PASS Bill 10 and see the other side of Zambians, NDC Copperbelt chairman George Sichula has warned.
In a statement, Sichula, a former PF Chingola district commissioner noted that most members of parliament support bill 10 to secure their 2021 re-adoption.
He said there was information circulating within the PF that the members of parliament stand a risk of not being adopted if they do not support Bill 10.
“This has brought fear leading to compromise among the members of parliament. As you all know, the number one enemy of empowerment is the fear of losing what we have. Almost all members of Parliament are fully aware that Zambians are not happy, and that Bill 10 is a poison, except MPs have been held at ransom by the President [Edgar Lungu]. The members of central committee are also divided over the same but you know how they fear the President. All members are a rubber stamp with expired positions. They all know that it is the President who is pushing for a third term indirectly but are afraid to challenge him,” Sichula said.
He reckoned that chances of Bill 10 going through were very high because PF needs it as a tool for prolongation to hold on to power.
“Imagine that most of these PF MPs challenging the Catholics are doing so to bargain for their re-adoption in exchange with securing Bill 10 for ECL. They don’t care whether people want it or not, Bill 10 must go through. In Africa we say, ‘The day a man tastes the sweetness of a woman, that day he also tastes the bitterness’, ” he said.
Sichula said the nation expects his party and alliance partner UPND members of parliament to walk out of Parliament and never to support the Bill.
“Two rams cannot drink from the same bucket at the same time; they will lock horns. When the right leader and the right timing come together, incredible things happen,” said Sichula.