MUMBI HAS SUFFERED MORE THAN HH – FORMER PF SG MWILA
….Says she is welcome to join the PF presidential race because she qualifies.
Lusaka – Wednesday, 12 April 2023
FORMER PF secretary general Davies Mwila says government should compensate former PF deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri because she has suffered more than President Hakainde Hichilema who keeps complaining about three months of detention.
Meanwhile, Mwila says Phiri is welcome to join the PF presidential race because she qualifies.
Last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a nolle prosequi in Phiri’s favour in the case in which she was jointly charged with former president Edgar Lungu’s barber Shebby Chilekwa with murder.
Police arrested and jointly charged Phiri and Chilekwa with one count of murder in February last year, and she was in detention until last week.
In an interview, Mwila accused President Hichilema of interfering in judicial operations and further described the nolle as a scandal.
“First and foremost, President Hakainde Hichilema was always in the forefront criticising the PF government over the issues of injustice. And President Hakainde Hichilema made too many promises that he is going to rule this country differently from PF. But if you look at the way things are moving, President Hakainde Hichilema has become a dictator because there is no justice in this country. In that, if you look at the judicial system; from the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, High Court, Court of Appeal, if you look at all those appointments, you will find that he has appointed mostly his relatives and friends,” he said.
“So, you don’t expect the judicial system to be independent and I can tell you that this is just one year seven months, as we approach three years, there will be no difference between Hakainde Hichilema and Idi Amin. Because Hakainde Hichilema interferes in the running of the judiciary. He said Mumbi Phiri will pay the price and exactly the judiciary did just like that. Mumbi was detained for one year and it was a scandal in that you cannot enter nolle prosequi on the day of judgement after detaining someone for more than 365 days. It has never happened in the history of Zambia”.
Mwila said Phiri deserves to be compensated.
“So, I can tell you that where we are heading, things will be more worse than where we are as at now. He was complaining that he was detained for three months and look at the detention of Mumbi, who has suffered more? Him three months and moreover, him he committed a very serious crime, a very serious offence because in any country, you cannot obstruct a presidential motorcade. Even him as President, I can’t go and obstruct his motorcade. This is a very serious crime; detained for three months and he has been talking about it, any press conference he talks about it. And government must compensate Mumbi Phiri whether they like it or not. So, in terms of the justice system in Zambia, it cannot be perfect in that most of these institutions are run by the state. A nolle can be entered if for example, the case starts in January and you know that the case is not going anywhere, in March you can enter nolle. But it’s unprecedented where you enter nolle after one year,” said Mwila.
Meanwhile, Mwila welcomed Phiri to the PF presidential race.
“PF is a Democratic Party where all leaders are elected by the general conference and others are elected at the provincial level, at the district level, constituency level, ward level and the branch level. So honourable Mumbi Phiri is welcome in that she’s member of the party, she’s a member of the central committee, and moreover she’s a woman. We want as many people to contest on the position of president and that’s the more reason why we reopened the application as a party. She has her constitutional right and under article 52 of our party constitution, she qualifies to stand and she has been a member of the party for five years continuously so she qualifies. She’s welcome to be in the race and we want to have variety of people that we can choose from, so she’s welcome,” Mwila said.
“When you go through such things, you become stronger and I expect that Mumbi is now stronger going by what she has gone through and she will compete favourably…PF is an attractive party and more people are coming. And I can tell you that as we go to the general conference, we will have three to four more people joining the race. So since the application is not closed, I expect to have more people in the race. I would encourage all those who would want to join the race to do so now so that we will be able to look at all those who will be in the race so that we pick the right person who will be our party president as well as our candidate in 2026. So I would encourage more people to come forward”.
And Mwila said they would make sure that “indisciplined chaps” like Matero member of parliament Miles Sampa don’t go through at the general conference because PF was a disciplined party.
“Those are indisciplined chaps, and I told you that once you start doing that, you are removing yourself from the race because no one will have an interest to vote for you. So the coming of Mumbi Phiri, she has added to the numbers because those…Miles Sampa, we are not even counting them now because PF is a disciplined party and we cannot be led by people who are indisciplined. That, we will not allow as a party. We will make sure that he doesn’t go through at the general conference. We will be there, God is looking after us, we don’t entertain indiscipline,” said Mwila
(Credit:News Diggers)