Fri, 26 Jan 2018 09:50:30 +0000
By AARON CHIYANZO
HAKAINDE Hichilema should get rid of Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) if he wan ts to rule this country because he is not adding value to the party and general national debate, 3rd Liberation Movement leader, Enoch Tonga has charged.
The level of political debate, he said, had deteriorated to personal insults and expression of personal egos far removed from the political, social and economic concerns of the country.
Mr Tonga, who took exception to Mr Mwamba’s sentiments that only rich people should rule Zambia, said it was such attitudes of pouring scorn on the poor that made it difficult for people to like the UPND leadership.
And Change Life Zambia leader, Joseph Kasongo told the Daily Nation, it was upto the UPND to remove people that were not helping to improve the party’s standing in society.
He said, what people wanted in a leader was wisdom and not riches, as suggested by Mr Mwamba. Mr Tonga on the other hand said as a party, they had advised Mr Hichilema several times that if he means well for this country, he should replace his vice president for politics with someone who has a sober minded approach to issues and who could argue without resorting to insults or demeaning others.
Being rich, Mr Tonga said, did not necessarily mean that someone had wisdom for people to vote for them and wondered why Mr Mwamba wanted to relegate the poor person with the role of voter only.
He advised the UPND leader not to waste any more of his time with the likes of GBM because that association had already proved that it would not win him an election.
He also advised Mr Mwamba to go to a real university and get a doctorate which might come in handy in dealing with national issues.
And Patriotic Front (PF) Mandevu constituency secretary, Lemmy Bwalya said that it was an insult on the electorates for Mr Mwamba to insinuate that Zambians were unwise to vote for their preferred candidates.
Mr Bwalya reiterated that Zambians had a right to vote for a candidate of their choice, irrespective of the status or position they commanded in society.
He demanded that Mr Mwamba should apologize for insulting electorates, as he had infringed on their right of choice.
“We are very saddened to learn that Mr Mwamba admonished the Zambian people by implying that the choices they made in the previous elections were misguided.
“It is an insult to say that only the rich had wisdom and run a country better. How about the people from humble backgrounds we have voted for, what does GBM think of us?” he questioned.
