National Democratic Congress spokesperson Franklin Membe has advised Chishimba Kambwili to hang up his gloves to preserve his name.
In a statement, Membe said Kambwili’s attack on The Mast and two of the newspaper’s reporters makes very sad reading.
He said Kambwili’s action validates the people’s fear that he was not presidential material.
The NDC official said Kambwili’s attack on the newspaper and reporters Oliver Chisenga and Edwin Mbulo was worrying.
Kambwili threatened The Mast, Chisenga and Mbulo with unspecified action.
This followed a story written by Chisenga over the Copperbelt NDC leadership visiting interim party president Josephs Akafumba.
Kambwili accused The Mast and the two reporters of being part of a scheme that saw him removed by his own party following a disagreement over their involvement with the UPND Alliance.
However, Membe said Zambia enjoys constitutionally enshrined rights to freedom of expression and the press.
“Top leadership of NDC have for some time now been questioning the ability of CK [Kambwili] to superintendent over national issues. We had concluded in the affirmative that CK’s worth was only for campaign purposes. It is now very clear that my young brother cannot be president,” he said.
Membe, who is also NDC chairman for national planning and development, said the “MMD cadre spirit” of muzzling the press still hangs around Kambwili.
He said Zambia was a democracy and citizens must accept and protect the principles of freedom of conscience and expression.
Membe said the new NDC headed by its interim president Akafumba had a clear strategy on how to relate with the media.
“The acrimony of Kambwili that made him hound out The Post Newspaper was barbaric, undemocratic and ‘carderish’. NDC considers the media as development partners. That should remove the animosity that we see today between the state and the media. History has shown that picking up battles with the media is the easiest and fastest route to self-destruction,” he said.
Kambwili was information minister when The Post was closed in June 2016.
Membe advised Kambwili to step down now for posterity.
He said Kambwili’s name would be glorified for making such a magnanimous decision.
“The old man [Dr Kaunda] listened and had to forego two years to which he was totally entitled. I repeat this advice to my young brother and former president CK. Please hang up your gloves to preserve your name. I pray that you also advise your nephew I have respected till now not to make false accusations about me. I have never been convicted nor jailed in my life. I have a very good case for defamation of character for which I may not even need a lawyer to defend me because it’s straightforward. CK, Zambia needs your ‘Vuvuzela’ spirit. Don’t destroy yourself now, please. It’s too early,”Membe said.
Membe further said Kambwili was not yet ripe for the presidency.
“It’s time for HH [UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema] to grab the nation from the enemies of Zambia the ‘Unpatriotic Front’,” Membe said.
Membe said people’s memories wre still fresh of how Kambwili ran the Ministry of Information when The Post was being printed underground for fear of the ‘leopard’.
He recalled that Kambwili ordered cadres to vandalise all Post newspaper stands.
“This act destroyed people’s lives, especially workers, some of whom even lost their homes. We have for long expected that the ‘leopard’ will change its colours but alas! A leopard cannot change its colours. We were all wrong. When a leopard changes its colours, it ceases to be a leopard,” said Membe.