By Patson Chilemba
Why should I not be Hakainde Hichilema’s running mate if that is what the Zambian people want, says National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Chishimba Kambwili.
And Kambwili said Kennedy Kamba’s statement that he was fired by President Edgar Lungu following advice from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), said something about the President’s leadership.
Speaking with Daily Revelation over ruling PF member Colonel Panji Kaunda’s suggestion that opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema must lead the alliance and have Kambwili as his running mate, Kambwili said he respected Colonel’s opinion.
“All I can say is I respect his opinion and if that is what the people of Zambia want why not? If that is what the people of Zambia want why not?” he said, while explaining the delay to announce progress on alliance candidates for the 2021 elections. “When you are going into an alliance you have to look at all avenues and all angles, so that what you create would not be broken by anybody. And right now what we are working on with UPND is look at all avenues so that what we are going to agree will never be broken.”
Kambwili said discussions had reached an advanced stage, and it would be wrong for him to divulge details without the permission of other alliance partners.
“We assure you that we have reached an advanced stage,” he said.
Asked on information that his party had proposed that they should be allowed to field candidates on the Copperbelt and parts of Luapula, Northern and Muchinga provinces, Kambwili insisted that it was not for him to comment on issues that have not been agreed and tabled before the alliance.
“We have reached an advanced stage and at an appropriate time we shall announce. I am a very organised person I only speak when time is ripe. I cannot kind of disappoint my alliance partners by divulging information that is still under discussion without the authority of the others,” he said.
Asked to comment on observations that the other opposition leaders had objected to joining the alliance on account of the weaknesses they had observed in both himself and Hichilema, Kambwili argued that life was about using other people’s weaknesses and turning them ones strength.
“It’s like going into a marriage, you are all coming from different backgrounds and angles and what is important is to understand ones dos and dons and respect his dos and dons. Agree to disagree so that you come up with one common agenda. And the agenda which is common in this race is to improve the living standards of our people,” Kambwili said. “So whatever differences that we have must be put aside. What is important is that we must do the right thing and change living stands of our people, industrialise the country, improve jobs.”
Kambwili said what destroyed leaders at the top was that they felt they had the monopoly of wisdom, saying he was viewed as an enemy when as minister he raised the issue of incorporating youths into the national service trainings, the same thing President Lungu was pushing for now.
He said he was saddened that President Lungu was embracing the issue now when he was “almost leaving office”, when it could have been implemented a long time ago.
“And some of us were fired from PF because of the strong stance on certain issues. There are a lot of things I didn’t agree (with) but was taken as if I opposed the President,” Kambwili said.
He wondered why President Lungu fired him without verifying information he was given by the ACC, as recently revealed by ruling PF provincial chairperson Kamba.
“What is Kamba telling us about the leadership qualities of President Lungu, that he can just be told by somebody, fire that person and he fires. Because as a leader you are supposed to analyse everything that you are given. President Lungu knew that I was a business man of high standing,” Kambwili said. “Surely to be accused of having about K6 million in my account will be something that I can fail to have when the business itself that I was doing was earning more than K6 million a month…mining on behalf of mining companies gives you more than K6 million a month.”
Kambwili said President Lungu must have analysed things, particularly that politics was riddled with jealousy and wanting to fix each other.
“President Sata would call you and verify with you, I have received this information, what are you saying about it? And he usually used to tell people can I have a report on this allegation. Sometimes he would call the accuser and accused come you say what you were saying,” said Kambwili. “But to hear that I was fired just because the Anti-Corruption Commission they ask people…what has come out is that I was fired innocently.”
Kamba recently said the ACC was being used by politicians to fix each other. He said the commission advised President Lungu to fire Kambwili, and turned him into an opposition figure. – Daily Revelation