Maravi

Fr Bwalya overrating himself - Kambwili
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Thu 02 May 2013, 14:00 CAT

FATHER Frank Bwalya is a wolf in sheep skin who is being misled into overrating himself, says Chishimba Kambwili.

Commenting on Fr Bwalya's presidential ambitions, Kambwili, who is PF national youth chairperson and minister of youth and sports, said the priest was misleading himself into believing that since he was popular as leader of an NGO, he could make a good or popular president.

Kambwili dismissed Fr Bwalya's claims that he was receiving overwhelming support from Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers, as cheap political propaganda.

"He is taking a wrong route. I advised Fr Bwalya that to be leader of an NGO and being popular is very different from being popular in the political circles. And I gave him this advice, free advice as a friend, and now when I read today's (yesterday) Post, I am disappointed that he has continued to pursue the same ideas that he has," he said.

Kambwili said Fr Bwalya was insulting all the PF members by suggesting that President Michael Sata did not know anything about governance and he was better than the President.

"Let me tell Fr Bwalya again that my advice to him is a very open advice, that if he does not want to rescind his decision to try and attack PF and want to be president in the next three months, there will be no Fr Bwalya," he warned.

Kambwili said Fr Bwalya would soon lose the respect that people accorded to him.

He said forming a political party in Zambia and making it grow to a level where people appreciated it to the point of entrusting such a party with power, was a very difficult undertaking that Fr Bwalya would soon come to understand.

"The Father is overrating himself. He may be popular as an NGO but being popular as an NGO is not being popular as a political party. I can give him a practical example. Nevers Mumba was a very popular preacher - Zambia Shall be Saved, and Nevers miscalculated. He thought if he formed a political party all the born-again Christians were going to support him. What happened to Nevers? He formed an organisation called National Christian Coalition and was refusing to say it is not a political party. People asked him; are you going to form a political party? He said no, just like Fr Bwalya said in yesterday's Post that 'I don't want to form a political party.' But we are able to differentiate sense from nonsense and read between the lines," he said.

Kambwili said he hoped Fr Bwalya would learn from the experiences of Mumba.

He said Fr Bwalya had ill-timed his attacks on President Sata, who enjoyed a lot of popularity nationwide.

"I can give him an example, Levy Mwanawasa wanted to attack Frederick Chiluba when Chiluba was at his peak, the way Mr Sata is. What happened to Mwanawasa? He just resigned and went into oblivion," he said.

Kambwili said many other people have started political parties in Zambia which have ended nowhere.

"You see, when you perceive that there are problems, it's better to solve them from inside but I think Fr Bwalya is being self-centred and I am so disappointed that we respect this man of God because we thought he was speaking for the people of Zambia and yet he was speaking to lay a ground for him to say he can be president," he said.

Kambwili said a lot of youths had sent him messages requesting for permission to rise against Fr Bwalya to which he had declined.
He asked Fr Bwalya to refrain from the route he was taking, saying the clergyman would be finished in no time.

"My advice to him as a friend, which advice I gave him one-on-one, is that let him abandon his presidential ambitions because the people of Zambia are not stupid. When you rise on a platform and speak to the people of Zambia as an NGO, people would want you to continue as an NGO and speak to the people as an NGO but when you rise as an NGO and later on you say you want to be president, people will lose confidence," Kambwili said.

He said Fr Bwalya should take the free advice he was giving before he becomes finished like a doormat.

Kambwili said he was a very close friend of Fr Bwalya but was gravely disappointed with his 'rantings' and wondered what wrong the PF had committed within a short period in office for Fr Bwalya to start challenging.

He reminded Fr Bwalya to recall the case of former Kasama Central member of parliament Saviour Chishimba, who wanted to challenge President Sata then as an opposition leader and went on to form a political party that never lasted.

He said Enoch Kavindele also wanted to fight first Republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda and resigned to form his own party but that he ended up being losing out.

Kambwili said PF would silence its critics after three years because of the programmes the ruling party had rolled out.

"...I have been there, we formed PF in 2001. What we have been through to be where we are...no ba Father, I think apa pena awe you are out of contest. Ba Father bweleleni mukufwala inkansu pantu abantu balamisula. I am telling him abantu balimuchindika but balamusula Father get back to wearing your priestly robes because people will detest you, people have respect for you but you will be detested soon.," said Kambwili
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Fr Bwalya claimed on Tuesday that he was receiving a lot of support from some ministers over his presidential ambitions.

Fr Bwalya, who recently resigned as Zesco board chairman, said he had received overwhelming support from sections of society, including ministers and deputy ministers, on the presidential idea and that it was up to the people to decide whether he could actually be trusted for the mantle or not.

"When I speak like this, I speak with confidence because of the text messages that are flooding my phone. I don't want to delete them because I believe it's God speaking to me through these messages but my phone now is congested," he said.

"I am just overwhelmed and I have always said God's way is the best and it is for the good of the people. No one has sent me any negative message, people are sending me positive text messages, some of them are cabinet ministers, some of them are deputy ministers and a leader of a certain country abroad who I met on one of my official engagements."

On Monday, sources revealed that Fr Bwalya was positioning himself to stand as Republican president in 2016 because he feels he can make a better president than Sata.

Sources also disclosed that Fr Bwalya had been telling his confidants that President Sata was too old to lead Zambia.

The sources also said Fr Bwalya had been telling people that he could make a better secretary general than Wynter Kabimba.

And Fr Bwalya said he would only state his position over the presidency after 32 days..

On Sunday, Fr Bwalya claimed he resigned as Zesco board chairperson so that he could be free to praise or criticise the actions of the PF and President Sata in particular.

Fr Bwalya also strongly criticised President Sata and the PF over the by-elections and the arrests of opposition political party leaders.
"I am back. I apologise to UPND leader HH and MMD President Dr. Nevers Mumba for not speaking out for them when they were arrested on flimsy charges on Livingstone and Kitwe, respectively," he said.

Fr Bwalya also said people were losing hope in the PF and the promises the party made even in terms of the fight against corruption, citing President Sata's statement advising the Anti Corruption Commission to notify him before investigating ministers which he hoped was a slip of the tongue.

Labels: CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI, FRANK BWALYA, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 7:35 PM