THE UPND has expressed disappointment with President Edgar Lungu’s Patriotic Front government whom they say, on paper, pretends to
espouse Christian morals and values but at the same time engages in unprecedented electoral corruption and bribery.
In a statement yesterday, UPND vice-president Mutale Nalumango said her party is aware that the massive vote-buying is aimed at
hoodwinking the Zambians into thinking that the PF is becoming popular and should, therefore, be voted for in the forthcoming general elections.
She noted that Zambia’s political sphere was today polluted by a heavy stench of endemic corruption, bribery and all sorts of election malpractices never seen before.
“This is all aimed at ensuring that Mr Lungu and his minions hang on to power against the will of the suffering masses. The United Party for National Development (UPND) would like to state, without any ambiguity, that there is a very thin line, if not none, when it comes to comparison between the attributes of Mr Lungu’s government and the biblical Pharisees,” Nalumango said.
She said it was in public domain that, on one hand, President Lungu and his PF regime publicly posture themselves as enemies of corruption and bribes but, on the other, fuels those very evil acts
for political survival.
Nalumango said President Lungu’s PF has completely destroyed Zambia’s good political image beyond recognition and replaced it with
brutality, intolerance, corruption and all types of election malpractices which should never rear their ugly faces in a country declared as a Christian nation.
“The PF leadership is so desperate to retain power that it is ready to mess up the political arena with evil schemes and machinations as long as such can bring victory to their side. PF party’s lust for power has ushered onto the political scene the worst hooliganism and evil campaigns which are at variance with the principles and values of a
Christian nation,” she said.
Nalumango said, the UPND has seen some of their associates; including members of parliament abandon the great crusade for a better Zambia
and fall prey to the corruption that has been raised to the highest notch by President Lungu’s leadership.
“We are at pains to understand how Mr Lungu, who continues to posture himself as a humble and God-fearing leader, is reconciling corruption
and bribes, oxygenated by his regime, with the national values and principles propagated through the Ministry of Religious Affairs and
National guidance. What is the difference with the Pharisees?” she asked.
Nalumango recalled that President Lungu had delivered every single address in Parliament on what should be regarded as good values and principles “in this Christian nation but he appears to have a lot of challenges practicing what he preaches, for one big reason”.
She noted that with the PF’s dwindled political fortunes, they have turned to corruption and bribery to woo votes.
“It doesn’t surprise us that a PF government minister is on a whirlwind assignment of corruption and bribery in North-Western Province using money stolen from the Zambians to try to destabilise our party in North-Western Province. We are alert to the fact that this minister, whose hands are already soiled with allegations of
bribery, is working with an ungrateful turncoat MP who betrayed us and the people of Zambia by voting for Bill 10,” Nalumango said.
She said her party leadership had information that using the corrupt money, the scheme of defections was already advanced and a list of names of the targeted members from the UPND was already with them.
Nalumango warned Zambians that they would only have themselves to blame if President Lungu and the PF party were allowed to rule beyond 2021.
“The people of this country need a fresh start and a new government under the leadership of president Hichilema to clean up the mess
created by Mr Lungu’s government. This country does not need Pharisees or hypocrites in government but a new set of leaders who are
determined to selflessly work for the people of Zambia and bring sanity in the country.
Pharisees should go,” said Nalumango.