Dear Editor,
COPPERBELT Minister who is also provincial UPND chairman, Elisha Matambo was the guest of honour on January 23, 2022, at the mini-rally in Kalulushi.
The event was organised to welcome defectors from mainly PF and NDC to the ruling UPND. The best catch in the “poaching expedition” was certainly the former Kalulushi mayor, Ms Rashida Mulenga. Fr Richard Luonde was also among the defectors, but in comparative terms, Ms Mulenga adds a lot of value because she possesses a stable character and relative better asset net worth.
The five golden rules were set aside just to host the mini-rally. We are also informed that there was heavy police presence because of the threat of the UPND hooligans to disrupt the event.
It is a governance of contradictions. Health Minister Sylvia Masebo keeps appealing for strict observance of the five golden rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19, while her colleague, one Elisha Matambo; Copperbelt Minister who is also UPND chief for the province, goes on a crusade that undermines the same message.
The mini-rally was drama play in which people played key parts without rehearsals. For Mr Matambo, the occasion was to announce the crusade of the capture of the province as stronghold from the PF.
For Ms Mulenga, it was not only the triumphant entry into the “forward family” but her announcement and endorsement of her parliamentary candidature for 2026.
For Fr Luonde, it was a show of his organising competence of destroying the NDC Mwenya Musenge faction. This is the faction under which he recently served as national chairman.
The NDC as a partner in the UPND Alliance must wake up to the reality that they are technically swallowed up by the big fish and by 2026 general elections; the party will have become a shell.
The signs started with the appointment of Mr Joseph Akafumba as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Home Affairs and Internal Security. Mr Akafumba was at the time the interim president of the NDC Akafumba faction.
The whole NDC Mwenya Musenge faction should close shop and merge with UPND so that they have some leverage for bargaining, otherwise the faction is gone. Time will certainly tell.
MIKE CHUNGU.
