Maravi

Moono has loose screws in the head, says Mpombo

Moono has loose screws in the head, says Mpombo
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday, May 14, 2009 3:49:16 PM

DEFENCE minister George Mpombo yesterday said he was not poor when he joined UPND as it is being portrayed because he had four hammer mills and a van. And Mpombo said he is a moderate drinker of beer and not in the manner that UPND defence chairperson Captain Cosmas Moono was claiming.

Reacting to Capt Moono's revelations that UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema resurrected him [Mpombo] from poverty in the village where he was drinking a local brew, Mpombo said it was not true that Hichilema rescued him from the jaws of poverty.

"Capt Moono is an incorrigible, pathological liar. His statement borders on complete and utter political lunacy. I think he has got a couple of loose screws in the head and his allegations amount to cheap political concoction, which is not built on any foundation," Mpombo charged. "When we were founding UPND all these chaps - Moono and Hichilema - were not there. These chaps just jumped on the political bandwagon. They were not there for them to deceive the nation in the way he [Capt Moono] is trying to say that I had fallen to levels of that kind of social disorder."

He said the late UPND leader, Anderson Mazoka, whom he worked with at Anglo American Boart Longyear, had invited him to join UPND during its formation.

"The first meeting Mr Mazoka addressed on the Copperbelt, he was accompanied by Dante Saunders, it was on my farm in Chiwala. If I was in the state he [Capt Moono] is explaining, how could I have hosted that function? We had people from all over, I had to feed and look after them," Mpombo narrated. "Besides, I was district governor for Ndola rural and after UNIP left and MMD came into power, I had four hammer mills and a van and I was able to look after my family very well. In the same period, I was the only opposition councillor on the Copperbelt on UNIP ticket. How do you expect a councillor to walk bare feet like the way he is saying?"

He said he was also board chairman for Chiwala Secondary School for six years.

"To be a board chairman is not a simple job where you would wear tropicals [flip-flops] and that kind of thing," Mpombo said.

He said due to his influence the UPND managed to 'score' its first councillors in Copperbelt Province's Mpongwe and Masaiti districts.

"If I was in such a situation of social disrepair, how could that happen? So it is actually just political hallucination and arsenals of lies. I want to challenge my colleagues in UPND to stick to facts. It's not true to say that I was given a vehicle by Hichilema. If a leader can sink so low and to generate such kind of falsehoods, it's incredible," Mpombo complained. "The vehicle he is talking about which Mr Mazoka sent to the Copperbelt was the one which was meant for, we had a local government by-election in Mpongwe, which UPND won and that ka small van was meant for that programme. In any case, I was provincial coordinator for UPND on the Copperbelt. After winning the elections the vehicle was withdrawn by the secretariat in Lusaka."

Mpombo said he only knew Hichilema when he went to buy domestic animals from him.

He said it was not true that Hichilema donated money for Mpombo to buy a suit.

"My father was a very prosperous businessman and I learnt to wear suits from the age of 10 and I have always wore suits in my life. If I am not in a suit then it's smart casual. Suits have been part of my life. So how do they say Hichilema bought a suit for me and I was not looking? How do they make such fabrications?" Mpombo asked. "So there is no grain of truth in what he is saying. Moono is just an irresponsible and excited political rabid attack dog. His statements amount to political obscenity. This is just cheap political character assassination."

He said he had been a role model in Ndola rural and never drunk kachasu beer.

"I have never taken any toxic staff and I am a very moderate drinker. I am certainly not in that category. Surely, in Copperbelt if you have no shoes, you are wearing patapata [flip-flops] and drinking kachasu, you have no integrity. How can people follow you?" Mpombo asked. "In fact a lot of people on the Copperbelt will laugh once they read that story [from Capt Moono]."

And former head of security for UPND and the late Mazoka, Ernest Ndilla described Capt Moono's statement on Mpombo as petty, malicious and childish.

He said he was in Mazoka's delegation that went to hold a meeting at Mpombo's farm and the latter organised the campaign meetings in Mpongwe and Masaiti districts.

"I was shocked after I read Moono's lies," said Ndilla. "I wish you also investigate how Capt Moono was fired from Nyamayane farm where he was in charge. How did he leave ZAF? You have to investigate these people before you quote them to determine whether they are credible or not."

Mpombo said, as defence minister, he did not threaten Hichilema contrary to what UPND chairperson for youths Joe Kalusa was claiming.

"They have torn it out of context. What I was saying was that the political shelf life for Hichilema will expire in 2011. All I was saying is that he has no guts to win the 2011 presidential elections and at that time he will become irrelevant both in UPND and nation because he will have led the UPND into maybe fourth [third] presidential defeats," said Mpombo.

Labels: COSMAS MOONO, GEORGE MPOMBO

posted by MrK @ 2:51 PM