(LUSAKATIMES) Corruption is in MMD DNA-Kabimba

Corruption is in MMD DNA-Kabimba
TIME PUBLISHED - Sunday, August 19, 2012, 1:57 pm

PATRIOTIC Front secretary-general Wynter Kabimba has described as sugar-coated the claim by MMD president Nevers Mumba that the former ruling party has repented of its past misdeeds.

Mr Kabimba said the repentance does little to stop the wear-and-tear the former ruling party was experiencing and would not dupe Zambians. The PF secretary-general shared these sentiments via a media statement made available to the Sunday Mail by PF media and publicity director Chanda Mfula.

Mr Kabimba said Dr Mumba wanted the nation to believe that he stood opposed to the corruption that has formed the backbone of the MMD’s character over the years which include the times he was Vice-President and High Commissioner to Canada, while simultaneously issuing unwarranted attacks aimed at undermining President Sata and the PF government’s efforts to fight this same corruption.

“It is a show of double standards for Pastor Mumba to condemn, yet still condone corruption, just because that is what is expedient for his survival as MMD leader. It is clear from his statements that Pastor Mumba has launched a spirited attack on the fight against corruption,” Mr Kabimba said.

The PF, Mr Kabimba said, found it very strange for Dr Mumba to proclaim that those who would be convicted of corruption by the courts would be asked to resign from their leadership positions in the MMD, when he was in the forefront of attacking, undermining, and scandalising the legal process that was meant to clear or convict those facing corruption charges.

Even stranger, Mr Kabimba went on, is the fact that Dr Mumba has failed to state whether he himself would step down if convicted of corruption.

“In fact if the MMD is genuine in their so-called rebranding exercise, they should go beyond screening their leadership on the basis of convictions or legal processes alone, and ascribe to standards built on humility, morality and integrity because it is the lack of such standards that has led Dr Mumba to unnecessarily malign and discredit the government and President Sata, to the extent of raising false alarm that the government was persecuting and harassing the opposition,” Mr Kabimba said.

He said the PF was fortunate that it had already seen through the scheme by the MMD and its leadership to hoodwink Zambians by paying lip-service to true repentance and reformation.

Corruption, said Mr Kabimba, would remain part of the MMD DNA if Dr Mumba and the MMD leadership did not liberate themselves from the bondage of self-deceit and hypocrisy.

According to Mr Kabimba, if true reformation were to take root in the MMD, not even Dr Mumba would be fit to lead the former ruling party.

He said corruption in the MMD was tied to acts of certain individuals in its current and former leadership, some of whom Dr Mumba had been eulogising and a situation the PF found curious.

“We challenge Pastor Mumba to reconcile his anti-corruption and repentance claims with his continued association, within his ranks, with people whose characters are blighted by corruption and mischief,” Mr Kabimba said.

In Mr Kabimba’s view, the state of the Zambian economy today, the dilapidation of social services in the areas of health and education, the poverty and misery of the Zambian people, and the high levels of unemployment among the youth and women of Zambia are all problems created by the MMD during its 20-year tenure.

“Therefore, the MMD cannot hope that Zambians can forget these misdeeds by merely rebranding itself under the same leadership which has caused such misery to our people,” Mr Kabimba said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]