Leading MMD won't be easy - Nevers

Leading MMD won't be easy - Nevers
By Post Staff
Sun 27 May 2012, 13:30 CAT

NEWLY-elected MMD president Nevers Mumba says he is under no illusion that leading the former ruling party will be easy. But some party members on the Copperbelt say Pastor Mumba's victory spells the beginning of the end of the former ruling party and foresee massive defections in the near future.

And losing party presidential contender Moses Muteteka says he will be very vigilant to ensure that the new MMD president does not sell the party. One senior provincial leader on the Copperbelt said MMD members in the province would start making 'big' decisions soon.

He hinted at the big decisions shortly after learning that Pastor Mumba had carried the day.

Pastor Mumba said in an interview with The Post shortly after he was declared winner of Friday's intra-party presidential election that he could now feel the weight of responsibility that had been cast on his shoulders.

"I am touched by the show of confidence cast upon my shoulders by the party across the country," said Pastor Mumba, 52, a former tele-evangelist who subsequently served as Republican vice-president when he joined politics.

"I feel the weight of this responsibility, as I am under no illusion that the challenge will be easy."

He said he was encouraged that with divine help, the MMD would pull through.
"MMD has fully demonstrated that it is the mother of the democratic culture in the country," Pastor Mumba said.

"I am impressed with the campaign that culminated into the election, because there was no blood-letting, each one campaigned freely."

He said the MMD wanted a leader who would stand up for them and represent them fearlessly.

"I provided a message of hope and reformation," said Pastor Mumba.

"The campaign is over. There were seven camps, now there is only one camp, the MMD. I extend a hand to my brothers just as we promised during the campaign that we won't go away. My heart is open and I will not remember what was said against me."

And Muteteka, the MMD national youth chairperson, said the results he garnered in the poll were disappointing but that he will take it as a family business.
Muteteka said he will only be comfortable with a president who implements.
"The winner must be supported by all of us and he must be open. He shouldn't sell the party. We shall be vigilant on that. We will monitor him," said Muteteka.

Meanwhile, Felix Mutati, another losing candidate, says the MMD needs to be brought back to the middle ground of being relevant to the country because it drifted away from its original position.

Mutati said in an interview on Friday afternoon that had he won the MMD presidency, his objective would have been to try and re-organise the party.
"To re-energise the party to make it more relevant and to take the hard decisions that we must take as a party," he said.

Mutati said the MMD needs to be taken to the middle ground where it can become relevant to the country.

"I think we had drifted on one side of the ground. This is an area critical to me. The middle ground is the ground of relevance to society, to employment, to the rule of law," he said.

Mutati said he would have wished to see that party cadres had a mindset change inculcated in them, seeing that the former ruling party was now in opposition.

And there was confusion at the MMD elections in Kitwe with the party's election chairman Gabriel Namulambe and spokesperson Dora Siliya being accused of openly coercing people to vote for Pastor Mumba, sources have revealed.

The duo infuriated MMD losing presidential candidate Mutati's supporters who complained that there was massive vote buying in the process.

According to well-placed MMD sources, Namulambe and Siliya were paying voters to vote for Pastor Mumba.

"Our chairman for elections and honourable Siliya were openly giving out money to people and they were asking them to vote for Pastor Nevers Mumba. At one point they even differed with our provincial youth chairman Mr Mataka who is also known as Jerabo," the sources said.

"We told honourable Siliya that she is the one who made president Rupiah Banda lose last year's election because of her behaviour. The MMD is perceived to be corrupt by many Zambians, and that's what we were trying to run away from in that election. But every member knew that even the lists of delegates countrywide were made according to the wishes of the NEC. This is the end of the party because you cannot give leadership to an outsider."

The sources said most of the delegates wanted Mutati to lead the party as he was more trusted than Pastor Mumba.

"Even in the other provinces, honourable Siliya was busy calling people to vote for Nevers. We thought this time around there could be democracy in our party but things are still the same. It is really disappointing!" said the sources.

And when contacted for comment, Namulambe denied ever influencing the voting pattern.

"If you look at the winning of Nevers Mumba it was a national vote. He won by 67 per cent, and the Copperbelt alone did not make him win. It was a collective effort from members of the party. And there was no one who used money to get the voters; it's not possible. This was the most transparent election," said Namulambe.

Siliya had her mobile phone switched off by press time.

And a female member was heard wondering how Pastor Mumba would manage to run the MMD when he had failed to run his own party, the National Christian Coalition.

The members complained that MMD had dug its own grave by voting for Pastor Mumba who needed to do more work defending his alleged inconsistencies than Mutati.

The members who openly expressed their views as they sat outside Charles Fisher Hall at Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation where the Copperbelt polls were held also observed that the Copperbelt vote was crucial for any president.

Pastor Mumba polled 870 votes in a re-run against Mutati's 422 during the provincial conventions held across the country on Friday.

In Lusaka Province, Pastor Mumba got 68 while Mutati polled 30; Northern Province: Pastor Mumba 16, Mutati 96; North Western Province: Pastor Mumba 109, Mutati 9; Luapula Province: Pastor Mumba 69, Mutati 36; Western Province: Pastor Mumba 108, Mutati 18; Muchinga Province: Pastor Mumba 50, Mutati 47; Eastern Province: Pastor Mumba 125, Mutati 20; Southern Province: Pastor Mumba 129, Mutati 51; Copperbelt Province: Pastor Mumba 80, Mutati 102; Central Province: Pastor Mumba 96, Mutati 12; National executive committee: Pastor Mumba 20, Mutati 1.

Former finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, who also contested the MMD presidency, got 273 votes representing 20 per cent; former foreign affairs minister Kabinga Pande got 89, representing six per cent; Moses Muteteka and Enoch Kavindele both got five votes each, representing zero per cent while Kapembwa Simbao got 20, representing one per cent.