I AM STILL PF, MUNDUBILE CLARIFIES TONSE CHAIRMANSHIP BID
TONSE Alliance Chairman aspiring candidate Brian Mundubile says his bid for the Tonse chairmanship should not be misconstrued as him quitting the PF.
Mundubile says he believes all opposition political parties will come together through Tonse and that he is the right man to lead the alliance.
On Friday, Mundubile, together with Dan Pule, filed nominations for the Pule-led faction of the Alliance, which will see the winner become the presidential candidate for the August polls.
Speaking during Friday’s episode of BM8 Unfiltered, when asked if he did not foresee the Lubinda-led PF and Tonse faction fighting him for his move, Mundubile said Zambians were tired of fights within the political space.
“I want to put this very clearly, I’m a leader in Tonse, in the Tonse Council of Leaders. I’m one of the leaders in the Tonse Council of Leaders and I have been, all I’m doing is vie for a position within that council higher than where I am. So people should not mistake my contesting of chairmanship to quitting PF. I have been in Tonse, president [Edgar] Lungu appointed me to Tonse, so if I was in PF as National Chairperson for Tonse, I am still PF, this should be understood. So as regards to who may fight or not fight me, that’s not for me to answer. I think the Zambians are very tired of the fights within the political space. It’s always that politician reconciling with the other or they are having tea, they quarrelled yesterday and so on,” he said.
“Let it be about the Zambian people. The farmers that have been waiting for payments for seven months have been waiting for us to fight for them. The kids who are going to school sitting in one class 120 of them are waiting for us to speak for them. The taxi drivers, the bus drivers who are paying K30 per litre are expecting us to speak for them. The people who are experiencing load-shedding and high cost of living are expecting us to speak for them. So it can’t be about politicians themselves, it’s about the Zambian people, so we want to put the fights behind”.
He added that Tonse needed a chairman to replace late former president Edgar Lungu, adding that it was the alliance that was going to unite all opposition political parties.
“What Tonse needs, Tonse needs a leader, Tonse needs a chairman because the Chairman for Tonse, president Edgar Lungu, died a couple of months ago. There is need to replace the Chairman with a substantive chair. What we are doing, we are not going through any negotiated process, we are going through a democratic process. I had a meeting with one of the contenders, Professor Dan Pule, to say ‘look, we are going for this position.’ I told him ‘if you win I’m going to support you as Chairman’. He equally said if I win that position he’s going to
me,” Mundubile said.
“My assurance to you is that through Tonse we are going to unite the opposition. Zambians have been crying for far too long that the opposition need to unite. Practical steps have been taken by Tonse, we are not choosing a leader sitting on a table, we are competing. We are going to compete and the Council of Leaders, the delegates, will choose one from amongst ourselves. He will emerge as Chairperson for Tonse and that leader will have a duty to immediately go beyond the membership of Tonse to look at other opposition political parties, like minds to come together and be able to form a united opposition, be able to present a strong opposition. Tonse has been in existence, Tonse has got, for instance, myself as the National Chairperson for Parliamentary Affairs, meaning that Tonse already has MPs that are under it”.
He said he was the right man to lead Tonse as he has had interactions with most of the opposition political parties in the country.
“Like I said, I have been a leader of Tonse under the Council of Leaders from inception. I fully understand the vision of Tonse and how Tonse was created and for what purpose. So looking at the experience that I have had in Parliament, in government, both in Parliament as Government Chief Whip and in the opposition as Leader of the Opposition, you will be happy to learn that as Government Chief Whip, president Edgar Lungu had appointed me to chair a committee that was in charge of putting opposition political parties together. This was the time we were negotiating or having dialogue for constitutional amendment,” said Mundubile.
“So I chaired that committee and interacted with all opposition political parties with no exception, including the current ruling party. It was my committee under my chairmanship that was putting all these opposition political parties together for over a year. So, I have got a good rapport with most of these opposition political parties, so I truly believe that from the experience that I have had in different capacities be it in the opposition or in the ruling party and indeed the interactions that I have had at individual level with all these opposition political parties, I feel I’m the right man to lead Tonse”.
News Diggers
Mundubule you had begun well but became foolish after touching that you would correct problems in schools, drivers and farmers ! What can you change or improve on what HH has done ? No current opposition can reach the bar already raised by HH and UPND. Yes I agree you may be a better option but only amongst your fellow opposition leaders. Don’t contrast yourself against HH or UPND because you still have a lot to learn from the sitting government.
You can see how much these guys are confused and they will say upnd. They ate themselves from the word, when they lost 2021, took long to get themselves a leader
Apostle Dan Pule says the Patriotic Front has been expelled from the Tonse Alliance, so what are you doing there?
Am sure things will become clear after the Kasama Mayoral Elections.
And if the Patriotic Front Convention is held, are you going to standard as President of the Patriotic Front?
And who is going to make the Electoral College of Tonse Alliance?
Finally, PF can find a voice and speak for people. Ba mundubile now wants to speak for 2.5 million pupils back in school. Never saw anything wrong for them to be at home. Now that they are in school, he can speak for them.
Never saw anything wrong when they removed meal allowances but now he sees clearly he can speak for them.
Never saw farmers not paid for over two farming seasons at 140 but now that they are paid 340 and delayed by 7 months he can speak for them.
Never saw debt moving from 2b to 14 and defaulted or economy declining fro. 6 to negative one so now that it is up again, he can speak for them.
How noble of him!!!
By the way, speak too for illegal mining, for cadres, for thugs in jail including the hero why me. After all, you are a lawyer!