OF MILES SAMPA BAN AND THE FUEL PRICE INCREASE STORY
By GEORGE CHOMBA
Just as I was sharpening my fingers to hit the key board to unpack the implication of the suspension of Patriotic Front presidential hopeful Miles Sampa’s story, then the hair-raising lead on the increase of the pump price of fuel per litre interrupted my thoughts.
Initially, Mr Sampa’s story deserved some prompt attention with some popcorn to observe the long journey to the elective extra-ordinary general conference set for March this year, but when the fuel pump price increase story hit the nose for news, it was stop the press.
In case Mr Sampa, the Matero law maker’s story is already out of sight and out of mind, he has been suspended for six weeks for allegedly demeaning his fellow contestants.
On Monday, January 30, PF acting president Given Lubinda handed down the suspension which has also limited Mr Sampa’s interaction with party functionaries and other members.
At a press briefing in Lusaka held on January 27, Mr Sampa appeared on cloud nine unpacking his campaign bid where he allegedly labelled some of his competitors as corrupt while others as tribalists.
He went further to break party lines to support the return to Zambia of Vedanta Mineral Resources Limited to run Konkola Copper Mine, which Government under President Edgar Lungu’s PF administration grabbed and placed it in the ‘failed’ liquidation motion.
On paper, Mr Sampa’s suspension for six weeks automatically rules him out of the elective PF extra-ordinary general conference since it is set for March, this year.
However, practical processes on the ground reveal a different story that Mr Sampa can serve his six weeks suspension and still make a comeback in the party and contest the presidency.
Those who have read the PF constitution which is the ‘supreme law’ of the party can attest that what stands between Mr Sampa and the party presidency is the national council.
Article 49 of the PF Constitution clearly points to the National Council as the hurdle to be overcome to assume the Presidency as outlined in sub-article 2 paragraph D on the job of the committee.
“To approve candidates for the office of the President of the Party or Member of the Central Committee,” the regulation states.
But even this notwithstanding, the Central Committee has given itself 30 days to study the draft Constitution of the party with the view of making it more democratic.
So far, nine PF members have expressed interest and have paid K200, 000 each.
“The Central Committee received the working document of the party constitution and has given itself 30 days to study the document before it can be adopted and circulated to general members as a draft constitution which will eventually be tabled before the Extra-Ordinary General Conference,” Mr Raphael Nakacinda, the chairperson for Information and Publicity in the PF central committee announced on January 29, 2023.
Those with mathematics fingers know that 30 days after January 30, goes beyond February when the PF draft Constitution will be approved, if it will be approved, before the National Council scrutiny.
But there is also the other major step necessary to the PF presidential hopefuls before the elective extra-ordinary general conference.
“The Central Committee has deferred approval of guidelines for political campaigns for party presidential aspirants,” Mr Nakacinda announced.
This means all PF members interested in the party leadership can’t campaign as suitable candidates to succeed Mr Edgar Lungu, who is former President of Zambia, until the rules of engagement are approved and made available.
Therefore, by the time the PF constitution and the guidelines of campaigns are approved and adopted, Mr Sampa would have probably served his suspension, which is certain and could by that time be settling down with eyes on the top job of the former ruling party.
But that is a developing story. The breaking news is the fuel pump price per litre story and rightly so deserves the banner headline.
While the general story is that the Energy Regulation Board has increased the pump price per litre of fuel by an average of K3, from K24.49 to K27.22 for Petrol, K26.44 to K29.25 for Diesel and from K 19.98 to K22.29, which will no doubt unsettle budgets in homes and industry, the old stock commodity appears to also make news.
Those who followed the ERB board chairperson Reynolds Bowa’s response to a question from a journalist on the perceived shortage of fuel will be in deep in thought about the jackpot winner.
“At the present time, there are adequate stocks of petrol and diesel and kerosene in the country. Specifically, we have 17 days of diesel and we just have under eleven days of Petrol and I believe we 17 days of kerosene,” Mr Bowa assured Zambians about the fuel in storage tanks.
Mr Bowa explained that the stocks outlined didn’t include the fuel in the tanker trucks which are waiting for off-loading and the fuel on trucks in transit from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
Thinking about this statement from Mr Bowa, your guess is as good as mine that Zambians have gifted oil traders with a free K3 on any litre of fuel for the next 17 days or even a month when they will be selling old stock.
February only has 28 days. Assuming the old stock, which include unaccounted for tankers and the tanker trucks in transit from Tanzania, reach March? Who benefits from the increase in the pump price then, if it happens?
But who am I to think aloud? This is just a Miles Sampa and the fuel pump price increase story.