Maravi

Nevers is a burden, say MMD leaders
By Mwala Kalaluka, Agness Changala and Allan Mulenga
Mon 22 July 2013, 14:01 CAT

THE move to remove Nevers Mumba as MMD leader is very strong and may lead to a convention, says one of the senior party leaders that summoned him a week ago. The source disclosed yesterday that Mumba had also become a financial burden to the MMD.

"The move is strong, very strong. Maybe we will end up at a convention," the source said. "There are complaints. We had questioned him as your newspaper said. He has failed. We were in the forefront giving him support but we have seen that it is a futile exercise. It is like generally he is not liked. The comments from the people are not healthy. What scared us most was the resignation of Maxwell Mwale. He has resigned, and to those who discussed with him, he said he had lost confidence Nevers Mumba is not inspiring."

The sources said the party leadership had no prblem with the departure of individuals like Dr Canisius Banda, who lacked political substance, but not strong politicians like Mwale, whose Malambo parliamentary seat was recently nullified by the Supreme Court.

"Mwale is a strong person. A person who has a constituency, you are dislocated in a way when they leave," the source said.
The sources further said the MMD's performance on the ground was appalling.

"Like in Feira, we got 600 votes like a ward, yet people said Nevers Mumba is marshalling resources and he is spending them alone and even the members of parliament's contributions he is also getting that," the source said.

"He is too flamboyant. When he goes somewhere he has to go with security people, motor vehicles for hire. You can't be so extravagant. We used to see how President Michael Sata was campaigning. He was interactive. Now someone in opposition starts behaving like a state president! In opposition you require sacrifice."

The sources said for Mumba, it was always endless press briefings.
"People want MMD but the top leadership is not inspiring," the source said.

The source said for Mumba, it seems the MMD presidency was the only thing that was giving him some form of identity currently.

The sources said more meetings would be held soon so that the objective of restoring confidence in the MMD leadership is attained.

When asked to comment on assertions that he had resigned because of Mumba's uninspiring leadership, Mwale, the party's chairperson for mines, could neither deny nor confirm.

Mwale, who asked to be called later as he was driving, also asked if The Post had heard him issue any statement over the resignation.
But he disclosed recently that he was not going to re-contest the Malambo parliamentary seat as his family had advised him to stay away from politics for now.

He said he was available for public office but not political office.
And in an interview on Friday, MMD national chairperson Kabinga Pande said wrangling in MMD would not stop members from keeping the PF on its toes.

Pande, who is also Kasempa MMD member of parliament, said the party would continue to provide effective checks and balances to the government.

"We will deal with it in accordance with the established channels in the party if at all there are any wrangles. But as it is now, we haven't seen any wrangles about senior members in the party. Maybe perceived, they are not there. There are no wrangles in the party at the senior level," he said.

"We are providing checks and balances to the government. There are a number of issues that we are bringing to the attention of the government."

Pande said the fact that the party was contributing to motions in Parliament meant that MMD was still intact.

"Our members of parliament are always contributing to the motions; contributing to the questions and everything that is bringing the government on its toes," he said.

Asked on the summoning of party president Nevers Mumba to a meeting where four party senior members asked him to resign, Pande responded:
"It is a report which I saw in The Post, but I think The Post must have the source and that source should provide that information. As for now, I would say I have no comments on that. He Mumba was elected, wasn't he? It is not a question of being comfortable."

posted by MrK @ 4:31 PM