FATHER Richard Luonde says Kambwili’s leadership style cannot lead the nation anywhere.
Last week, Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe expressed concern that there was a lot of hypocrisy among Zambian politicians, a situation that was sickening.
He said such behaviour had made it difficult for the public to trust any politicians.
“Lies, hypocrisy, saying things they don’t mean seems to be the political culture of our politicians. Today they criticise, repudiate, denounce or insult this and that, tomorrow they are in bed with the same this or that, it’s sickening,” said Dr M’membe. “It’s making politics unattractive and seeming to be for scoundrels, liars, crooks, hypocrites. How can one work with such politicians, enter into alliances or pacts with them? This is certainly not a recipe for winning people’s trust… Today they resign or are expelled from this or that political party and start their own or join another and start insulting, denouncing, accusing their former colleagues of all sorts of crimes and evils. A few months later they are apologising, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation.”
In agreeing with Dr M’membe, the opposition National Democratic Congress national chairperson said the few that were still following Kambwili were equally lost.
“I greatly appreciate what comrade Dr Fred M’membe has said concerning the hypocrisy of us politicians. If we are not careful, we will end up with political parties that have too many crooks in them. To come and clean that it will take years; it will take our grand children’s children to clear that,” he said. “All those who are following Kambwili are simply doing it because they don’t know what they believe in and where they stand. You cannot use your name for the sake of moving forward. Use your brains, use what you stand for to move yourself forward. So, in Zambian politics, the kind of leadership that we have, the Chishimba Kambwili leadership will not lead us anywhere.”
Fr Luonde wondered what had changed in Kambwili’s mind that he should start apologising to the PF whom he called thieves almost every day.
He said consistency, whether negative or positive, was important in anyone’s life.
“Even in your family, you can’t call your uncle a witch, your aunt a witch, your cousin a witch, your wife a witch; then hours later you begin to dine with them. Your children will start asking questions, is our father truthful to what he says?” Fr Luonde added. “And immediately your children begin to doubt you, simply know that you’re a bad parent. A good parent believes in and lives by his truth. He is identified by his principles, good or bad. Children will always know that when our parent takes a position he does not change. That is how a normal human being should be; not a person of meaningless apologies.”
And Fr Luonde said he moved from the PF all the way to NDC because of sticking to his principle of public service.
He said if he did not stand on anything he would have been stuck with the PF, Rainbow Party or the Socialist Party.
“I can give an example of myself, I have been a PF supporter, I canvassed for the great Michael Sata. And when he died, I knew and believed that things were not going to be better anymore because of the way they handled PF after Michael Sata’s death. It became clear that these people were up to no good,” Fr Luonde said. “So, what Fred is saying has very strong grain of truth. So, I moved on and worked with president Wynter Kabimba. I worked so well, and Wynter Kabimba is an organiser. And when I move to a political party, I don’t move with nothing and make pronouncements which are not clear; just to embarrass myself, no. I just said my brother and my age mate, comrade Wynter, I’m moving on.”
He explained how he later moved to the Socialist Party and onwards.
“And I went with Fred M’membe, we worked so well in the Socialist Party. If there’s any political party which has educated the grassroots so well on how they should carry themselves as Zambians and how they should participate in politics, it is Fred M’membe and the Socialist Party,” Fr Luonde said. “But again, in there, I saw that the agency in which Zambians wanted to have Zambia’s peace and development restored was so much. I saw that with the Socialist Party it might take a long time to win, form government and address those issues. So, I had to move on and work with other political parties that can assist in moving Zambia forward. That’s how I moved alone to NDC.”
He warned that Kambwili’s unpredictable stance could cost him politically.
“But here we are, someone misleading the nation and a lot of people begin to follow him. In the last hour he changes his mind and he expects all those who think like I think, and others like Akafumba, Edward Mumbi, secretary general Atanga to go with him to PF? We are not robots,” said Fr Luonde. “It’s only wagons which are attached to a locomotive that when it derails the wagons also derail. We are not that type; we are people who think with independent minds, people who want to do proper things for this nation. So, Fred is spot on with his observation. Most Zambian politicians are fake politicians; they’re politicians that Zambians cannot trust. There’re very few politicians in Zambia that can be trusted.”