I was among the first founding member of UPND, proposed the name of the Party- Kelvin Ndila

Kelvin Ndila on the Foundation of UPND, his perspective

…I was among the first founding member, proposed the name of the Party

Kelvin Ndila Wrote:

Excuse me,Upnd  Members, , Followers etc, what Batuke  Imenda is Saying  is Not True at all.

The Truth  is that in 1997 , Casiano  Nzala  and  myself  lost ours Jobs from  the Special  Division (OP) due to Political  interference  from  a Gentleman  called  Evaristo  Mutale (Private Secretary to President Frederick Chiluba) who accused  us of being  UNIP  sympathizers.

Mutale was at the time a powerful  Private  Secretary  to the late FTJ. Chiluba.  He therefore  influenced  the Service  to  have us dismissed  from  the  Service.

In the meantime, I used  to reside in Madras Kamwala, and my third door neighbour  was Mr. Hamududu who at the time  was working  for the Judiciary  at the High Court of Zambia.

Mr Hamududu’s wife , a Cousin  to an elder sister who lived  in Luanshya  who was a close  friend  to Mrs Mazoka.

Coincidentally  Mr  Mazoka  used to visit Mr.Hamududu  house  in particular  to seek advice  from  Hamududu  how  he could  retrieve  his notor vehicle  which was at the time  confiscated  by  officials from State  House  and  also  how Mazoka  could  deal with  the position of  his BAULENI  WARD TREASURY he had won but was nullified by the MMD’s National  Secretary  who happened  to be Michael Sata at the time.

Hamududu who had known our  fate at OP  referred  Mr. MAZOKA  to meet with  us for ADVICE.

Hamududu  gave Mr. MAZOKA  my contact  number  and he called  me to find  out when  we could  meet  with  him and  I suggested  to meet  him  the following  day  which he agreed  and  he picked  my self  and  Casiano  Nzala from Long acres  around   17.00 hrs in his RED SENTRA CAR.

When  we arrived  at MALENDE his Residence,  Mazoka briefed  us what had transpired  during  Bauleni Ward election,  nullification  of the election  which  he had won and the CONFISCATION  OF HIS SUZUKI CAR BY STATE  HOUSE..I want  to Say here  that  My immediate  Reaction  to Mazoka  that evening was from  GOD, He spoke  to Mazoka Using  Me.

I SAID TO MAZOKA ( SIR  WHY  DO YOU WANT TO WASTE YOUR  TIME FIGHTING  MMD TO BE A  TRESURER  AT A WARD  LEVEL  WHEN YOU CAN  BE A PRESIDENT  OF THIS COUNTRY,  AS A CEO OF EASTERN,  CENTRAL  AND SOUTHERN  AFRICA ANGLO AMERICAN ,WHY NOT FORMING  YOUR OWN PARTY ? I ASKED HIM) Mazoka ,Responded  by asking  us How we Can MAKE HIM ONE).

We told him   could do it with  our experience  in the SERVICE  and promised  to write  a DOCUMENT  TO GUIDE  HIM ON WHAT STEPS HE MUST TAKE,  HOW HE MUST  CONDUCT  HIMSELF  WITH  THE PUBLIC,  HIS  TEAM, IN OTHER  WORDS BUILD HIS IMAGE..WE PRE PREPARED  THE DOCUMENT  WITH  Casiano Nzala  and Delivered  to him at ANGLO AMERICAN pffice.

A few days  later  he called  me and said  he appreciated the DOCUMENT and gave me a GREEN  LIGHT  TO BEGIN  THE PROCESS. 

I shared  this news with  Casiano, the first person  I called  was my Cousin Themba Muleya  who was  Manager  at ZSIC as we  wanted  to keep  the PROJECT  WITHIN  THE FAMILY  FIRST. 

I then called  Olivetti Malungisa who was a Man at Evestrust  Bank, then Moono Munansangu  a former  accountant at UNIP OFFICE.

These  had been  known  to me personally  for some  time. By the way,  Mazoka gave  me Express  ACCESS   TO CONTACT AND  SEE HIM ANY TIME , So Casiano  and Myself  Took Themba  Muleya  now  late,  Munansangu  late,  Olivetti  Malungisa  TO MEET AND INTRODUCE  THEM TO MAZOKA  AS PERSONS WE RE GOING  TO EXCUTE  THE  TASK WITH. 

At ANGLO, Mr.  Mazoka  received  us after  passing  through his  Secretary  and were  introduced  to Muna Hantuba as his Assistant  but did not  stay in the meeting.

After introductions  Mazoka  proposed  that Moono Munansangu  who was  the oldest  in the group  leads  as Chairman  of this small  group  and we must  commerce our program  by bringing  in people  of Substance  in our  meetings with caution, as premature disclosure might  jeopardise  our operations.

Later on Themba  Muleya  brought  in Loveness Malambo his Aunt,  Olivetti brought  in Baxton Maambo  and Munansangu  brought  in Nakalonga  and  more people  joined  in until  we felt  strong enough  to Register  the Party.

Several  names were  suggested  in our meetings for the Party  to be, like universal and national  party  etc, previously  I had read one African  magazine   which  talked  about  political  parties  in WEST  AFRICA  and One Name  STUCK  WITH  ME FOR A LONG TIME.

As several  possible  names  were  being  floated around  my mind was racing, AGAIN  GOD USED ME.

In my  mind  I was Saying,  UNIP USHERED YS  INDEPENDENCE , MMD MULTIPARTISM the Party  we re proposing  MUST  OFFER ZAMBIANS  WITH  ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT.  Then I remembered  this Political  party  in West  Africa. It was called,  (P.N.D.) Party  For National  DEVELOPMENT.  When I Suggested  this Name  to my Fellow  Committee  Members  they all ACCEPTED  IT, But MUNANSANGU,  a Former UNIP  MEMBER ABD ACCOUNTANT  SUGGESTED  THAT WE ADD(UNITED) So it can be Named UPND. 

Comrades  and friends  this  is MY STORY  FOR NOW. but I’ll  react sharply  when  attemps are made to distort  facts and MARGINALISE  ME. WAIT  FOR MY MY BOOK?