Nevers, Kaingu's politics is barbaric - Chanda
By Moses Kuwema in Lusaka and Christopher Miti in Chipata
Tue 11 Dec. 2012, 12:00 CAT
LUAPULA Province MMD vice-chairman David Chanda says the party is at the crossroads because of the arrogance being exhibited by Nevers Mumba and Michael Kaingu.
And Angela Cifire says the MMD's squabbles may lead to the downfall of the former ruling party if not checked.
In an interview, Chanda said many MMD members were confused as they did not know which direction to take.
"We expect the leaders to come out and extend an olive branch to those members who feel they are not happy with the expulsion of Maj Richard Kachingwe instead of labeling them to be disgruntled. Just because people don't agree with you, it does not mean that they are disgruntled. They should realise that arrogance will not help them but the principles enshrined in the constitution are what will help their leadership," Chanda said.
He observed that Mumba and Kaingu were being tortured mentally because of the wrong-doings that they had committed.
Chanda accused Mumba and Kaingu of disrespecting the constitution and urged them to respect divergent views.
"The level of politics being practiced by the two leaders is barbaric. The MMD has a constitution that is supposed to be talking and not the leaders talking. When you have the individuals in an organisation talking and not the document talking then you will have confusion. That's why we have this confusion," he said.
Asked about his views on the appointment of Simbao as national secretary, Chanda said it was wrong.
"First of all morally, Simbao should have realised that there is total division and he should have said no because even a quorum was not formed when he was appointed. I have no respect for people who don't respect the constitution. The arrogance of Mumba and Kaingu won't take them anywhere, their days are numbered and they will regret at one point," said Chanda.
And commenting on the infighting that has characterised the MMD, Cifire, the former MMD Luangeni member of parliament and former information deputy minister, said the current situation was as a result of egoism.
She said the infighting in MMD came about because certain members felt they were "more equal than others".
"These people who feel they are more equal than others, they want themselves and the leadership to be the only people that have a say in MMD…At some stage, leadership is about being able to show vision to the people that are being led and also the people to be able to appreciate that. Now if you get to the point where you think that everything is about you and not the bigger picture of what the party is, then you get to these situations," Cifire said.
She said the current happenings in MMD were a split over certain people whose egos had become bloated.
Over a week ago, MMD national secretary Major Richard Kachingwe expelled party president Mumba, saying he did not qualify to hold the position because he was still leader of the Reform Party.
The same day, Mumba expelled Maj Kachingwe from the party and later appointed Kapembwa Simbao to act in his position, accusing Kachingwe of working with the ruling party to destabilise the MMD.
"As the egos grow larger, each one of them still wants to be bigger than the other person and hence the split that is being seen now. At a time when they should have gone back to the drawing board to say 'let's examine our souls and correct these situations', what is happening is just continuing with these situations. What is happening now is just about me, me and they will not be able to correct the situation until they go down and that will mean the end of MMD," warned Cifire.
Labels: ANGELA CIFIRE, DAVID CHANDA, MICHAEL KAINGU, MMD, NEVERS MUMBA, POLITICAL VIOLENCE
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Nevers wants to get rid of Kachingwe - Chanda
By Tilyenji Mwanza and Ernest Chanda
Tue 27 Nov. 2012, 08:00 CAT
LUAPULA Province MMD vice-chairman David Chanda says party president, Nevers Mumba, wants to get rid of Major Richard Kachingwe and is using the MMD die-hard youths to champion his agenda.
Chanda said Mumba was destabilising the party and should be warned that he was replaceable.
"Mumba should know that he is easily replaceable and should not use unrecognisable youths in the party to rid of people who we duly elected. If he's not careful, we will get rid of him," he said.
Chanda said he was shocked that such an unrecognised 'die-hard youth' organisation in the party was causing so much anarchy.
"To us in Luapula, that is the highest level of indiscipline. We don't expect the die-hard who are not even part of the national structure to be causing such anarchy. Die-hard are just a nuisance to the party and this has to be addressed. If Mumba is not comfortable with the national secretary, he should just leave the party because he is destroying it," he said.
Chanda also advised Mumba to stop politicking and endeavour to deliver his election promises. He said it was time to work with the government and ensure that development was brought to the nation.
Chanda advised members of parliament not to object to the construction of a retirement house for President Michael Sata because it was a positive move. He expressed displeasure at Mumba saying his agenda was of merely opposing than that of working towards building the nation.
"Let us not just oppose, oppose! Let's give them time to work and even advise and if they fail, come 2016 we will point out that, 'you failed here and you failed there'," said Chanda.
Mumba has refused to comment on the MMD's internal woes.
And Solwezi Central member of parliament Lucky Mulusa warned that the method being used to hound Maj Kachingwe out of the party could be dangerous.
Mulusa said he had enough courage to speak publicly on party matters instead of using other people.
