LUSAKA Province PF secretary Kennedy Kamba has called for the immediate expulsion of former State House permanent secretary Emmanuel Chilubanama.
Kamba is angry that Chilubanama regards the high voter registration turnout as a double-edged sword that could result in the removal of the PF next year.
After obtaining his voter’s card in Lusaka’s John Howard Compound on Saturday, Chilubanama said although he was hopeful the ruling party could win, he expressed worry that the high numbers could also mean being kicked out of office.
“I will speak from a perspective of being a politician. It’s double-edged sword, from nowhere numbers have surged especially among the youth folk wanting to go vote. For me being a member of the Patriotic Front, it’s a sign that they are happy with what we are doing and they want to retain us. However, I am also worried and I really want to double check, is it also a sign that they want to kick us out? I hope not,” he said
Chilubanama hoped that the work of the ruling party would speak for itself during next year’s elections.
But in a statement yesterday, Kamba wondered what Chilubanama was still doing in the PF and claiming that he was vying for the position of Lusaka Province PF chairmanship when all he did was to discredit the party and expose it to ridicule in the eyes of “our opponents.”
“We know Chililubanama is not with us, we know he is working with the opposition UPND and his clinging to the PF is just a gimmick, an attempt to try and weaken the party in Lusaka,” Kamba charged.
He said it was “sad that Chilubanama had stooped so low and allowed himself to be used by the opposition to try and weaken or divide the party.”
Kamba said the PF was by far larger and stronger than the people using Chilubanama.
“How can a true member of the ruling PF tell the media that he is worried about the voter registration turnout, and that this is a double-edged-sword that can result in the removal of the ruling party? We have been in politics for a long time and we know this language. We know who is with us and who is not with us,” Kamba said.
“We urge the Central Committee of the party to act swiftly and expel Chilubanama so that whatever he says to the media or the nation would not carry a tag of him being PF.”
Kamba said technically, Chilubanama had left the PF a long time ago and he was working with the opposition UPND.
“Furthermore, it is an act of cowardice on Chilubanama’s part. If he is a politician worth his sought (sic), let him stop hiding in the name of PF and outrightly (sic) declare that he now belongs to the opposition,” he said.
Kamba said the party’s provincial leadership in Lusaka had petitioned the Central Committee to expel Chilubanama but that up to now nothing had happened.
“We appeal to our respected leadership, the central committee of our party to expel Chilubanama so that we can meet him on the ground as an opposition politician rather than him hiding in the robes of PF and pretending to be one of us,” he said.
Kamba said PF was “very popular on the ground and people are registering in numbers because they want to protect the future and the development experienced so far under the selfless leadership of President Edgar Lungu.”