PF BOYCOTTS CELEBRATIONS
I wish to inform members of the Patriotic Front and the general public that the Central Committee of the Patriotic Front this afternoon met to deliberate on a number of critical issues affecting the Party and the nation. The meeting was chaired by the Party’s Acting President, Hon. Given Lubinda.
I wish to report that the Central Committee did not manage to exhaust all the agenda items for today’s meeting and thus adjourned the meeting to a later date to be announced soon.
The following are some of the key issues that the Central Committee resolved:
1. YOUTH DAY AND WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATIONS
The Patriotic Front wishes to reiterate that it extols the commemoration of all national holidays and national events as demonstrated by the importance we attached to these holidays and events throughout our 10 years in office.
Youth Day which falls on the 12th of March each year is an important holiday that highlights the importance of the youth to the country on the anniversary of the disturbances in 1962 that resulted in the deaths of young Zambians during the nation’s turbulent journey to independence.
Equally the International Women’s day which falls on March 8th is a special day that is normally used to celebrate women and to also highlight some of the challenges that our womenfolk face. The day can also be used to craft ways to promote gender equality in a bid to create a fair and just society devoid of gender bias.
It is therefore sad to note that barely 6 months after assuming office, the UPND is driving Zambia back to the very evils that we fought against, 58 years ago during the struggle for independence. The UPND regime is fast eroding the gains we had achieved as a nation to ensure enhanced participation and equal opportunity for our women and youths in all facets of our social, political and economic life of our country.
The UPND has completely ignored our youths and women and have relegated them to the tail-end of the social, political and economic strata. President Hakainde Hichilema has systematically excluded our women and youths from critical governance issues by deliberately sidelining them as far as appointments to key government positions is concerned.
With his failure to deal with the economy, the President and his government are pushing our youths and women further into an abyss of poverty and desperation as unemployment, cost of living and lack of business opportunities and lack of empowerment are steadily on the rise.
At Party level, the UPND regime has continued with its policy of harassment and persecution of PF members; many of our women and youths today are either in incarceration, in hiding or are facing various trumped up charges and have become victims of harassment and intimidation by the state’s investigative wings.
For the reasons highlighted above, I wish to announce to the nation that as Patriotic Front we will not take part in marching or any government planned activities on Women’s and Youth days respectively; instead we will use these days to galvanise our women and youths across the country to do community service in their various localities.
As a Party we want to send a clear message to President Hichilema and his government that we are displeased and gravely concerned with the manner in which his administration is abusing the rights of our members and how his failure to provide a clear Economic Plan is worsening the poverty levels and the suffering of our people.
2. EXPANSION OF PARTY STRUCTURES
Following the approval by the previous meeting of the Central Committee to expand the size of all our Party structures from the Central Committee down to the Wards from 24 to 72 members per committee and from 54 to 80 members for the Central Committee, I wish to report to our members and the party leadership that the Central Committee today approved the composition and the manner in which all the party structures shall be created.
3. APPOINTMENT OF PORTFOLIO CHAIRPERSONS
Article 59 of the PF constitution provides for the creation of various sub-committees of the Central Committee such as the Information and Publicity, Agriculture, Elections, Women, Youth committees and so on and so forth to assist the Central Committee in the management and administration of the Party.
I wish to report that the Central Committee has today given the Party leadership authority to come up with names of persons to be appointed as Chairpersons of the various sub-committees of the Central Committee for ratification by the Central Committee.
4. APPOINTMENT OF THE LUSAKA PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE
Following the dissolution of the PF Lusaka Provincial Committee on 2nd December, 2021, I wish to report that the Central Committee today gave authority to the Party leadership to appoint an interim Lusaka Provincial Committee that will be ratified by the Central Committee in its next sitting.
The Central Committee will soon reconvene at a date to be announced to resolve all the other matters that could not be resolved today.
Thank you.
Issued by
Hon Nickson Chilangwa, MCC, MP, AIH
Acting Secretary General
Patriotic Front