WITHOUT doubt, Information and Media Minister Cornelius Mweetwa’s damning disclosure on Tuesday on how the United Party for National Development (UPND) allegedly used Mr Chishimba Kambwili as a mole to help remove the Patriotic Front from office in the 2021 general elections has sparked debate in the nation.
It must stand out as one of the greatest confessions to have been made by the now ruling UPND of how it outwitted the then ruling PF.
While it is common for political parties to have informers in rival organisations for insider information, it changes the rules of the game when illegal methods are used.
Mr Mweetwa, at a media briefing on Tuesday claimed that the UPND in opposition had planted Mr Kambwili as a mole in the PF then in government to bring down President Edgar Lungu.
Mr Mweetwa, who is also Government Spokesperson claimed that Mr Kambwili, who is now ailing and has since been evacuated to South Africa for specialised medical treatment was sent to the PF by the UPND to destroy former President Lungu through hate speech against President Hakainde Hichilema.
According to Mr Mweetwa, Mr Kambwili’s assignment was to spew hate speech and tribal remarks against the UPND so as to annoy Zambians so that they could vote the former President out.
“We expected former President Lungu to see through our political schemes. I can now begin to disclose that we worked very well with Chishimba Kambwili to bring down former President Lungu. That is why he did not go with his party into PF…he left it. He (Kambwili) told us that he was just going to start issuing tribal remarks so that the person he was supporting could be hated by citizens,” Mr Mweetwa claimed.
What boggles the collective minds of Zambians is what prompted Mr Mweetwa to make such disclosures without realising the repercussions for those in government as well as opposition – PF.
We are not surprised that Mr Mweetwa’s disclosure has drawn a sharp reaction from several PF officials as they question the integrity of the UPND leadership.
Stephen Kampyongo, the Opposition chief Whip said it is being heartless for the UPND government to have embarked on a crusade of demonising ailing Chishimba Kambwili as having been a decoy who was used to propagate hate speech against President Hakainde Hichilema and the people of Southern Province to undermine and bring down former President Edgar Lungu.
Mr Kampyongo said it is shocking that President Hichilema while in opposition could have sanctioned an evil plot to divide the country through tribal sentiments in his bid to win the presidency.
Emmanuel Mwamba, the PF information and publicity chairperson said it is being evil for the UPND to have used Mr Kambwili to propagate hate speech to cause national division and proceed to jail him over the same transgression they had deployed to commit.
If anything, Mr Mweetwa’s revelations should open up a whole pandora’s box on how far the UPND went to win the general elections, resorting to even unorthodox means.
It definitely does not give the UPND any moral right to preach to the opposition parties to use “clean politics” in the political arena.
They’ll also feel embolded to resort to any means to unseat the UPND administration.
As Mr Kampyongo said, what Mr Mweetwa had revealed could only be a tip of the iceberg of the atrocities the UPND could have committed to win the 2021 general elections.
Or is it a question of all the ending justifies the means – crooked or not.
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