Lubinda explains his letter to Hapunda
By Moses Kuwema
Mon 05 Aug. 2013, 14:01 CAT
GIVEN Lubinda says no one deserves to be thrown into the doldrums and that it is his prayer that Brian Hapunda will reflect upon what he did and become a better citizen of Zambia. Officiating at a wedding ceremony of Nathan and Maureen Nhlane at Government Complex on Saturday evening, Lubinda said the letter he wrote to Hapunda was not in any way meant to mock him.
"It is the duty of everybody to lift those who have fallen. For those of you who have any positive feelings for me, I want to assure you that I am not given to kicking people when they are down. It is not my nature to kick a person when they are sitting, when they are low. I am actually not given to kicking people at all. I try with the best of my ability to lift whoever I see has fallen," said Lubinda, who is PF Kabwata member of parliament.
Lubinda sincerely apologised to Hapunda if the letter he wrote to him sounded like mockery, saying that was not his intention at all.
He said he felt genuinely sad to hear that a young man who advised him on how to handle party money was himself caught up in a very difficult circumstance.
"I genuinely wrote to him to commiserate with him. I did not mean any malice in my letter to him at all and I would like to say publicly that I feel sad for young Brian Hapunda because he is a son to a friend of mine Fredrick Hapunda. I take him as a nephew. I supposed people might have taken that I mocked him because they remembered what Hapunda said about me when people had made it fashionable to pour scorn on me. When it became fashionable for anyone to insult, Hapunda also joined the queue in insulting me," he said.
Lubinda urged the newlyweds to count on him when they fall, saying he would not kick but help them up.
In his letter to Hapunda, Lubinda asked Hapunda to praise God that President Michael Sata had only dismissed him and not handed him over to the police for obtaining money by false pretences.
In December last year, Hapunda had also asked Lubinda to go back to UPND if he could not remain fully loyal to the PF.
This was at a time Lubinda was being accused of leaking information to opposition members of parliament.
Lubinda stated that he was confident that Hapunda's experience would be an opportunity for introspection.
On July 29, President Sata fired Hapunda as PF provincial political secretary for Southern Province for collecting monies from companies and business houses in his name and that of PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba.
Labels: BRIAN HAPUNDA, GIVEN LUBINDA
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Sata fires Hapunda
By Roy Habaalu
Thu 01 Aug. 2013, 14:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has with immediate effect revoked the appointment of Brian Hapunda as Southern Province PF political secretary.
According to a letter dated July 29, 2013, copied to PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba and Southern Province chairman, President Sata said Hapunda had been going round collecting monies from companies and business houses in his name and that of Kabimba.
"In justifying your collections, you have at times written letters of acknowledgement to donors and purported to copy the same to the secretary general. You also wrote to the management of Southern Water and Sewerage Company requesting them to settle your house rentals when you know very well that this was against the policy of the party," read the letter in part.
"Your activities constitute gross misconduct under the party disciplinary regulations as they bring the name of His Excellency the President, the secretary general and the party into disrepute and reproach. In view of the above, I have revoked your appointment as Provincial Political Secretary for Southern Province with immediate effect," President Sata said.
Hapunda was UPND Lusaka Province youth coordinator before joining PF.
Recently, Kabimba warned party members against engaging in corrupt activities and that those found wanting would be dealt with.
Kabimba said there were people going round asking for donations from companies in the name of the party.
Hapunda was later quoted on ZNBC saying it was people from outside Livingstone that were collecting money from companies.
Labels: BRIAN HAPUNDA, CORRUPTION, MICHAEL SATA, PF, UPND
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Quit, Hapunda tells Lubinda
By Kombe Chimpinde
Fri 14 Dec. 2012, 14:00 CAT
SOUTHERN Province PF secretary Brian Hapunda has asked Given Lubinda to go back to UPND if he cannot remain fully loyal to PF.
And Lubinda, who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Kabwata PF member of parliament, says it is not the first time allegations of treachery against the party concerning him have been raised.
Hapunda said members with divided loyalty must not be tolerated in the party.
"We challenge him to denounce his loyalty to the party where he served previously. If he is failing to do that, then let them get back," Hapunda said.
"It's also a warning to the party to be careful with those who are joining from other political parties.
We must scrutinise all the people joining us so that we do not have double loyalty. For example, some have still maintained loyalty to their former party and are not fit to be called PF," he said.
Hapunda said the onus was on Lubinda to show cause why he should not be expelled from the party.
"The first step has been taken. That is from the office of the secretary general and the onus is on the accused to show cause why action must not be taken against him and this is a lesson to others that there is no sacrificial lamb and sacred cow in the PF," he said.
Hapunda said that members must always be reminded that the rules and procedures of the party just like those of any club or organisation, must be adhered to.
"Members must show loyalty to the party and must not be seen to be exhibiting double loyalty. This will also be a warning to other members who have become informers of the opposition UPND, MMD and other journalists who are fighting against our cause," he said.
Hapunda further recommended that all those suspected of being moles in the party also be allowed to exculpate themselves by issuing them with disciplinary letters.
And in an interview yesterday from Equatorial Guinea, Lubinda, who said was representing President Michael Sata at the ACP (African Caribbean Pacific countries) summit for heads of state, said people were free to say what they wanted over him.
The PF has accused Lubinda of working with UPND and MMD against the government.
He has been given a seven-day ultimatum to explain his alleged disloyalty to the PF.
Asked to comment on the contents of the letter which had clearly outlined the allegations levelled against him by some members of the party through the secretary general, Wynter Kabimba, Lubinda said he was going to treat all media reports concerning the matter as hearsay.
"I am not in a hurry. People can say what they want for as long as they don't associate with me. Zambians appreciate that I have been through this gossip and hearsay about me before," Lubinda said.
"Even when I saw the letter, my first reaction was let me see the letter because even if I asked someone to read the letter to me, I am sure they will try to emphasise certain points or distort its contents."
Lubinda said that the issues raised in the letter were between him and Kabimba and that he would not abuse anyone by making them the conveyor of his response.
"I don't want to react to the press because I don't know if what has been carried is accurate…but to the author of the message. I will respond to the author of the letter and the people that he copied the letter to. The secretary general was writing to me. I don't believe he was writing to Zambia. The matter is between me and him," Lubinda said.
"As you know, this man is very methodical. I like to follow procedure. It is my letter and I will treat it as such."
Labels: BRIAN HAPUNDA, GIVEN LUBINDA, SOUTHERN PROVINCE
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