By NOEL IYOMBWA
MY life was at risk because of being adopted and that is the reason why I had to give up my adoption certificate, dropped PF Rufunsa candidate Bartholomew Kalambalala has said.
Barely a few days before filling his nomination, the PF dropped Mr Kalambalala and replaced him with Mr Patson Mumba.
Mr Kalambalala explained in an interview that when he was adopted, all the four other candidates congratulated him except for Mr Mumba.
He accused Mr Mumba and the district PF chairperson of inciting people to rise people against him.
He alleged that the District Commissioner, Ms Judith Chama, had been working against him since 2016 when he was elected council chairperson.
“She did not want me and for the past one week, they have been fighting me and on Saturday I organised a meeting so that we strategise how we will conduct campaigns but the district chairperson blocked people from attending the meeting and later I received a call from him that I surrender my adoption certificate,” he said.
Mr Kalambalala accused Mr Mumba of sponsoring councillors, who were not picked, to stand as independent candidates.
He also alleged that Mr Mumba sponsored adopted councillors and the district chairperson to reject his candidature when the provincial leadership held a meeting with the Rufunsa district leadership.
He however said that he decided not to stand as an independent Member of Parliament because of his love for the party and President Edgar Lungu.
Mr Kalambalala said that he would remain loyal to the party and support President Lungu’s presidential candidature because he had shown good leadership.
“I decided to withdraw because fighting is not leadership, I gave up because we cannot continue fighting, this is just leadership.
