By SIMON MUNTEMBA
BINWELL Mpundu, former PF Kitwe district commissioner says he would gladly accept if appointed by President-Elect Hakainde Hichilema in his Government.
Mr Mpundu, the newly elected independent Member of Parliament for Nkana Constituency said as a young politician, he had no option but work with Mr Hichilema to develop his constituency. He said his loyalty was to the people of Nkana who entrusted him with the responsibility to represent them and not the party (PF) that abandoned him during the adoption process.
Mr Mpundu said he would not hesitate to accept any appointment in the new Government because his loyalty was to the people of Nkana constituency. “We have a much bigger responsibility not to the party but the people. I think in all honesty, our loyalty should be to the people.
When elected, we serve the people not the party. “I have no regret because I am ultimately supposed to serve the people of Nkana, not the people in the structures of PF,” he said when he was featured on Radio Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Asked if he would accept a ministerial position under UPND, Mr Mpundu said: “we are now at the point to serve our people and as a young politician, I have no option but to work with President-elect Hakainde Hichilema who sounds sober and focused.” He explained that it was a painful decision that he made to stand as an independent candidate against PF because he started politics with PF.
The former Kitwe District Commissioner also said despite being mistreated by the PF leadership, he still had a soft spot because it made him to be the politician that he was today. “People of Nkana were prepared to walk with me.
I emerged victorious even if I had no money to give them but because of the message of hope that I gave them. Unlike my other contenders that ganged up to fight Binwell Mpundu. “Their message was basically propaganda and hate messages against me, and I took that as a stepping stone. It built me. My competitors could use money but I was giving them a message of hope,” he said.
