UPND WON’T SURVIVE… Mr Lungu in 2021 didn’t want to go but he had to go, says M’membe
By Fanny Kalonda ( The Mast)
WE have the Mobutu types of leaders in this country, says Socialist Party president Fred M’membe.
He says the country is being governed by leaders who are busy enriching themselves.
“Selfishness, greedy, vanity, corruption, abuse, everything that is bad in leadership you find it in Mobutu,” he explained.
Featuring on Prime TV’s Oxygen of Democracy programme, Dr M’membe said those who left office did not want to go “but went therefore UPND will also not survive the will of the people no matter what they do”.
“That’s how Zambia is being governed today. They are busy enriching themselves, they can’t even declare to you what they have. They can’t show you what they have because they are busy amassing. First they lied to you that they had this and that which they didn’t even quantify properly. They don’t have. It’s now that they are amassing wealth. They are entering every sector now, mining, financial, whatever. I am talking about your leaders. I am talking about the people who are leading this country today, who are governing this country. Not all of them, some of them are poor but the key leaders of your country today are amassing wealth,” he said. “You want me to mention, yes Mr Hakainde Hichilema let him declare to you what he had before he got into government and what he has today. Let him declare at every stage what he had and where it came from. The leadership we have today is not different from Mobotu. That’s why even the trampling on our fundamental human rights it’s so easy for them. Honest leaders don’t do that. What is the difference between Mr Hichilema and Mobutu?”
Dr M’membe said he does not hate President Hichilema stating that hatred would not benefit anyone.
“When people don’t enjoy their liberties, when leaders are not accountable, what is the difference with Mobutu? What’s the difference between the way the … used to be and what we have today? The greed, the vanity, the selfishness, corruption, what’s the difference? The trampling on people’s rights, what’s the difference? …I don’t have any interaction with him (President Hichilema), why would I have personal hatred for him? And what does it benefit an individual to hate an individual? What does it benefit you to hate me? Simply pointing out the deficiencies is not hatred,” he said. “They are doing everything possible to weaken the opposition to make sure that the opposition, to ensure that the views of the opposition are not heard.”
Dr M’membe said for dictators, when people decide they have to go they have gone.
“Those who left office did not want to go. Dr Kaunda and UNIP in 1991 they didn’t want to go, but they had to go. Mr Rupiah Banda in 2011 did not want to go, he cried but he had to go. Mr Lungu in 2021 didn’t want to go, but he had to go. Even them they will have to go. They will not be able to survive the will of the people. They can’t, no matter what they do. Even dictators when people decide they have to go, they have gone. You can’t defy the will of the people,” he said.
Dr M’membe said under the current leadership, poverty has increased and economic deterioration is there for all to see.
He said the SP programmes are not heard because the party is not allowed to interact meaningfully with the people.
“Even to just hold a small meeting, the police will be on you for an illegal meeting. How do you mobilise? How do you organise, how do you educate? Even how do you agitate the people for your course? Did I get into politics because of Mr Hakainde? I went to Garden… to form MMD because of Mr Hakainde? Was he there? When did we start hearing about Mr Hakainde, 2006 when he jumped from nowhere to become president of UPND. So there is no hatred. Look, it’s not me who has made the cost of living the way it is now. These problems are not created by me,” he said. “There will be nobody who will complain about the living conditions, there will be nobody who will complain about Mr Hakainde’s governance? All these people in opposition hate Mr Hakainde? To be in opposition, you hate Mr Hakainde? Tell me how we should demonstrate our love for him. As far as I know, the only way to stop somebody from doing something that makes him hated is to do the right thing. How can you help somebody who is on the wrong path? By correcting them, by telling them this is not the way to go and that’s what we are telling Mr Hakainde. This is not the way to run the country. Under his leadership, poverty has increased. That’s a fact. Economic deterioration is there for all to see. Statistics are there. Under his leadership, the violation of our fundamental rights is increasing by the day. I have never seen so many arrests of so many people on trumped up charges. I have never seen anything like this.”
Dr M’membe said complaining about the public order Act and its abuse is not fighting President Hichilema or hating him.
“I should be burning inside me because Mr Lungu did this to me, did that to me or so and so did this to me, did that to me? I have been to prison in some cases without trial. I went to Chimbokaila, spent a month in Chimbokaila without trial, over the public order Act. Who took me to prison? The MMD. So it’s not just today that we are fighting against the public order Act. We did this even when we were journalists. I was the first person to take the public order Act to court. As an individual when I was working as a journalist represented by now state counsel [John] Sangwa. So complaining about the public order Act, its abuse, it’s not fighting Mr Hakainde Hichilema or hating Mr Hichilema. But then again he didn’t write the public order Act. Yes, he’s abusing it,” he said.
