PF now are behaving like a group of mad people who don’t know what to do, UPND spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa has charged.
Mweetwa, the Choma Central member of parliament, told The Mast that the PF had put up a very vigorous political scheme to destabilise UPND primary elections by infiltrating its rank and file.
He claimed the PF had poured a lot of money to derail the UPND primary elections.
He said the UPND had observed that some candidates that were not on the ground had surprisingly emerged victorious.
Mweetwa said the PF were promising candidates who have gone through primary elections and awaiting the national management decision colossal sums of money to defect to the Patriotic Front.
“And we have seen some candidates, the way they are behaving; even when you try to advise them on conduct, they are acting with impunity just to try and position themselves so that when they are not adopted, they go for quick money that they are dangling,” he said. “I am yet to confirm from our informants from within the centre of the PF as to how much money they are dangling for these candidates. But this political gimmick is in full gear and we are seeing it in the behaviour of certain candidates.”
Mweetwa said it should not be shocking that once the national management committee announces the adopted candidates next week, some of those that would be left out would cross to the PF.
“It is they who are the recipients of these colossal sums of money I am talking about,” he said.
Mweetwa said it was disturbing that the ruling party had also moved aggressively to purchase certain serving members of parliament of the UPND, including members of the national management committee to defect to it.
He said this was being done to portray an image that the PF was attractive and strong.
“On this one, I can confirm that the members of parliament who are being approached are being promised a Toyota Land Cruiser of a make of their choice and K2 million; that is the money which is being put on the table,” Mweetwa said.
He said PF were also promising UPND MPs that they would be at the centre of its campaign in the provincial and regional campaign centres where they would handle sacks and sacks of money.
“Some of them are being promised to be provincial and regional campaign coordinators who will be handling sacks and sacks of money to distribute to ground campaigners, in which programme they are going to benefit,” Mweetwa said.
He also said the PF were promising to nominate some, appoint them as ministers and some into the foreign service.
“Some of those who are leaving can’t even go and face their electorates because they have exited parliament through the door of shame, using Mr Speakers vocabulary. This scheme is very fortunate because it does confirm that the PF now is at its lowest ebb in terms of strength. When did PF start celebrating receiving members from UPND?” Mweetwa wondered.
He said now PF can’t do without UPND members of parliament and from structures joining them.
“They are finished. Because whereas there are these small movements of a few members of the UPND who are doing politics of the belly, who are hungry, or those who know that they have lost taste, they have lost their salt, popularity on the ground and cannot win re-election, the majority Zambians are now undertaking a great trek from PF to UPND, in terms of ordinary citizens of this country. Those who are tired of being fed on a menu of lies, failed, broken promises, leading to the collapse of the economy…” he said. “Those who were in Choma, and I know they have been informed, yesterday (Thursday) when honourable [Ackson] Sejani and four others were being released, they were thanking people at the party office. About five buses from various institutions, Nkrumah University, Mulungushi University, in huge Marcopolo buses, were heading to Livingstone where they have student games. When they passed there, all of the students delightedly waved the UPND symbol.”
Mweetwa thanked the students for their public show of solidarity and allegiance to the UPND.
He said the students were not being partisan but patriotic to the nation.
“This is what students in universities are known for, that when time for change comes, they make it public and open, they lead the way,” Mweetwa said.
He urged university authorities to rescind their decision to have the University of Zambia closed during voting.
Mweetwa said the PF knew that the ground in Lusaka had shifted but should leave the student to vote.
“In this vein, I want to comfort the PF not to cry foul when they begin to see people react. Our supporters wearing regalia stormed Chisokone Market to assess the state of UPND’s popularity. It turned into a bang, all the marketeers received our supporters with jubilation and ululations,” Mweetwa said.
He also said Zambians were beginning to show where they want the country to go.
“PF now are behaving like a group of mad people who don’t know what to do. They have lost the trajectory of leadership because you find that everything they are doing, it’s like the way the Bible puts it that before God destroys a people He makes them mad,” Mweetwa said. “Now how do you become mad? It’s not to go round picking papers or eating from dust bins, no. It is doing things that an ordinary person, properly composed in their mind cannot do.”
Mweetwa said the PF had failed to hold their national convention in line with the Republican Constitution which entails voting.
“There was no voting, no ballot was cast, nothing – just a list. So the PF convention was actually just a PF press conference to announce names of MCC members, not a convention,” he said.
He said the Constitution demands that before a party could field candidates for elections, such candidates must undergo primary elections.
Mweetwa said the PF had failed to hold primary elections in Western Province.
“They just used a press conference to announce names of candidates for Western Province,” he said.
Mweetwa said where candidates were unopposed, such were exceptional, rare circumstances.
“You cannot have the entire ruling party having all constituencies in a province going unopposed. If that were to be the case, we would still accept because PF is so unpopular in Western Province. Some of the candidates they begged them that ‘stand on our ticket notwithstanding that you will lose’,” he said. “They fail to hold a convention, they are imposing candidates and now very dramatic, they fail to unveil a manifesto! Because what they did that day, that so-called manifesto is a mockery and insult to the people of Zambia because the few things they propose to implement if ever elected into power, who stopped them from implementing those things all this time they have been in power? Did HH go to tell them that this no? Because the only name they know is HH. If HH was not there, PF would have been in pain to do politics.”
Mweetwa said the so-called PF manifesto was just a hoax.
“It’s not even smoke, because smoke is associated with fire; it’s just a political mirage. It speaks to their failure,” he said.
Mweetwa illustrated PF alleged failures in terms of a doctor who worsens a patient’s condition by administering wrong medication asking for more time to administer something else they had discovered.
He said Zambia’s economy in 2011 just needed panado.
“And then this doctor after receiving this patient who has come on their own, walking and just complaining of a minor headache then he begins to admit this patient and administer doses of wrong medication and this patient is about to die and relatives come and ask what has happened. Then the doctor says yes the situation has deteriorated, this person came walking, now he can’t walk, he is barely breathing, he is on oxygen, please give me more time I will prescribe a new dose of medication, I have discovered another set of medicine’, isn’t that a circus?” Mweetwa asked.
“Isn’t that comedy of the highest order? Where were they all this time? Why didn’t they do the things they are proposing to do?”
Mweetwa said right now the economy was lying flat on its belly and about to die due to PF actions.
“It is time to resuscitate Zambia’s economy by putting it on the UPND HH driven oxygen machine and not leave this economy in PF’s ICU; we will have no country to talk of after 2021 elections,” he cautioned. “Look at the impunity they are exhibiting! Look at the militia groups like the one they were exhibiting in Matero!”
He appealed to citizens to unite to defeat hunger,
political impunity, grand corruption, cadreism, and driving the country into a de facto one party state.