M’MEMBE , CHOLERA , DIRTY POLITICS , AND POLITICAL OPPORTUNITIES
By Mark Simuuwe
Fred M’membe is a type of an old man who uses dirty politics and sees political opportunities when people are dying . We saw his behavior and celebration during gassing period and during the time Lawrence Banda , Nsama Nsama , Joseph Kaunda , Kasongo, and Mapenzi Chibulo died.
This is not surprising, because under the PF and Fred M’membe , we saw thousands die of cholera and they were the first ones to use Heroes Stadium as an epicenter . It took them time to even secure external assistance because, as a party , they were known for stealing public funds .
Today, he is failing to understand the speed with which government has secured external assistance . Due to the confidence that the international community have for Zambia under the UPND administration, they have been able to quickly respond to government intervention.
As usual, a lopsided and non appealing statement from Fred M’membe who fails to distinguish between politics and human interest programmes aimed at addressing problems affecting citizens, has been circulating on social media .
Fred has a short memory . Not long ago , Fred and his PF friends saw thousands of citizens die of cholera .
The Heroes Stadium was first used as an epicenter under Fred M’membe / PF administration.
It is under the Fred M’membe/ PF administration that even donated money , among other materials for the pandemic were reportedly missing .
From this media report ,it would be concluded that they turned a disease into a corruption scam .
Instead of ensuring the town was clean , they promoted street vending which backfired with the PF unleashing soldiers to chase and beat all the street vendors during a serious cholera outbreak .
During this period , even soldiers , and police officers died in the process and yet Fred has forgotten so soon.
Cholera is a waterborne disease which is associated with dirt. It is the dirt that Fred and his minions promoted on the streets by allowing carders to collect council levies which should have been used for garbage collection and cleaning the city .
The council was failing to clean the City. They allocated k1.6million to CDF , which money they were failing to disburse . In some places where they disbursed , money was mostly reportedly stolen.
In 2021 , which was an election year , they failed to pay CDF and equalization fund to councils and constituencies, and this was only cleared by the UPND New Dawn Government.
They even failed to pay council workers across the country their 7 months to 15 months salary arrears .
They killed councils completely that this is the time councils are now getting resuscitated.
Fred is not a serious old man . Instead of joining hands with well meaning Zambians to fight cholera , he is busy playing dirty politics.
To deal with the situation right now requires raising awareness and a quick response to secure vaccines which President Hakainde Hichilema and his team have done .
As reported yesterday in the media, a million vacccines have since been sought from the World Health Organization (WHO).
As usual , Fred lacks research and is not aware that cholera has ravaged the region . Just a few days ago , the BBC reported serious cases in Zimbabwe . Fred is not aware of all this .
He wants to behave as though he is hearing of cholera in Zambia for the first time just , for his political aggrandizement, yet he and his colleagues registered more cases.
I do not know what kind of solution Fred wants , which him and his colleagues , the PF could not give us before their time was up .
Unfortunately, he does not believe that they are out of power and would want to pretend not to have been PF , by jumping from Kafue River , as a Bubble-fish, into Luapula River and claims he can be a Tiger-fish , by cheating unsuspecting youths through his lopsided interpretation of socialism.
Fred is a type of adult who talks too much without providing solutions. And this behavior will bury his ever – infant political career.
In 2026, Fred will be 64 years , many years older than HH who is already president , and in 2031 , he will be around 71 years old . He is a latecomer in politics who offers no solution to problems him and the PF created.
Just like the PF , this is the man who celebrates when sees people dying of cholera . As was the case under their leadership, so many citizens died not only as a result of disease but through killing them.
Lawrence Banda is gone , Nsama Nsama is gone , Joseph Kaunda is gone , Kasongo is gone , Mapenzi Chibulo is gone , and many others and this made Fred and his friends celebrate. In addition , thousands were gassed , while others died mysteriously under Fred M’membe and the PF leadership.
I have never heard Fred raise concern on these but celebrated the deaths with the PF .
Let him shut up if he has no solution. It is not time for politicking and dirty politics . It is time for solutions .
Ends //