STOP BEHAVING LIKE TOOTHLESS BULLDOGS, KAMPYONGO TELLS LUBINDA LED PF FACTION

STOP BEHAVING LIKE TOOTHLESS BULLDOGS, KAMPYONGO TELLS LUBINDA LED PF FACTION

SHIWANG’ANDU PF MP Stephen Kampyongo has described his expulsion from the party by the Given Lubinda-led faction as illegal.

And Kampyongo has appealed to party leaders to exercise wisdom, and stop behaving like “toothless bulldogs”.

Meanwhile, Mpika PF MP Francis Kapyanga says his expulsion is an imaginary action by people whose arrogance and pride tell them that they still have power.

On Saturday, the Lubinda led PF faction held a conference, and expelled among other members Kampyongo, Kapyanga, Brian Mundubile, Mutotwe Kafwaya, Davies Chisopa, Lukas Simumba and Japhen Mwakalombe for attending the Tonse Alliance faction elections.

“In this regard, the Central Committee resolved that the following individuals, among others who attended the purported illegal Tonse Alliance elections, have relinquished their membership of the Party by their actions and conduct: Hon Brian Mundubile, Hon Stephen Kampyongo, Hon Lukas Simumba, Hon Francis Kapyanga, Hon Japhen Mwakalombe, Hon Davis Chisopa, Hon Mutotwe Kafwaya, Hon Melisiana Chibwe, Hon Emmanuel Tembo, Hon Lazarous Chungu, Mr Abuild Kawangu, Mr Mwila Yumba, Mr Daniel Mwango, [and] Mr Luka Monta,” read the central committee resolution.

But in an interview, Sunday, Kampyongo said his expulsion was illegal.

“First of all, I haven’t received any official communication and two, I’m still a loyal member of the central committee as we await the determination of the matters in court. So, I don’t know of any legally called central committee [meeting] which I missed and where such actions were taken. Formal communication, is well-established in the way of communicating matters of the party. The Patriotic Front is not like a farm where one would just wake up and start chucking out people as they wish. It’s not a personal farm, it’s an organisation. So, until I get formal communication, I can’t make any further comment. [The expulsion] can never stand, it can never stand in any manner, in any form, because it’s illegal. I’m just appealing to the leadership, those who are leaders of the PF, to exercise wisdom and stop behaving like toothless bulldogs,” said Kampyongo.

Meanwhile, Kapyanga charged that the Lubinda-led PF faction is simply a cartel that was in charge of demolishing PF.

“The purported expulsion is an imaginary action by people whose arrogance and pride, tell them they still have the influence and they still have the powers; [but] they don’t have any. My appeal to all of them is that let’s get united. They cannot win elections without us the serving members of parliament who are loyal, we are the people that have been keeping structures, we are the people that have been keeping the party moving. The same expulsion they are talking about is a persecution. They don’t have a party but they still have the arrogance to even expel others from the same group. It’s just a group, there is no party whatsoever, they themselves have taken the party to our opponents,” he said.

“It’s just a cartel that is in charge of demolishing PF, even this expulsion is part of the demolition. Who would actually explain a move of expelling members of parliament every day, expelling people from a party that cannot even go out to go and mobilise? They can’t even hold a rally. They don’t have a president, they don’t have a party, they don’t have candidates to run for parliamentary and local government [elections] in August 2026 elections. Whenever they meet, they are plotting confusion, even when president Lungu went to UKA, the same people brought confusion in UKA until UKA was brought down. President Lungu formed Tonse [Alliance], they started plotting, until they faced resistance. The same people auctioned the party. These same faces are the same faces that made us lose power. They’ve blocked the conference, whenever they congregate, they are plotting confusion. They are saying they’ve expelled me; I don’t even know what I have done”.

He stressed that he had been persecuted since the death of former president Edgar Lungu.

“Immediately when president Lungu died, I knew some of us would be persecuted because they did not like anyone who was closer to president Lungu. Immediately when he died, I knew we would be persecuted. We are being persecuted because we were adopted to stand on PF by president Edgar Chagwa Lungu, we are being persecuted because we were closer to president Edgar Chagwa Lungu. This has not started today, they have lied about us members of parliament, they’ve lied despite the fact that whenever one of them is arrested, we are the ones that sign police bonds for them. Most recently, I was appearing before court for signing a police bond for one of them and I paid K100,000,” Kapyanga added.

“I was appointed to the Tonse Alliance Council of leaders by president Lungu, they withheld my letter of appointment. Four months later, after he had died, that’s when Zumani Zimba revealed that president Lungu had appointed me to the Tonse Alliance council of leaders. Look at the calibre of the central committee members they are appointing now, I mean, not the period of [Michael] Sata, not the period of Edgar Lungu, look at the calibre of MCCs, anything that praises one of them, even just a passer-by can be appointed as a central committee [member] for as long as that passerby dances and praises them for destroying the party. On their MCC blog, they quarrel from 06:00 hours up to 01:00 hours, [then] they just sleep a bit. When they wake up in the morning, they continue quarrelling but that’s not politics”.

Kapyanga further condemned PF faction acting chairperson Jean Kapata for threatening violence.

“I have read somewhere where honourable Kapata was saying that she will physically come for us, that’s very unfortunate, coming from someone who should be a source of wisdom for the young politicians and someone who should be in the forefront calling for unity. Honourable Kapata and her team lost power, maybe they’ve forgotten, let me remind them. They lost power, the same power that we collectively fought for, they lost it in 2021 and on top of that, they took our party to our opponents. I don’t know why we’ve been persecuted in our own party, I’ve just been a proponent for a convention where we can elect a leader to shepherd us and this is not new,” said Kapyanga.

On the other hand, Simumba said he would not acknowledge his expulsion until he received official communication.

“My attention has been drawn to media reports suggesting my expulsion from the Patriotic Front (PF). I wish to state that I have not received any official communication from the party regarding this matter. As a dedicated member and Provincial Youth Treasurer for Muchinga Province, I understand that such significant decisions follow a clear internal procedure and are not conducted through media statements or social media.

Until I am formally served with official communication on the party’s letterhead, bearing the clear signatories and details of the authority behind it, I remain a loyal member of the Patriotic Front. I believe it is prudent to await proper and lawful channels of communication, especially in the current climate,” said Simumba.

News Diggers