EASTERN Province UPND chairperson Johabie Mtonga says if the Tonga were tribal, Livingstone Central UPND member of parliament Mathews Jere would not have contested elections in Southern Province.
And Jere says 2021 is a year of liberation for Zambians.
Featuring on a special programme on Radio Maria on Saturday night, Mtonga who shared the platform with Jere said the tribalism tag that some political opponents were giving UPND was just political.
“This man I am with is a member of parliament in Livingstone. Hon Jere and easterners should know that the story that some people have been spreading that Tongas are tribal. Now the adoption and the subsequent election of Hon Jere is a clear sign that there is no tribalism. So Tongas are not tribal, if they were tribal, hon Jere would not have contested elections in Southern Province,” he said.
Mtonga said UPND was a party for all Zambians and it had been widely accepted.
He said Zambians want development in all sectors.
Mtonga said it was unfortunate that Zambians fail to find jobs even after completing tertiary education.
“It’s clear that these people have mismanaged Zambia in various sectors. People want government to build clinics and stock them with medicine, we want the government to build schools and teachers should be there. This time a lot of people are completing their studies but they have no jobs,” lamented Mtonga.
And Jere said the Zambian kwacha was losing value the way the PF is losing value.
“When PF was getting power from the PF, they found a lot of money in the reserves. When they came, they depleted the reserves and after that they started borrowing. We told them when they were borrowing that you are going to put Zambians, even the unborn ones in problems. As we speak, we failed to pay the interest of the money they borrowed because they didn’t invest the money they borrowed. These are the monies they used to create districts from 72 to 116 across the country. They started building districts but up to now they have not commissioned even one district and because of this, our kwacha has pressure and as a result of this, it is losing value the way PF is losing value. This is why we are saying 2021 is a year of liberation, let’s liberate ourselves. We have never experienced in the history of Zambia the challenges that we are facing now,” he said.
On tribalism, Jere said the UPND had a national character.
“When you look at the structure, the president of UPND is Tonga, the national chairperson Mutale Nalumango comes from Luapula, our deputy national secretary is Bemba, our national secretary comes from North Western, so, when you look at its people, they came from various areas to form UPND. We are different from our colleagues, when you look at the entire Luapula, there is no Tonga MP, when you look at the entire Northern Province, there is no Tonga MP, here in Eastern Province there is no Tonga MP but as I speak here, I am an MP for UPND in Southern Province, meaning we are showing a national character as enshrined in our constitution,” said Jere.