KEEP OUT

Mon, 26 Dec 2016 10:13:34 +0000

By BENNIE MUNDANDO

WE WILL not allow disgruntled politicians to make the Copperbelt a hotbed for confusion because we want to deliver to Zambians according to our campaign promises, Patriotic Front (PF) provincial chairperson Stephen Kainga has warned.

Commenting on senior politicians who were calling for elections in the party from top to bottom, Mr. Kainga said such individuals had run out of ideas because there was no leadership vacuum in the party as the mandate for current leaders had not expired.

He said those who were thinking that they could shake the ruling party by taking confusion to the Copperbelt were living in illusion because the party will remain loyal to the current structures and the leadership of President Edgar Lungu and will not waste their time on people who were obsessed with leadership.

He said in its quest to develop the country, the PF will not be derailed by individuals who were brewing confusion, adding that those who thought had the power to hold the ruling party to ransom were wasting their time because the party did not belong to a few individuals.

He said it was illogical for anyone to insinuate that the party needed to go for elections because no single individual had the right to give direction on how the part should run because it was a corporate entity whose collective decisions were backed by the party constitution.

He warned those with sinister motives not to use the Copperbelt to propagate their selfish motives, saying they would be met squarely as party members were not ready for squabbles but unity.

“For those who want to use the Copperbelt to propagate their selfish motives, they are mistaken because this province will not allow to be used as a hotbed for confusion by disgruntled politicians. They have had their time and their time is gone and they should allow us to work also just like they did. Those who think that they can break the structures here and infiltrate us are just wasting their time because we are intact.

“There is no leadership vacuum in PF because all the structures are in place and at the right time, we will hold elections and so, it is not up to an individual to tell us what to do or what they feel should be done because the party is bigger than anyone of us,” Mr. Kainga said.

On newcomers into the party, Mr Kainga said no one will be segregated on the basis of being new or old because politics was about numbers and not about how a few individuals felt.

“We will continue to mobilise because politics is about numbers and no one will tell us who to welcome and who not to because everyone is important. For those who feel they are old members in the party and should therefore be treated differently, that will not happen because all will be treated equally.

“On Friday, we had a meeting where we did not only reiterate our resolve to rally behind the leadership of President Edgar Lungu but also stressed the need to bring more people into the party and we will continue doing so because that is the only way the party will grow,” he said.