WHY KAMBWILI DOES NOT QUALIFY TO BE PF PRESIDENT
The Scoop Editorial: May 1, 2022
CHISHIMBA Kambwili’s handlers should have advised him accordingly before he even attempted to ditch the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to rejoin the Patriotic Front (PF). What has devoured Mr. Kambwili is making decisions out of emotions and an alleged appetite for leadership.
Take it from us, Kambwili is a political bulldozer. When he speaks, people listen. When he has facts on his fingertips, he is uncontrollably irritating and difficult to handle. He makes you hobble like a berserk, demon possessed individual.
He exposes you without care and these are the people we need in the opposition to offer credible checks and balances and not this madongodongo we are seeing today but how one manages his abilities is what matters as this can be the biggest weakness. This is where Kambwili has lamentably failed either because he does not want to be controlled, or his handlers fail to tell him the truth.
Mr. Kambwili founded the NDC so that he could topple the PF and grab the leadership of this country from them and he was on firm course had he continued but he wobbled. He went into an alliance with the UPND but when his desires were not met, again he jumped ship without realising the dark side of such a poorly-thought-out decision.
Of course the PF welcomed him back with open arms because they knew he was an important nuisance to them winning the 2021 election as they could use him to damage the UPND’s reputation, a few months before the 2021 elections. His agenda and the PF’s agenda fitted perfectly well into each other.
The message was clear; preach about hate speech, tribalism, regionalism, and President Hakainde Hichilema’s alleged filthy hands over privatisation. Choppers were arranged for him and all logistics put in place to make sure he canvassed the length and breadth of the country, spewing tribalism and hate speech.
Whatever was agreed behind the closed doors about his personal benefit if the PF had won, we are not privy to it but definitely, something big was up for him, not to talk about taking over the leadership of the PF from Edgar Lungu. What Kambwili failed to see was the fact that the same UPND he was insulting could win an election and that if that happened, all his ambitions would ground to a halt.
He overrated his capability and threw reason to the pigs. He took the bull by its horns and trumpeted his importance and the sins of the UPND were laid bare to electorates. By August 10, he was convinced that he had met his objective and sure that his ambitions had been realised.
When election results started streaming in, that is when it dawned on him that Nebuchadnezzar was out grazing with the cows next door and the chickens had come home to roost. But him, being Kambwili the so-called young-cobra as he likes to equate himself to late Michael Sata, started pushing his agenda to lead the PF.
We don’t wish to remind you what happened on October 28, 2021 at the memorial service of late Sata at Embassy Park. He may have pretended he did not know what was happening but we have walked this political path before. He wanted to turn the whole event into a political rally but when he realised that his perceived enemies were in no mood for political mayhem, he retreated his cadres and played ignorance.
He has done a lot of ground work in preparing for the General Conference and we can attest to the fact that among all PF presidential hopefuls, he commands a large following and given a chance to take a shot, he can win the party presidency, no doubt.
However, what he forgot was the party constitution which he was at the centre of crafting since he claims he is a founder member of the party. Here is why Kambwili does not qualify to stand as presidential candidate for the PF when and if the general conference will be held:
Article 52 (10) of the PF constitution says a member of the party shall not be qualified as a candidate for the office of the president of the party unless he has been a member of the party for five (5) years immediately preceding the nomination and he is qualified under the Constitution of Zambia for election to the office of the President of Zambia.
Kambwili may be a founding member of the PF but was he still a member of the PF after being expelled? Was he still a member when he formed an opposition party called NDC? Was he still a PF member when joined hands with the UPND against the PF? The answer is no. He only became a member again on May 1, 2021 when he rejoined the party. You can argue but truth will remain and no sane court would rule that he was a member during the time he went away.
We all know that Kambwili only played the Prodigal Son exactly a year ago today and is four years shy of meeting the five-year requirement as stipulated by the party constitution. So, regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s Central Committee meeting, Kambwili does not qualify to stand as PF presidential hopeful. He lacks this basic requirement.
We have always told Kambwili to not only slow down but also tone down. When you talk too much and refuse to listen to anyone, this is what you end up being. It was perceived greed that made Kambwili get kicked out of the PF in the first place. It was perceived greed that drove him to UPND after forming the NDC and the same perceived greed kicked him out.
It was perceived greed that drove him back to PF and now he finds himself licking his self-inflicted wounds of failure to achieve what he wanted to achieve. In his career, Kambwili has injured a lot of people through his regional and tribal politics.
As a matter of fact, most PF members now feel he contributed so much to the PF losing elections last year because Zambians were tired of divisive politics but he maintained that what he was talking about was the truth.
He insisted he would continue talking about the truth until Zambians realise how the Tongas in UPND could not work with the Bembas and other tribes and projecting himself as one of the victims. Where has it taken him now?
The same PF he fervently spoke for to spread tribal divisions today can’t offer him a platform all because he ignored smaller details in his decision making process. So, where to now bamunyinane? Back to the NDC which is also embroiled in confusion? Stick with the PF as an ordinary nobody, or form another political party? We are waiting banene!