Deal with detractors

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 15:07:19 +0000

Clearly the Patriotic Front has many issues to resolve. Most important of which is the emergence and development of a counter party and schism positioning itself for the 2021 elections.

Such character as Chishimba Kambwili have presented themselves as larger than life ogres posing an existential threat to the fortunes of the Patriotic Front.

He, more than anybody else in the party, has taken every opportunity to counter and posture against the leadership.

Obviously, he feels buoyed if not totally cocooned against censure by his cultural origins. He holds a seemingly hallowed status by virtue of his seemingly invincible background as  a founder member  of the PF from the appropriate regional group.

This is a wrong mentality that has consumed another opposition party.

The challenge he poses, real or otherwise, is that any censure or indeed disciplinary action will result in the fracture and disintegration of the ruling party, thereby rendering a paralysis in the dynamics of party management.

 We beg to differ.

  We believe that as the Central Committee of the governing Patriotic Front (PF) convenes tomorrow, it must seize the opportunity to rid itself of pretenders who shelter in the mistaken and often dangerous deliberate belief of nurture tribal division to pander to their nefarious political pursuit.

Such individuals as Chishimba Kambwili must be shown that there is greater strength in numbers than there is in tribal cleavages. He must be shown that PF is not strong because of the founding fathers but because of the following that it garnered because such founding father as Michael Sata embraced the wider and greater society in their vision of a greater Zambia that embraced all nationalities and tribal groups.

President Sata was at home in Petauke as he was in Mansa and indeed Kasama and Mpika. He never played the tribal hand or indeed never attempted to bully himself into power.

We expect that the Central Committee of the ruling party will not shy away from dealing with individuals who have deigned themselves as kings makers and lynch pins in the fortunes of the ruling party on the Copperbelt. The bluff of this assumption must be called because the PF is much bigger than the individuals, especially those who are loudmouthed and regard themselves as being representatives of a tribal group.

Tribalism in any form must be treated with the disgust and disdain that it deserves because this country deserves more.

 We hope members at the meeting will be bold enough to address contentious issues that if glossed over could pose a high risk to the unity of the PF.

For instance, acts of insubordination and insolence engulfing the PF, particularly on the Copperbelt, are a manifestation of the worst kind of indiscipline among senior members in the party.

There is a clique of disgruntled leaders that have deliberately engaged in covert activities that are inimical to the PF, thereby threatening stability and mobilisation exercise as a bedrock to enhance it’s growth.

Through their actions, it is clear that these individuals have not only entered into an alliance with some bitter opposition political party leaders but that they are also bent on frustrating the PF leadership, and particularly undermine party President Edgar Chagwa Lungu.

We are cognisant of the basic fact that efforts to bring sanity in PF have on many occasions been met with heavy condemnation from those opposed to orderliness much to the chagrin of loyal members of the party.

It is well-known that intra-party democracy demands equity and equality of treatment of all members regardless of their position in the party or organisation.  All must be amenable to prescribed disciplinary measures whenever they contravene the party constitution and standing orders.

 “Animal Farm” style of treatment where “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” has no room in a democratic dispension. For how long will the PF harbour enemies within its rank and file?

Extensive deliberations on the position the party has adopted regarding selection of its 2021 presidential candidate will help the party move forward as a formidable unit.

It would be suicidal for the PF to turn a blind eye to confessions by some senior members that the admission of new members to the party, some of whom have been offered senior positions in the party and government has created tension. Does President Lungu make appoints based on political party membership?

In any case, President Lungu uses his discretion to appoint individuals to respective positions of authority. Be that as it may, he arrives at such a decision premised on one’s capacity to deliver to public expectation and not mere party membership. Not all PF members qualify to serve in senior positions.

For as long as the status quo remains, the PF may continue to experience some level of resistance from within its structures which in turn derails the party from achieving its goals and aspirations.

We urge the MCCs to be bold enough to among other issues address the highlighted contentious issues of grave concern to genuine PF members.