He said the party leadership should engage in dialogue before hounding out anyone.
"It's not true that I'm part of that group because I've been out of the country until last week. We have not been talking to each other and we've been talking more against each other outside the party structures. So we have not exhausted internal procedures of resolving issues. So unless we exhaust those and come to a conclusion that we don't have a linking of minds then we can really be resorting to the harsh measures," he said in an interview yesterday.
"Maj Kachingwe is like a lion in a chinaware shop. You've got breakables in a chinaware shop, so the question is 'how do you get the lion out of the chinaware shop'?
Do you get it out by stoning it or you get it out by making it run? You want to retain your chinaware it's your stock, so how do you get the lion out of the chinaware shop? That is the wisdom we need to draw on at the moment. The question is 'what would be the perfect way to exit the person if you don't want him'? And I'm saying this particular method might be dangerous. And that's why I'm talking about talking more to each other than against each other."
He said Maj Kachingwe had defended the party effectively in various court cases.
"Maj Kachingwe is the national secretary of MMD. He knows all our structures, he knows all our strength; he knows how he has defended the party. We've had court cases Maj Kachingwe has been in the forefront defending the party. That's why I'm saying that we need to apply more wisdom than we have done so far," Mulusa said.
And Mulusa said MMD members should question how the party suddenly became broke after losing power. He said a lot of questions remained unanswered in the way party affairs were being handled.
"The handover of the MMD from the Banda regime to the interim leadership that we had was almost non-existent. There're a lot of questions that are still remaining unanswered from the general membership. Like why should the party be so broke when we were rich only a short while before the elections; a day before elections we were so rich and a day after elections we became so poor!" said Mulusa. "The only people who can answer such questions are people like Maj Kachingwe, so you don't kick them out.
That's why I'm saying we need to engage people like Maj Kachingwe more than we are doing now. For example, who controls the party accounts, where is the wealth of the party? So there are a lot of issues we need to settle before we start saying this one moves to this position, this one goes to that particular position."
And well-placed party sources have revealed that Mumba wants members that can 'insult' President Sata.
The sources told The Post that Mumba was uncomfortable with Maj Kachingwe and his deputy, Chembe Nyangu, because the duo was not criticising the government strongly as he would wish.
"He is uncomfortable with certain senior leaders in the party, including the national secretary Maj Kachingwe and his deputy Mr. Nyangu. He feels that these people have not been criticising the PF administration; they have not been 'insulting' the President," the sources said.
The sources accused Dora Siliya of being behind the group that was against Maj Kachingwe and Nyangu.
Some youths have been calling for the removal of Maj Kachingwe and Nyangu for allegedly working with PF.
They have both denied the allegations.
Labels: CADRES, DAVID CHANDA, MMD, NEVERS MUMBA, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, RICHARD KACHINGWE
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MMD in Luapula will not accept imposition of PF ‘rebels’ - Chanda
By Patson Chilemba
Sat 22 May 2010, 04:00 CAT
MMD members in Luapula will not accept the imposition of PF ‘rebel’ parliamentarians to be adopted on the MMD ticket, party provincial youth chairperson David Chanda said yesterday.
Commenting on the recent reports that chiefs in Luapula Province had endorsed the re-election of PF rebel members of parliament, Chanda said ‘rebel’ parliamentarians were not guaranteed automatic adoption on the MMD ticket.
“You know the former head of state is an experienced man, and he knows the danger of that imposing rebel PF parliamentarians on the MMD. When you are measuring an irregular object, the volume of water which is displaced is equal to the volume of that irregular object,” Chanda said. “Meaning if we can impose on the party, the other colleagues may be frustrated and leave the party, and it will not solve any problem…therefore, imposition will not be accepted.”
Chanda said the rebel PF parliamentarians should submit themselves to the norms and rules of MMD.
“The concerns are that as I take it and the other party leadership in Luapula, there can’t be an imposition on the party. They rebel parliamentarians are very much alive that where they are returning to, they will find people in that house,” said Chanda.
“They have to submit themselves to the norms and rules of the party. And anyone who is talking about parallel structures, if anyone is creating parallel structures that is a danger to the party because parallel lines can never meet.”
Recently, there were assertions that chiefs in Luapula Province, except Mwata Kazembe of the Lunda people had endorsed the re-election of PF rebel members of parliament.
And MMD sources in Luapula Province revealed that Chiluba’s ploy to force PF parliamentarians on President Rupiah Banda to adopt them as parliamentary candidates in next year’s election would lead to fallouts among party stalwarts.
The insiders said parliamentarians want Chiluba to secure them adoptions in the MMD hence their recent alignment with him, the ruling party and president Banda.
The insiders said Chiluba was trying to form parallel structures within MMD to regain his political clout in the province.
Labels: CADRES, DAVID CHANDA, LUAPULA PROVINCE, MMD
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