Maravi

Evil won't defeat me, says kabimba
By Allan Mulenga and Salim Dawood
Sat 28 Sep. 2013, 14:01 CAT

PF secretary general and justice minister Wynter Kabimba yesterday said he would not be defeated by evil. And Kabimba says corrupt elements wanted to take advantage of the absence of President Michael Sata to hound him out of the party.

"The President issued a circular directing all ministers when they go to districts or provinces to find time to meet our party cadres. Many of my colleagues avoid to meet our party cadres, and that includes some of the people that today are blaming me as running this party in an elitist manner.

I can claim the credit of connectivity with our party leadership and our party members more than anybody else in this party, from the time when we won the election," he said.
"Most of my colleagues are busy flying out of the country almost every other week. They are busy doing business in their government offices. They are busy acquiring tenders to prop up their businesses which were failing when they were in the opposition. I don't do any of those things; my concentration has been on holding this party together," he said.
Kabimba accused his enemies in the party of playing the game of appeasement.
"The genesis of what you see in Lusaka is about the policy that we put in as a party to kill the culture of MMD of party members extorting money from business operators; of party members collecting illegal levies in markets; of party members engaging themselves in envasion of private people's property, for example, land," he said. "Those that have grouped themselves in the party against me have seized on these measures. And are saying to our general party membership, 'you would have been okay; you would have been selling land today in Lusaka; you would have been extorting money or levies from business operators; you would have been levying marketeers had it not been the fact that we have the secretary general like Wynter Kabimba, who is against these measures."
Kabimba said he was not the one against MMD habits, but that it was the party's policy.
"The measures to stop these habits are to protect our citizens that are running business services; are to protect the marketeers that make very little from their daily business; they are to protect the citizens and residents of this country from illegal land invaders. That is anarchy. We cannot sacrifice the interest of the majority of our citizens in order to protect the interest of a small group of people clad in Patriotic Front regalia, most of whom are not even identified to be PF members," he said. "My enemies in the party are playing the game of the appeasement, so that they can shore their political fortunes. They think that is what it means to be good politicians. I do not think so myself. To be a good leader means to govern a country in the interest of everybody."
Kabimba wondered why his tribe had become significant after the PF assumed power.
"Why is it that now that people are in government and enjoying the benefits of this government then the issue of my tribe become significant. That is not being done in good faith, I want to say. No human being has ever chosen the tribe they should belong to. And no human being is good or bad on account of their tribe. The people that think that they can use the tribe as a mark of identity and relating with other human beings in life are bad leaders," he said. "They are men and women of weak conscience. They are men and women that lack confidence in themselves. You can't accuse me of being arrogant; I am not an arrogant person. It is like accusing me about my height, that Wynter Kabimba is short. They are picking on issues that only God can answer why I come from the so-called small tribe; only God can answer for me why I am not 6 feet tall; only God can answer for me what they refer to as arrogant. I am not God."
Kabimba said he was surprised that no one had come up with any tangible information or accusation against him.
"If they had done so they would have taken me before the disciplinary committee of the party to go and answer those charges. The reason why they are going round sponsoring demonstrations and party cadres in districts now it is because they do not have anything tangible against me. I am a clean man in this party. I am committed to the service for my country more than most of my accusers," he said. "My contribution to the party and the values which I stand for are non-negotiable, because I believe in these values."
Kabimba said the truth would come to the fore, no matter how much money his enemies spend sponsoring anarchy in the party.

"It doesn't matter how much money they spend in sponsoring these demonstrations; the truth will one day come to the fore. And the people of Zambia will come to know the truth. Because evil has never defeated good in the history of mankind. That is what the Bible teaches us. That is what the stories of Shakespeare teach us. That is what history teaches us," he said.

"At no time has evil defeated good whether from a religious dimension or from a secular dimension. I am very comfortable that I cannot be defeated by evil."

Kabimba said demonstrations were not coming from recognised party members.

"They demonstrations are coming from people that are being rented; that are from outside the structures of the party. You can't even refer to them as demonstrations by party cadres. They are demonstrations by rented youths. And anybody paid under these circumstances to do anything will do it," he said.

Kabimba said he was a common person whom cadres know by name and face.

"Nobody can convince me or convince anybody in the actual structures of the party that I am running this party by sitting on the computer here in Lusaka, nobody. They know me by name and by face in the length and breadth of this country since 2009," he said.

"This position has taken me to places where I had never imagined that I will ever be. And I enjoy my job. And I am proud of being the secretary general of this great organisation."

Kabimba said sponsored demands for his resignation were a waste of time.

"They tried to put me under pressure this week because they thought that the President was out of the country. They thought it was an opportunity for them to hound me out of the party so that the corrupt elements can remain behind. They failed. So, if they failed here in Lusaka, I don't see how they can succeed by renting people in Kasama or in Ndola or in Choma," said Kabimba.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, PF, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 10:50 AM