UPND MONEY FOR TRIBAL CARTEL

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 09:51:34 +0000

By NATION REPORTER

THE tribal cartel in the UPND has been sharing the money the opposition party has been receiving from well-wishers and friends of the party and it is not correct that non-Tongas who joined the party were attracted by the personal wealth of Hakainde Hichilema, Edward Mumbi has charged.

Mr Mumbi who was UPND presidential spokesperson has claimed that there was a tribal cartel within the opposition party that had monopolized the opposition party’s financial resources and were sharing the money to the exclusion of many other senior party members.

Mr Mumbi said at no time did he receive money from either the UPND or its leader Mr Hichilema and that claims by the party’s Lusaka Province chairperson that he (Mumbi) had resigned from the party after enjoying Mr Hichilema’s money were not only annoying but highly insulting.

He said in an interview yesterday that from the time he had joined the UPND, he had been using his personal resources to finance some of the party activities and operations.

He said he was deeply offended by assertions that he had abandoned the UPND after enjoying Mr Hichilema’s money, stating that only a person who was less than astute and politically naïve could issue such an unsearched and unsubstantiated statements.

Mr Mumbi has challenged Mr Hichilema to tell the UPND members the truth as to whether he had been using his personal money to run the opposition party.

“The perception by some UPND members that people joining the party are following Mr Hichilema’s personal money is not only incorrect but demeaning. I joined the UPND and was offered the position of presidential spokesperson for special duties not because I wanted Mr Hichilema’s money. I have been using my personal money to finance party activities and operations.

It is a fact and I challenge the UPND to deny it that the party receives a lot of money from well-wishers and the resources are shared among the tribal cartel. They (tribal cartel) has monopolized the UPND money and it is an insult for anyone to claim I joined the UPND because of Mr Hichilema’s money,” Mr Mumbi said.

Mr Mumbi stated that ever since he joined the UPND, he had never received not even a K100 for his fuel or party operations costs but had instead spent a lot of his personal money to the party.

He explained that at the level he had reached in the UPND, one would have thought that he was receiving financial support from the party but had never been paid by any of the UPND leaders for the services he rendered to the party.

“The UPND should respect me and my decision to leave the party. I should not be ridiculed but let them know that I am ready to defend myself. I was a senior member of the UPND and if pushed I can name and shame the tribal cartel that is enjoying the UPND money. HH does not distribute money to members and I challenge Mr Hichilema to disclose how much money he had given me if any,” Mr Mumbi said.