MUMBI PHIRI  WONDERS HOW UPND HAS CLEANSED KALIMANSHI

MUMBI WONDERS HOW UPND HAS CLEANSED KALIMANSHI

FORMER PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri is wondering if UPND is like River Jordan where “sinners” get cleansed when they join the party.

Recently, Innocent Kalimanshi, a cadre who was perceived to be among the violent cadres in the former ruling party defected to the ruling party.

And in an interview on Wednesday, UPND Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa defended the former PF cadre Kalimanshi and others who recently joined the party saying they had repented because they publicly apologised.

Commenting on Mweetwa’s remarks in an interview, Phiri said the UPND was desperate for numbers to an extent they could admit people labelled as criminals in the party.

“I started saying this when UPND won, when they started receiving defectors. I asked the UPND that, ‘are you like the River Jordan?’ River Jordan is the river in the Bible where if you have leprosy, you go and cleanse yourself and become pure and clean. So, to UPND, whether you are labelled like a criminal like these Congolese who are killing our Zambians, if you go and join them, you become clean. And for the people of Zambia, they should see that they don’t mean well. And its desperation they can pick anybody to go and join them, as long as they can parade them. Whether they beat people or they are criminals. They can even accept ex-Katangis from Congo DR as long as they join them. For them it’s desperation, they know they are losing,” Phiri said.

“They are looking for numbers, they can receive anything. So, what Mweetwa has never answered is, is UPND River Jordan, where you get cleansed if you go and join them? Father Bwalya was telling their own president, and he asked him a question. The same question Father walutoshi asked and he said, use a graph to answer me.

Father Bwalya is the one who told us that he borrowed the words of Fred M’membe to describe President Hakainde Hichilema. It’s only people like me who don’t believe that when I don’t agree with something, I can change the way we turn on the bed and go to the other side because some of us are principled”.

Phiri further advised the “next” government not to accept everybody for the sake of numbers but work hard to receive those with no bad records.

“So, people should learn to be principled. The next government which is coming in, they should learn from these not to receive everybody for the sake of numbers. There are people who are not even politicians who are out there. There are people who are 70 years old who have never been in politics.

There are people who are 21 years old who have never been in politics. Work hard to receive those who have no bad records than making people look like when they join you it’s like River Jordan you will be cleansed. He (Mweetwa) has never answered me, is UPND River Jordan that when you go to join them your sins are cleansed?” wondered Phiri.

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