting other people, the more his party crumbles,” Mr. Muma said.
He said the PF took over Government 10 years after it was formed when the UPND was already a bigger opposition political party because it directed its energies on constructive dialogue, mobilisation and sound checks and balances as opposed to petty politics which he said had no room in the modern era.
