Mpombo has simply been charged and not suspended, says Katele

Mpombo has simply been charged and not suspended, says Katele
By Patson Chilemba
Sat 03 Apr. 2010, 04:01 CAT

MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba yesterday observed that he is worried that some people who are speaking about late president Levy Mwanawasa's legacy risk transforming him into a tribal icon.

And Kalumba said Kafulafuta member of parliament George Mpombo has simply been charged and not suspended from the party. In an interview, Kalumba said president Mwanawasa's legacy risked being undermined by some people.

“Levy's legacy and history may be undermined by some people who are trying to say what they are saying because of defending Levy's legacy as a Lamba. It may be misunderstood from transforming him from a national icon to a tribal icon,” Kalumba said. “He was a Lamba and Lenje, I think we should remember him as a national leader, I am worried.”

Kalumba said it would be improper to undermine what president Mwanawasa did.

“It is equally immoral and wrong to cover yourself in the cloak of president Mwanawasa and what he did in order for one to defend his wrongs. I think it's not right. I think each one of us is supposed to be held accountable for their own actions. So somebody makes a mistake and he wants to go and wear the cloak of the late president and say 'I am being victimised because I belong to the tribe of president Mwanawasa,'” Kalumba said.

“I think that is not fair. I think that is going too far, sometimes you take away from the legacy. You know that you have sold yourself and you want to smear it on the cloak of late president Mwanawasa, thereby attracting criticism to a name, which is innocent.”

Kalumba explained that the letter from his office did not say that Mpombo had been suspended.

“He Mpombo asked that the letter be delivered to him in Ndola. It is very clear, suspension is something that comes after somebody has been charged and been found wanting. The letter that was delivered by my office to him does not say that he has been suspended. It says he has been charged,” Kalumba said.

“And when you are charged you have an opportunity to exculpate yourself. Now if you are not satisfied, the disciplinary organs responsible for your charges they may mete out different kinds of punishment. They can either write a reprimand, a warning, or suspend you, or recommend for your expulsion.

“If it is in NEC, they might decide to expel you pending ratification by the convention if you do appeal. Now all those channels are available to honourable Mpombo. There was some kind of technical problem in the communication with him earlier. I think a wrong letter got to him but the right letter has been written to him.”

On Magande's statement that the action against Mpombo was unfortunate, Kalumba said Magande should be the last one to say that Mpombo had been treated unfairly in terms of giving him opportunity to channel his grievances through appropriate party organs.

He described Magande as a reasonable man of integrity who would be able to agree that Mpombo had been allowed to air his grievances through the office of the national secretary.

Kalumba said he has had opportunity to speak to Mpombo on several occasions, but the former defence minister had violated his word of honour many times.

“He Mpombo has been very kind in his description of my office, so I have no reason to believe that there was an obstacle,” Kalumba said. “My good friend Ng'andu should also exercise leadership role and I hold him to account on the very statement he has made. Why has he not advised honourable Mpombo not to burn the house while his friends are in? I sat with honourable Magande at some point and no one can complain today that honourable Magande acted in any way irresponsibly.”

Kalumba said he had been tolerant to Mpombo such that some of his colleagues had suspected him of being in connivance with Mpombo's utterances.

Asked on the concerns that Mpombo was not a small figure who could be pushed around, Kalumba said there were greater stakes than appears to be evident.

“I have said on many occasions because of my concern as national secretary and also through the national executive committee, we have considered the interest of Kafulafuta and because of it we have been very tolerant of some of the injuries he has visited on the party,” Kalumba said. “Our consideration is not driven by such motivations. Our consideration is driven by justice, the need to be just to his concerns but at the same time to protect the party when he begins to injure it in a manner that affects not only Kafulafuta but our standing as a party in the country. So we have to balance those interests carefully. For us it is not whether or not we can defeat him if we went to an election. That is not really our consideration. I have to be very emphatic at that. It is looking in the specific offences my office is accusing him of having committed.”

Kalumba said politics was about numbers, but the kind of numbers the party had also mattered.

He said the party had acted where it felt that the consideration of the factor of numbers may not be to its greater good.

Asked if MMD would win if there were to be a by-election in Kafulafuta, Kalumba said should the disciplinary committee view that the charges against Mpombo should stand, the party would take measures to gain the support of the people.
Kalumba said nothing in politics was easy, saying MMD had defeated some people who were much stronger.