EDGAR LUNGU’S FAMILY SUPPORTED NCP’S DECISION TO LEAVE TONSE – PETER CHANDA

ECL’S FAMILY SUPPORTED NCP’S DECISION TO LEAVE TONSE – CHANDA

NEW Congress Party President Peter Chanda says former president Edgar Lungu’s family commended his decision to leave the Tonse Alliance following wrangles in the grouping, because Lungu’s legacy would have been ruined.

Chanda also says his decision to cut ties with the PF and Tonse Alliance was motivated by PF acting president Given Lubinda, who allegedly gave him an ultimatum to appear before him within 24 hours or have his top party members take over the NCP leadership.

Speaking on Diamond TV, Wednesday, Chanda explained that he decided to leave the Tonse Alliance because the internal wrangles were making it difficult to achieve the purpose for which the alliance was formed.

“On the night of Monday, I received a text message from comrade Zumani Zimba telling me to go before them: ‘You have 24 hours in which to appear before us or six top leaders of NCP will take over leadership in the next 24 hours.’ Belonging to an alliance is not by force, it is by choice. We are in a democratic space, we are in a country where democracy is a constitutional right and freedom of association and freedom of assembly is a constitutional right. My address, I think when I said I’ve taken a back step, the first address I’m sure all of you and all the Zambian people saw my first address where I requested the PF leadership as well as the Tonse Alliance to put their house in order,” Chanda said.

“When you look at NCP being considered as a Special Purpose Vehicle for the Tonse Alliance, at the moment, we have two factions of the Tonse Alliance: we have Sean Tembo pulling the other way, we have Honourable Lubinda pulling the other way, so if I was to remain steadfast, which Tonse Alliance was the special purpose vehicle going to belong to? The decision I made, and many of the members of the New Congress Party, as well as the general populace, including the former First Family, when I made the first decision, including the second decision itself, they said, ‘well, you did well to preserve, because ECL’s legacy would have been in the mud’”.

Asked what Zumani’s text message said would happen if he didn’t appear before Lubinda, Chanda said, “six top NCP leaders will take over NCP leadership and a named lawyer will be acting president”.

He added that there had been no prior discussions within the alliance that other people would at any point take over the leadership of NCP, except with Lungu.

“My decision to make a final call was necessitated as a result of the threat that came out. The following day, after I got that message from comrade Zumani, the same night, I think there are few names of people that were alleged to have been recommended by the former president but I think before he died, he had told me to say, ‘no, don’t go ahead and make changes at the Registrar of Societies of anybody, stop all the appointments’, including those appointments that were published and appointments that were purported to have been made seconded to…’ There was no such discussion.

You can imagine, this is an alliance, an alliance where we all willingly subscribe, and I had clearly stated to say, ‘I’ve taken a back step, I’m not going to participate,’ and my call was very simple: ‘Put your house in order, we can’t have two Tonse Alliances,’” Chanda explained.

“We can’t have the PF that is claiming to be united when there’s the former leader of opposition Honourable Brian Mundubile going this way, they can’t sit on one table. I urged both parties to put their house in order and stated to say when everything is done, when they do their own general conference, when they go to the general congress as Tonse Alliance, they select a special purpose vehicle, if it is NCP, because the matter of NCP was a subject matter as the matter that they’ll go and deliberate on at the general congress. That’s the reason why we took a back step and wanted to focus on organising the party”.

Chanda expressed disappointment in Lubinda’s behaviour, whom he accused of trying to take over his party.

“After receiving a text message, I immediately called the Secretary General, we deliberated. I called a few other national executive committee leaders of the New Congress Party, told them about the development, and sent them the message that came from comrade Zumani.

We immediately resolved to say, ‘look, those names that were recommended to be part of the office bearers or part of the leadership to be blended into NCP, their names were not even effected at the Registrar of Societies, the six of them.’ So, immediately, using Article 4.1 of the constitution that mandates me to appoint and dismiss leaders, I revoked all the appointments in accordance with the NCP constitution. I had appointed those six that comrade Zumani was trying to use,” said Chanda.

“The following day, I tried to call Honourable Lubinda in trying to explain to say I got this text message, but before I could say anything, Honourable Lubinda himself told me to say, ‘where are you, ba president? You were supposed to be brought before me today.’ I said, ‘brought before you by whom?’ ‘You didn’t receive a message yesterday that you are supposed to come here? If you delay, your 24 hours ultimatum will be too late.’ That’s when I engaged him in a talk.

I said, ‘look sir, I trusted you. I never anticipated that you’d want to take over NCP. I’m serving my term, and my term is ending in May, and then the leaders that I entrusted with my future in the Tonse Alliance, the acting chairman himself of the Tonse Alliance, is instructing his people to try and take over leadership’”.

News Diggers