PF COUNCILLORS WHO ENDORSED HH, MAYORAL CANDIDATE LACK LOYALTY – NYIRENDA

PF COUNCILLORS WHO ENDORSED HH, MAYORAL CANDIDATE LACK LOYALTY – NYIRENDA

PF faction Deputy Secretary General Brenda Nyirenda says the decision by 12 PF councillors to endorse President Hakainde Hichilema and UPND Kasama mayoral candidate Bywell Simposya shows their lack of loyalty and discipline.

On Saturday, 12 PF councillors from Lukashya and Kasama Central constituencies endorsed President Hichilema for this year’s general election and Simposya, for the upcoming by-elections, citing lack of leadership in PF.

In an interview, Sunday, Nyirenda said PF was not dead but that the action by the 12 councillors was contributing to the death of the party.

“All of us, we came in on a ticket of the PF so we have a social contract with the people, with the party, whether it’s in disarray, they have given us a five-year mandate for us to work for them so can’t you hold and finish the five years without saying anything bad about that party? How did the UPND hold on in opposition for 23 years until they formed government? Loyalty defines a man and lack of discipline is what can cause such [a] type of behaviour. My advice is [that] when you believe in something, you should be ready to die with it. I know they could have done that under the influence of something because in some media, they are saying they were bought so if you don’t have principles, you can do anything,” Nyirenda said.

“When is the best time for you to leave your parent? Are you going to leave because your parents are fighting? Until death, that is the time that you can maybe say okay, my father is now gone. The party has not died because they had councillors like them so they are the ones actually helping the party to die, because if you have 12 members, it means that the party is alive. If you see people moving and citing leadership [challenges], that could also be a pressure group because what are they going to do in three months anyway? The period has already ended so such an endorsement for me comes out of desperation and it doesn’t please me at all”.

Nyirenda noted that the decision by the councillors was not made from an informed point of view because any political party can have challenges.

“Already, it means that their decision is not coming from an informed position. That decision is coming from a frustration point of view. What if the dust settles today, what happens? That should be the question. Such an endorsement, for me, it doesn’t help because even themselves they don’t believe in what they have endorsed. What if confusion starts in UPND, what are they going to do? It means that they are going to leave again? How many places are they going to go to? How many parties are they going to leave because everywhere where there are people, there are problems,” she argued.

“Whilst they can post like that, if you read through the comments, I actually took time this morning, I also read through, even over what the MP [Sibongile Mwamba] has done, you can hold on and finish the contract that you have signed with the people and thereafter you are free to move but you can’t cut midway a contract and say no, now I have moved on because of the challenges which are there, it doesn’t reflect well on a leader. Even where they are going, how are they going to consider them, will they look at them to be genuine people? For me, I would rather I receive someone who has a clean record than someone who leaves pain on the other camp just because maybe they’ve been enticed with something. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do, it reflects very bad on the part of themselves”.

She highlighted that the government and opposition could still work together without the PF members defecting to the UPND.

“The Vice-President, we flew together, we have come here to deal with the issues to do with floods. Do I have to leave my party honestly for me to be able to deliver? It doesn’t make sense. We can still work, this one is green, the other one is red, you can still work.

People don’t understand politics, they think you can only deliver when you are in the ruling party, it doesn’t work that way, you can still deliver. Those people [UPND members] were able to speak and at no time did they say we want to leave our party so that we go and start endorsing Edgar Chagwa Lungu. Failure to understand their position in opposition is what is making them to behave like this,” said Nyirenda.

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