Thu, 11 Jan 2018 08:44:19 +0000
By ROGERS KALERO
A SENIOR Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Central Committee has said former Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba should be expelled from the ruling party because he cannot continue to be a member of the party which he has labelled to be corrupt when he perceives himself to be clean.
Mr Timothy Walamba said the PF Central Committee should expel Mr Kalaba for allegedly insulting the republican President and the ruling party by labelling them to be corrupt when he had no evidence to support his allegations.
Mr Walamba said in an interview in Kitwe yesterday that it was surprising that people like Mr Kalaba who were expected to be grateful to President Lungu and PF for making him an MP and Cabinet minister were throwing mud at the party and the republican President.
“It is like indiscipline has become the order of the day in PF where people can wake up and insult the republican President. We need discipline in the party. We cannot have a situation where every person becomes ambitious and thinks the only way to decampaign the republican President is to call him corrupt.
“Who is Harry Kalaba? That Kalaba is not even known in in Luapula province. Anyway, since he has resigned as minister because the PF is corrupt, he should also resign as MP or the PF Central Committee should expel him because he cannot continue to be a member of the party that he has labelled to be corrupt,” Mr Walamba said
Mr Walamba said Mr Kalaba should resign or be expelled from the party so that a by-election could be held in Bahati to see prove how popular he was in his constituency.
Mr Walamba said Mr Kalaba has never been popular in the PF party structures and his adoption for Bahati constituency in 2011 was only done after an intervention from members of Chief Kalaba’s family.
He said Mr Kalaba’s adoption for Bahati in 2011 faced a lot of resistance from party members in the province because he was not liked, but was only adopted because he was the son of Chief Kalaba in Mansa district of Luapula province.
Mr Walamba said even now, Mr Kalaba was not liked by the people in his constituency and if he wanted to prove his popularity, he should resign from PF so that a by-election could be held.
“In 2011, during the adoption for parliamentary candidates, the party structures were against the adoption of Mr Kalaba, but he was only adopted after members of Chief Kalaba intervened. From that time, people do not like him, but he has been there because he is a son of a Chief,” He said.
He said if Mr Kalaba was not popular in his back yard, what was making him think that he was capable of challenging President Lungu and beat him.
“That Kalaba is just suffering. If people are telling him is popular, he will regret. The problem is that people in PF tend to overate themselves and start to undermine the President. A President deserves respect. If you are satisfied, don’t misbehave by insulting the republican President,” He said.
