PF SECRETARY general Wynter Kabimba yesterday told off Eastern Province chairman Lameck Mangani, accusing him of sponsoring drunken thugs to attack innocent citizens and harassing genuine party members.
And Kabimba says the interim Eastern Province committee formed by Mangani after the provincial executive was dissolved was illegal and not recognised by President Michael Sata and the central committee of the ruling party.
Meanwhile, Kabimba says he will quit politics if President Sata ceases to be President.
Addressing cheering party members at Luangwa House yesterday, Kabimba ordered the arrest of a group of youths called Jimbos allegedly sponsored by Mangani.
In an apparent reference to a crestfallen Mangani who sat next to him, the Minister of Justice said Mangani was causing divisions in the party.
“I have nothing against Lameck Mangani and I told him in my office. There are people that go to radio stations to insult me, that I am a useless secretary general, and no action has been taken against them by the provincial chairman and these are people who are supposed to be in the interim committee chaired by Mr Mangani! That’s why I went to the President and asked that I come to Eastern Province personally to deal with this indiscipline. These are the events that have happened from the time Mr Mangani became chairperson. Next time I hear about Jimbos running riots, harassing innocent people, I will go to the President and tell him and I tell you (Hudson Namachila, Eastern Province police commissioner) you’ll not be here the next day, brief the commissioner (Grace Chipalila) when she comes, unless you arrest them and their leader, this must come to an end. We can’t allow drunken thugs to be running amok, this must come to an end. This lawlessness and attacking of innocent citizens should stop. Colleagues in the security wing, people are harassing citizens, you do nothing and continue wearing police uniform, why?” Kabimba said.
He said suspensions by Mangani had contributed to division and confusion in the party.
Kabimba said Mangani had defied his instructions to review all the suspensions in the province.
“We have not received that report (interim committee); again you defied my instructions. I don’t give instructions as Wynter Kabimba. I do it on behalf of the President and the central committee as secretary general. Only two people are senior to me, the President and the Vice-President, and to hear that a district and constituency official is insulting me and the provincial chairman does nothing and those that don’t insult me are the ones that get suspended, I get worried. If the President tells me to go, I’ll respectfully leave, but as long as I remain SG of this party, I’ll not tolerate indiscipline. Hear me correctly, please. It doesn’t matter who is involved, correction will be done in accordance with our party constitution,” he said.
Kabimba said the interim committee was not approved by the central committee and was therefore illegal.
“Mr Mangani said that he was appointed by the President and he will use his delegated powers (to appoint interim committee). I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to write back.’ I phoned and called him to my office. I have not seen that list of the interim committee. I want that list within 30 days and beyond that I will not plead and I’ll uplift all the suspensions. Eastern Province is not an exception and if this instruction is defied, then I shall know what to do,” he said.
Kabimba said the party demanded the list because it wanted to ensure that genuine members were holding positions.
He said he would not allow newcomers to suppress, intimidate and harass old members that sacrificed for the party.
Kabimba said such were divisive elements that brought down a government.
In a packed hall, Kabimba said President Sata tolerated him because he understood him.
“I want to tell you today, if President Sata stopped being President, I’ll quit, I will not serve any other person. He’s my father, uncle and elder brother. He knows me more than my father, he’s known me for more than 30 years and I’ve said this to the President himself. After President Sata, I’ll not accept anyone offering me a job as minister. I am not bothered like others of being minister. I’ll refuse, I want you to know that. My service, loyalty and faith is to President Sata because he can tolerate me and because of this, I’ll reciprocate my loyalty to him. Be careful with these prophets of doom; all they say is that I am destroying the party. I am not corrupt,” he said.
Kabimba wondered why some party officials were accusing him of destroying the party.
“Do you know how much I have sacrificed for this party? I brought in people from Kenya to do PVT (Parallel Vote Tabulation) and we won elections. I smuggled in people through Nakonde border and if Rupiah Banda won elections, I would be in jail today, and today Ba Mangani is more loyal to the party than me! No! No. Those of you accusing me of destroying the party don’t know the sacrifice I put in. When we were voting, Judge Ngoma was serving a jail sentence and those of you who come today should say, ‘Judge is not loyal’; that I refuse and I’ll not accept that PF members that suffered and sacrificed for the party become refugees in their own party. Let’s have a new beginning,” he said.
Kabimba warned against using President Sata’s name in vain.
“Stop using the name of the President in vain, doing wrong things. He set up this party to serve the poor. PF is not for sale to business people, it’s not for auctioning,” Kabimba said.
Meanwhile, Mangani failed to calm down members that denounced and disagreed with his calls for unity.
Mangani’s speech was punctuated by jeering, booing and shouts of disagreement over the usage of Jimbos. He had a tough time completing his speech, prompting Ngoma to take over as master of ceremonies.
As Ngoma was speaking, the crowd broke into ululation, singing songs of praise for Kabimba and President Sata, and Mangani sat down.
Mangani told Kabimba not to be surprised with people booing him because they were all children of President Sata.
“We can’t win an election if we are a divided party, we can’t afford to go different routes. The opposition is taking advantage of our confusion, otherwise there’s no opposition here in Eastern Province,” said Mangani.
Meanwhile, Kabimba says a legal system that only serves one class of people is not a justice system at all.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Chadiza district commissioner Paul Phiri on Wednesday, Kabimba, who is on tour of Eastern Province, said the PF would ensure that the insurgency of social disorder was prevented.
“A justice system only for the rich is not at all justice; it can only be justice if it covers the majority of our people at all levels; at local court level, at subordinate court level, at magistrates’ court level, at High Court level and at Supreme Court level. Once the people begin to see that there’s a justice system that can serve their disputes, it stops the insurgency of social disorder,” Kabimba said.
Kabimba said President Sata had appointed a legal and justice commission in order to move away from serving only one class of people.
He said the government would ensure that the Legal Aid Board operate as originally intended.
This was after Phiri complained that after people were interviewed for various positions in local courts, there had been no response.
Phiri also said most feeder roads were being worked on.
“Rural health centres here are better equipped than before and under the government’s programme of constructing 650 health centres, my district will have five health centres constructed. The civil servants are very happy with their work, especially after salaries were reviewed,” said Phiri.
Earlier in Vubwi district, Kabimba said it would be unacceptable for the PF to lose a by-election following the nullification of MMD’s Eustarckio Kazonga’s election by the Supreme Court.
Kabimba called for unity and discipline in the party.
“There are people in some parts of this country that don’t obey decisions of the central committee and a divided party can’t develop. Let’s respect the leadership of the party. We can’t win the Vubwi by-election if we are not united, we have a chance now because UPND and MMD are now dead,” Kabimba said.
Kabimba said the PF won the 2011 general elections because it was orderly administratively, united and disciplined.
He said the party must grow, expand and attract good members every day.
“That’s how we managed to beat MMD with all their money because they were indiscipline. We must continue with the unity and discipline so that we win with a landslide,” Kabimba said.
In Chadiza, Kabimba told party members not to feel despondent because better things were coming.
Kabimba instructed Phiri to strongly talk to heads of government department to respect party officials.
“I have told the district commissioner to speak strongly to heads of government departments that they should respect our officials because the objectives of our colleagues in government and in the party are the same. Those in government and in the party that are not satisfied should use established channels,” said Kabimba.
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Kabimba Talks Direct And Hard To Mangani
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