By Patson Chilemba
Suspended Kitwe mayor Christopher Kang’ombe says he suspects some seating PF members of parliament in Kitwe as fomenting trouble for him and his colleagues.
Speaking with Daily Revelation following his suspension from all party activities for allegedly campaigning in Kitwe’s Kamfinsa constituency, and the demand from the police for him to be getting permits to interact with the community, Kang’ombe said the motive behind the happenings against him, former Kitwe district commissioner Binwell Mpundu and Kalulushi mayor Rashida Mulenga, was very clear. He said there was a clear pattern to fight against the three of them.
Asked if he thought some sitting members of parliament in Kitwe felt threatened about holding on to their seats, hence the upheavals against him and his colleagues there, Kang’ombe said: “I suspect so.”
Daily Revelation earlier this year reported on the uneasy relationship between National Planning minister and Nkana member of parliament Alexander Chiteme and Foreign Affairs minister and Kwacha member of parliament Joe Malanji on one side, against Kang’ombe and his friends on the other. As for Mulenga, sources in the PF have said she is involved in a fight with Community Development and Social Welfare minister Kampamba Mulenga, who is also Kalulushi member of parliament.
Kang’ombe said for the past four years as mayor, he has never required a permit to engage with the community, saying it was now strange that he had to obtain one to interact with people.
On the suspension against him, Kang’ombe said he anticipated the development, saying this was something he and his colleagues tried to address over the past weekend.
“We have been identified as political competitors, and they are using other methods to frustrate us,” said Kang’ombe.
In a letter to Kang’ombe, Kitwe district chairman Evaristo Chilufya said the suspended Kitwe mayor had continued campaigning in Kamfinsa despite the directive from the central committee, prohibiting party officials from campaigning in constituencies where there are sitting PF members of parliament and independents who work with the party in Parliament.
Chilufya further accused Kang’ombe of having held a press briefing last Sunday knowing fully well that Vice-President Inonge Wina and party secretary general Davies Mwila were in Kitwe.
Similar reasons have also been given for the suspension of Mpundu. – Daily Revelation