KBF ON HIS WAY TO POLITICAL EXTINCTION
The much awaited press briefing of Kelvin Fube Bwalya (KBF) has with no doubt, disappointed many people. KBF has in the past been explicit that, without him being allowed to file his adoption papers in the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), there will be no convention of the party.
The confidence and clarity which KBF has exhibited since declaring interest to contest as PF President, has earned him a certain peculiar respect and admiration of a very large number of people. His words today, cast so much let down for those who expected him to give direction on how he intended to stop the PF from holding their convention now that he has been barred from filing his adoption.
It is understandable why many people are disappointed. First, KBF highly projected himself as a rare breed of politician who is discrete from the usual political characters we have today.
Currently, Zambian politics is a two-horse affair where on one hand, there is President Edgar Lungu and on the other, there is Hakainde Hichilema. Political space in Zambia is congested with novices good at making necessary political noise albeit, without distinct traits to marshal crucial numbers needed for them to be a robust force worth talking about.
Quiet clearly, the August elections are mainly about two parties: Edgar Lungu vs Hakainde Hichilema. The rest are just necessary ingredients to give us a democracy flare.
KBF emerged as a new kid on the block -articulate, fearless, well composed and critical figure who many expected would breach the two-horse political affair in our country. Had KBF decided to break-away from PF to form his own party, he would have seized for himself a good share of followership needed to break the two-horse political affair.
Today’s press briefing by KBF, which clearly showed that he will not be able to stop the PF from convening to declare Edgar Lungu as their presidential candidate, may be his high way to political extinction.
Only two scenarios are possible.
First, KBF will wait for the mandatory Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) nomination day to serve an injunction against the candidature of Edgar Lungu, on the premise of the alleged illegality of the ruling party’s central committee as well as arising from the arguments surrounding the eligibility issue. On eligibility, KBF will not win. That case has been decided – no matter how unpleasant one may look at it. On the illegality of the central committee to expel him, KBF will not succeed either.
This route is likely to yield KBF no meaningful results. It is not a secret that most of the people KBF will be looking up to, to interpret the law on the above two issues are appointees of President Lungu. Clearly, none of them will be objective enough to give a fair judgment on the matter.
Secondly, KBF will appear on the ballot either as an Independent Presidential candidate or sponsored by another party which he may have been having secret dark corner meetings with. This path is pointless. He has no time to galvanize the necessary numbers needed to upset things.
KBF is part of the animal he created in PF during the 2015 convention in Kabwe. He must have known better how craft and shrewd the ruling party is, that they would not allow him to file his adoption papers. Therefore, he must have made a political move much earlier than now, rather than waste people’s time with white-elephant bravery that has left too many people disappointed
