PEOPLE WANT MUNDUBILE BUT THEY WANT TO BLOCK HIM – MWAKALOMBE
PF Member of the Central Committee Japhen Mwakalombe says Given Lubinda should have written the exculpatory letter himself because he does not recognise Celestine Mukandila as acting dDeputy Secretary General.
And Mwakalombe has dismissed claims that the Brian Mundubile team is forming parallel structures, saying they are just campaign teams meant to secure victory for their preferred candidate.
Mwakalombe says Mundubile is a darling of the people, but some people are working every day to see how they can demonise him.
On Saturday, Mukandila charged Mwakalombe and Mundubile with gross indiscipline and directed them to exculpate themselves before the disciplinary committee within seven days.
Commenting on that in an interview, Sunday, Mwakalombe dismissed the charge, adding that it was clear that some people in the party were not comfortable with the “popular” Mundubile.
He said it was demeaning that the letter was sent to him on WhatsApp.
“That charge when you look at it, you can see that there is no charge at all. You can see that there are people who are not comfortable with Brian Mundubile, because Brian Mundubile is the name that is on the ground. It’s the name that people have accepted in 10 provinces. And therefore, there is deliberate innuendos to just find a way of not having Brian Mundubile participating in the coming general conference, which has been suspended several times because people feel that they are not able to win the election. Anywhere in the world where there is democracy even where there is no democracy, there is nowhere where they prescribe a campaign strategy. Each candidate has got a campaign strategy,” he said.
“Therefore, the person who has written those letters, for me, number one, let it be Lubinda himself writing to us. Because Lubinda, we know that he is acting, Celestine is not acting. Because Celestine, as far as I am concerned, what I know, the position that I know for him, is a deputy chairperson for youth. So, for him to write a letter and send that letter on WhatsApp, I found that to be very demeaning to me. That a person can write a letter when he is not ratified [and] then he sends that letter to me on WhatsApp”.
Mwakalombe questioned the kind of leadership in the party, saying there was a clear indication of a crisis.
“What kind of leadership is that? It clearly shows that, indeed, there is a problem in the party today. People who have not been in a branch, people who have not been in a ward, people who have not been at a constituency, people who have not been in a province, people who have never been in a national executive before. That’s how they would discharge their duties. You can’t send a letter of that nature to a senior person in the party, a person that has been in politics for many years. I have won elections myself.
I’m a person that has won elections. I’ve been a minister. I’ve been a high commissioner. I’ve been a deputy permanent secretary. I’ve been a district commissioner. How can you write a letter like that to me and you just send it like that? It’s a clear indication that we have got a crisis. The reason they are forwarding, the reason they are forwarding are neither here nor there,” he said.
“Because a presidential [candidate] Mundubile and his supporters have the right to come up with a campaign strategy. If our strategy is that we should have a campaign team at the province, national, constituency level, at the ward, even at the branch and section, let it be. It is your campaign because we can’t prescribe for any other candidate. We can’t prescribe for them what type of campaign strategy they should put in place. If, for instance, ba Lubinda wants to campaign alone, it is not my problem.
If the other candidate wants to have 20, it is not my problem. If the other candidate wants 1,000 at national level, 1,000 at the provincial level, 1,000 at a district level, 1,000 at a constituency level and 1,000 at the ward level, it is not my business myself with my candidate”.
Further, Mwakalombe dismissed claims that Mundubile’s team was forming parallel structures within the party, stating that it was just a campaign team.
“There is no parallel structure, they are campaign teams. Which parallel structure? Mundubile believes in PF, he believes in pro-poor, his manifesto is pro-poor. The only party that carries pro-poor manifesto is PF, which we don’t have the papers. But PF, like we have always said, is in the hearts of the people. So let the leadership of ba Lubinda spend more time in uniting people because he’s an acting president for God’s sake. Even when he’s a candidate, he must know that he’s wearing two jackets. He’s wearing a jacket of a candidate and he is also wearing a jacket of the acting president. So now I am addressing him as acting president,” he said.
“Why can’t he initialise and be able to bring everyone together? It is him to bring everyone together. Even those letters before they went to the media, he should have called us to say, I am the father of this party, let me call my people and hear what is happening. We would have explained to him to say, Mr president, we are not forming any parallel structure. What we are forming is a campaign team. Even when you go to the audio that we did, it is only a campaign team. What parallel structure? Parallel structure so that the structure can go where? Where do we take those parallel structures? Do we have a party? No, it’s actually the PF”.
Meanwhile, Mwakalombe said he was happy to support Mundubile, and further challenged other candidates to put up their own campaign strategies too.
“It is my choice to support Brian Mundubile. And I’m happy to support Brian Mundubile. I have done my own assessment, personal assessment. I’ve seen he’s a candidate that is on the ground. The strategy that we are implementing with Brian Mundubile is a good strategy because it is an inclusive strategy. We don’t want to have a campaign where few crème de la crème are the ones that are going around the country campaigning. After all, even when we go into a general election, people who campaign are sections, branches, wards, constituencies, and provinces,” he said.
“The national leaders, when we go to do rallies in provinces, the people who organise those are the structures that I’ve mentioned, from the province to the section. And therefore, with us, we will continue campaigning because there is no illegality that we are doing. There is nothing whatsoever that we are doing that is illegal that causes anyone to think that we want to do anything that is out of this place. It is a question of letting them put in their own campaign strategy. Let us put our own campaign strategy and the person that people want will emerge as a winner, period”.
On whether he was going to respond to the letter as per the ultimatum, Mwakalombe said he was still consulting on what action to take.
“At the moment, I’m still thinking about whether to write back or not. Because if a letter of discipline is coming from an office… Since when did a national youth chairman become the one to manage discipline? So basically, for me, I’m thinking about it, I’m still consulting.
After consultation, I will make it known if I’m going to respond or not. But to be honest, it is very unfortunate that people have targeted Mundubile. But one thing I know, nothing is going to stop Mundubile from being a presidential candidate for 2026 because he has been accepted by the people. He’s a darling of the people, but some people are working every day to see how they can demonise him. But one thing I can tell you, that it is good to die for a good cause. And I’m ready to die for a good cause,” said Mwakalombe.
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