PF DEFEND MUSUKWA’S WEALTH: WE MADE MONEY BEFORE WE BECAME MINISTERS
…the poverty mentality in UPND will not take the country anywhere says Davies Mwila.
FORMER PF secretary general Davies Mwila says former mines and minerals development minister Richard Musukwa can’t fail to own property because he started making money before he became minister.
Mwila, who is former home affairs minister, says Musukwa and him were trade unionists, arguing that the UPND’s “poverty mentality” will not take the country anywhere.
And PF information and publicity chairperson Raphael Nakacinda says people in Chililabombwe can actually support Musukwa because they know how he gained his wealth.
On Tuesday, Drug Enforcement Commission officers conducted a search at Musukwa’s house in Chililabombwe and seized several assets.
The seized assets included over 10 vehicles, a firearm, stones and a house.
But in an interview, Mwila said the seized house and some of the vehicles were acquired even before Musukwa became a minister.
“This is coming from after the by-election. If you look at the figures, they were not impressive to the ruling party. Looking at those figures, if it is a general election they can’t win. They think that honourable Musukwa is the one who was in the forefront in buying that by-election. It’s total intimidation and harassment. First and foremost, they got nothing in the sense that they didn’t want to seem embarrassed because they got fuel and allowances from government, so they have to be seen like they are doing something. How do you go and get a house which someone built even before he became minister? That house was built before he became minister, when he was a general treasurer for mine workers,” he said.
“How do you get a car which he bought when he was deputy minister? When you’re a deputy minister or minister, you’re given a vehicle which you use at home. So that Prado they got, he bought it when he was deputy minister. You get a VX, do you know how he got that VX? He got it from Parliament. So some of these things they are doing are not helping the country.
They are taking us backwards. These other vehicles they’ve impounded or seized are preconditioned vehicles. These are vehicles costing 150,000. So there’s nothing they are doing, they are just embarrassing themselves. They are supposed to ask, ‘when did you build this house? When did you get this land? When did you start building?’ You can’t just seize a house which was built in 2004 [or] 2005. They have not achieved anything”.
Mwila said the poverty mentality in UPND would not take the country anywhere.
“Those things will be gotten back to Richard Musukwa once the matter goes to court because he will be able to justify. How much is the cost of the firearm? K20,000, a firearm. They even include it on the list? I’ve grown with Richard. I was treasurer for mine workers. He was also treasurer for the other union for mine workers. So I know Richard. I know when he built that house when we were together in the union. We’ve not just started now.
We were miners, we were trade unionists. We made money before we became MPs. That’s why this poverty mentality from the UPND is not taking us anywhere,” he said.
“All those vehicles they’ve impounded are preconditioned vehicles. The ones which are used by whites and Japanese. They use them and sell them to Africa. Those are not from the showroom. The vehicle that came from the showroom is the VX because he got it from Parliament when he was MP. When Richard became MP in 2011, he got a vehicle from Parliament and he also got another vehicle from the ministry. Two 4X4s. 2016, again he got two. One from Parliament and again from the Ministry. Let them publish them so that we see the vehicles. The house was built when he was in the union. Maybe they don’t know the history so I am telling them.
People didn’t make money when they were in government. We made money before we became ministers. We were trade unionists. 2022, I was getting 17,000, more than what I was getting as a minister.
What can they tell us?”
Mwila said law enforcement agencies should not only target opposition political leaders.
“I hope what they are saying is what they will be doing. A new broom sweeps well and we have every confidence in the new DEC DG. So we expect them to perform well. We expect to see good results but they should not be political. They should not only target politicians, especially in the opposition. If you look at what they are doing, it’s not right. It’s intimidation. How do you call honourable Lubinda over issues about Parliament? That’s total intimidation. Speaker of the National Assembly is not an island. We can condemn her. But when we talk about her, she should not be reporting us to the police. She’s incompetent, she’s not impartial and she’s a UPND cadre. We’ve got pictures where she has displayed the symbol of UPND. So she should not expect that we will be silent. We will talk about her and people must continue criticising her because she’s not neutral,” said Mwila.
Meanwhile, Nakacinda said people in Chililabombwe can actually support Musukwa because they know how he gained his wealth.
“The people of Chililabombwe and Copperbelt know that honourable Musukwa built that house many years ago when he was serving as one of the union leaders. Beyond that, we know honourable Musukwa having been a successful entrepreneur on the Copperbelt. His track record in terms of business is known by all. Actually, you can get the entire Chililabombwe to come and testify on his behalf in terms of how he has been able to make the bit that he has for his family and his children. What is shocking is officers went with a blank legal document calling it a search warrant without specifying what they were looking for and began to record whatever they saw in that premise as what they could include as one of the things they can seize. There’s no search conducted in such a manner,” he said.
Nakacinda said the seized stones were not minerals but decorative stones.
“They’ve also seized an Allion for his wife and a vehicle for his sister. They have attempted to sensationalise this whole arrangement by saying that ‘there are so many vehicles at the residence’, to try and hoodwink gullible citizens to think that there’s something fishy. They even report that ‘we even got stones’. The stones they got are decorative stones. The ones we put in our yards. We buy these stones from the street. For him, he got them here at Sikale. These are not minerals. This is just limestone if you like. It’s in different colours, white, gray and in some cases brown and we use them for decoration. Even at my house, I have these stones. Unfortunately, that’s what we’re being subjected to,” he said.
Nakacinda said the only wrong that Musukwa might have committed was the ability to look after his property well.
“When Mr Hakainde Hichilema said ‘if I had not acquired education, possibly I’d have been so primitive that I’d have married 10’. Maybe the degree of primitivity may have reduced in the area of marriage but like we’ve said, what’s going on in this country, bututu (primitiveness).
You know, a leader ultimately produces his own kind. When you have a leader that is inclined towards prospering citizens, they encourage hard work. Honourable Musukwa is supposed to be an example of those who have done something of their own outside their service to the nation as minister, civil servant, union leader. All this put together plus entrepreneurial activities is supposed to inspire others,” said Nakacinda.
“Actually, the people that will defend honourable Musukwa are people who live in Chililabombwe because they know his track record. All of us his colleagues have been drawing wisdom from him on how we can succeed by doubling. The greatest sin that maybe honourable Musukwa has committed is the ability to look after property. Some of the people who acquired vehicles in 2011, 2016, this time they are wrecks. But because of how he polishes from 2011 up to today, the vehicles still look in good condition. That’s the problem he has but the primitiveness in the new dawn is what’s bringing this kind of situation. If there was anything wrong that could have been done by him, we’d have possibly been the first ones to raise those issues”.
(News Diggers)