IT’S DISTURBING
…to be invited for investigations – Kampyongo
By Kombe Mataka
I HAVE been dealing with a delicate situation of galvanising members of parliament, says Patriotic Front parliamentary whip Stephen Kampyongo.
“Yes, we could have our shortcomings but we will stand despite what we are going through. It is disturbing to be invited to go for investigations,” says Kampyongo.
The Shiwang’andu PF member of parliament was commenting, in an interview, over PF acting secretary general Nickson Chilangwa’s complaint that most party MPs’ support is pathetic.
“I have been dealing with a delicate situation. I have members who have been sent out of parliament. Nine of them. We have got those with election petition appeal cases whose predicament they don’t know,” Kampyongo said.
“It wouldn’t be fair to head count in terms of those who were not present. There could be one or two who deliberately missed.”
He said members of the party were appreciative of the party’s efforts in bailing out their legal fees.
“I am certainly happy with the support. We are working for the party under difficult circumstances because getting lawyers to represent you cannot be underrated,” Kampyongo said.
“I can tell you people like hon (Brian) Mundubile (Mporokoso member of parliament) has got a bereavement. Hon (Christopher) Shakafuswa (Mandevu member of parliament) has also got bereavement. So we allowed a few members to go and be with these. We won’t betray Zambians. Yes, we could have our shortcomings but we will stand despite what we are going through. It is disturbing to be invited to go for investigations. Some of my colleagues have been visited in their homes, with different homes, different call outs and searches.”
And Kampyongo, a former home affairs minister, said he would ensure he schedules another meeting with opposition alliance partners where all members of parliament would be present.
“You can understand the [acting] president’s [Given Lubinda] frustration. He wanted all the members of parliament present. I am whip and responsible for all the PF MPs and that is why I was responding like that,” he said.
“It’s understandable because you don’t always expect people to baby-sit you. The Veep [Lubinda] has been in the opposition for over 10 years and in government for 10 years. So you can’t take away his experience. He was with King Cobra [late Michael Sata] in the opposition. He has been MP in a cosmopolitan constituency [Kabwata] for 20 years. We are just MPs in the third term. It’s very rare that you get like that. A constituency like Kabwata is not like a village constituency where people can flow with you. So when he is talking like that, you know what he is going through.”
On Sunday, Lubinda and Chilangwa expressed anger after several MPs shunned a meeting held with the party’s alliance partners.
A visibly annoyed Lubinda said: “Hon chief whip pretence will not take us anywhere. The fact that the chief whip called all members of the party to come means all of them should have been here.”
“To show people out there that all MPs, MCCs (members of the central committee) are here will be lying to yourselves. I know you don’t want to be embarrassed as MPs. I know that but the truth of the matter is you are not here. All the 60 MPs would have been here. Those of you who are here, sorry for being the ones who are receiving my harsh voice,” said Lubinda.
“It is meant for those who are not here. To smokescreen and tell the world that all the 60 are here when they are only 15 of you is also not right. Had I my way I would have said those who are not here, your names be exposed. You are first a member of the party before being MP.”
For his part, Chilangwa said the support that the party was receiving from members of parliament was pathetic.
“I should hasten to say I am very disappointed the number of members of parliament here today does not represent PF. This is the reason why we are having challenges as a party. The last 48 hours, me and Hon Lubinda, Hon [Brian] Mundubile have been working to try and liquidate the dues that we owe the lawyers for all your cases and what kind of support are we getting from you, hon members of parliament? You can’t tell,” Chilangwa said.
“Yesterday [Saturday], we finished after 22:00 hours. The other day [up in arms. They are saying, ‘if we don’t pay, we shall sue individual members of parliament’. We don’t want a situation where each member of parliament is being sued individually. We are doing a lot for our party every day to ensure that we look for resources so that you can do your work without too much problems. But the kind of support that we are getting from members of parliament is pathetic.”
Chilangwa said he was aware that some members of parliament were not in their constituencies.