Dr M’membe said he has never seen the worst form of tribalism in this country “as I am seeing today”.
“Just look at the composition of your public sector. Look at the job distributions and so on,” he said.
Dr M’membe said people are complaining about the levels of tribalism.
“They are the worst tribalists I have seen in the history of this country. Those who are governing today, they have divided this country. Mr Hichilema has divided this country in a way that it has never been divided before. Today even little children who don’t even know where they come from today are talking about tribe. And you want to arrest anybody who wants to ensure that that thing, that tribe thing is contained? You want to charge them with tribal hate speech when you are practicing tribalism yourselves? These are the worst tribalists. They want to shut up everyone from talking about their tribalism. They are not concerned about tribalism, they are concerned about being pointed out. Being called out as tribalists, that’s what they are concerned about,” he said. “If they are happy with the way they are living, if they are satisfied with the way they are living, let them vote Mr Hichilema and UPND in 2026. If they are not satisfied, we are an alternative. Should things continue this way, are things going to change for the better? Are things changing for the better, are they getting worse? It’s not what I want, you can’t tell Zambians you can sell anything to Zambians if it doesn’t make sense they won’t buy it. If they are happy with Mr Hichilema, their lives are getting better by the day, no matter how much I come here on this television station and vilify Mr Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND, they will still vote for them. The truth of the reality is, the situation is tough for many of our people. The situation is tough even those who are pretending. Today it’s not just the poor people who are feeling it, the middle class are also feeling it. What is there to celebrate? In which area of the lives of our people can they celebrate today? And the divisions that you are seeing today are not just on the basis of tribe. The traditional leaders they are fighting with them. The same people, Mr Hichilema, they are fighting with him. They have got issues, they have got issues with Church leaders or churches. They have got issues with businessmen. They have got issues with politicians. They have got issues with everybody including even among themselves there are issues. I have never seen a divisive leader like Mr Hichilema in the history of this country. He’s the most divisive element this country has ever seen in leadership. In top leadership, you can’t compare him to Dr Kaunda. You can’t compare him to even Mr [Frederick] Chiluba. You can’t compare him to Levy [Mwanawasa]. You can’t compare him to Mr Banda. You can’t even compare him to Edgar Lungu. He has divided the country more than any person has ever divided this country on all sorts of fronts not only tribe.”
Dr M’membe added that the country is looking for collective wisdom and not one single fixer.
“We are not looking for one fixer like the way Mr Hakainde was cheating people. We are looking for a collective fixer. We are not looking for a single genius. We are looking for a collective genius. We are not looking for a single Migiver, we are looking for a collective MacGyver, only collective wisdom. There is more hunger in the country than there was three years ago when this government or this party took over government. Let’s be broadminded. We revolutionaries, work for the future as we struggle for the present. We also have an eye for the future,” he said.
“At the current population growth of our country of 2.94 per cent per annum in 15 years the population of this country which is 20.6 [million] will double, we will have 40 million plus Zambians in 15 years. With the current economic policies we have and social policies we have, how are we going to take care in 15 years of the education requirements of our people with a doubled population? Of the health requirements of our people with a doubled population when we can’t take care of 20.6 million. Responsible and sensible leaders work for the future.”
Dr M’membe said the country cannot sacrifice people’s fundamental human rights because some people are scared of being criticised or losing power.
He explained that citizens have the right to defend their human rights by any means necessary.
“They say they don’t have manpower sometimes, then you find the grounds where you are supposed to hold rallies the following morning is full of police officers. All the equipment for riot control is there and if there is insecurity, why only the opposition? They themselves are holding rallies, they are holding big meetings as and when they want, so security considerations are only for the opposition? Almost three years down the line, no single rally? I could have used a much harsher word to say, it’s all nonsense. It doesn’t make sense, that line of security does not make sense. We have held rallies in this country under a state of emergency. We can’t sacrifice our fundamental human rights just because some people fear that if they are criticised, they will lose power,” said Dr M’membe. “Is it rallies that have created the crises we are facing in the country? Can you say it’s rallies or political protests or political speeches that have created the high prices of mealie meal, the high fuel prices, the depreciation of the kwacha and the general high cost of living? Ideas don’t create crises, crises generate ideas not vice versa. These liberties are not just about political parties, these are fundamental human rights which this government is violating. So actually it’s a very primitive behaviour, which will not take them anywhere. This is barbarism, this is backwardness. You can’t after what they went through for 23 years, they come and start to violate the fundamental rights of Zambians. It’s not just our rights as SP or the rights of opposition political parties ABCDEZ, they are violating the rights of all Zambians by denying SP the right to hold its rallies. It’s not only SP whose rights they are violating, they are violating the rights of all of you in so doing. We will get our rights, we will defend our rights by any means necessary.”