STOP WASTING PEOPLE’S TIME IF YOU CAN’T UNITE, KAPYANGA TELLS OPPOSITION

STOP WASTING PEOPLE’S TIME IF YOU CAN’T UNITE, KAPYANGA TELLS OPPOSITION

MPIKA PF MP Francis Kapyanga says the opposition should stop wasting the public’s time if they fail to heed the calls from Zambian people for unity.

Kapyanga says there is need for a strong opposition to hold the ruling party accountable, noting that the current opposition has been largely dominated by “jokers and money mongers”.

In an interview, Saturday, Kapyanga said the country could not afford to have a failed party in government and also a failed opposition.

“The opposition on the other hand, I was saying the same thing last week, to say, those in the opposition, if they are not interested to listen to the Zambian people who are saying, we want you united, they should stop wasting the Zambian people’s time. I even said it last week, that’s very unfortunate, I mean, we can’t afford to have a failed party in government, and also a failed opposition, the country can’t afford that.

Where would democrats be? Because we need a vibrant opposition that has to keep the party in power on its toes. Then you have the problem, the opposition has been dominated by jokers and those that are just the money mongers. But from our side, as PF, we’ve always called on our acting president [Given Lubinda] to go for a conference,” he said.

“Once we come back from the conference, we will all unite around one person who will win at the conference. Because currently, PF is the biggest opposition, going by numbers in Parliament, numbers in local government. After the conference, we will emerge stronger. And President Hakainde [Hichilema], including the UPND government, should not comfort themselves that now we have managed to suppress the opposition, they haven’t. The Zambian people are the biggest opposition”.

However, Kapyanga said that saying there was no opposition was a serious deception.

“In 1991, elections were supposed to take place in 1993, there was no opposition political party whatsoever. The only party that existed was UNIP. And by that time, UNIP was the strongest opposition political party in Southern Africa. But the Zambian people, who are the biggest opposition, opposed [former president Kenneth] Kaunda and made Kaunda to change the constitution to go for elections in 1991.

They had no party at that time. Then they decided to register the movement that they were using as a political party. Then they even found a candidate for that political party. That candidate won with a landslide. At that time, media houses, such as the News Diggers, the community radio stations, TV, did not exist, what only existed was the government propaganda machinery,” said Kapyanga.

“Today, information is spread within a minute. Tomorrow, when you post this article in News Diggers, my uncle in the village will read it. So, we have people now who are enlightened and have access to information in real time. This means that if a formidable candidate emerges from PF in February, the entire country will know that this is now the candidate that PF will use. And this is the special purpose [vehicle] they will use, since PF has been strangled. Saying that there is no opposition, actually, is serious deception”.

News Diggers