Fri, 23 Jun 2017 10:34:54 +0000
By AARON CHIYANZO
GEOFFREY Bwalya Mwamba is still an outcast in the opposition UPND as evidenced by the levels of indiscipline that have engulfed the party following the incarceration of Hakainde Hichilema, says former Livestock and Fisheries minister Greyford Monde.
Mr Monde noted that the UPND vice president for administration Mr Mwamba was still not respected in the opposition party as a leader who could take care of the party in the absence of Mr Hichilema.
He said in an interview with the Daily Nation that the levels of indiscipline in the opposi-tion party had accelerated after the incarceration of their leader.
Mr Monde claimed that the levels of indiscipline in the UPND had worsened because Mr Mwamba was still not recognized as one of their leaders.
He explained that the absence of Mr Hichilema was a chance for some of the members to execute hidden agendas that the leadership had been overlooking over the years.
Mr Monde, who is former UPND Itezhi Tezhi Member of Parliament, assured Mr Mwam-ba that ‘‘at no point would UPND members let him taste the helm of the party as he was an outsider’’.
“Let GBM ask Saki (Sakwiba Sikota) who was in the same position that GBM is holding now who thought he was going to take over after Anderson Mazoka,” he said.
Mr Monde said that Mr Mwamba was supposed to keep the party in check in the ab-sence of Mr Hichilema but that he was not going to be given that chance.
He pointed out that claims that UPND supporters recently denied Mr Mwamba a seat at the magistrates court was a sign that he was disregarded.
“How can cadres refuse to leave a seat for their leader in court? It’s a sign that you are not recognized. The levels of indiscipline in the UPND now is a sign that they do not respect GBM. It’s taking national chairperson Mutale Nalumango to look after the party,” he said.
Mr Monde charged that as far as he was concerned, ethnicity had ‘‘blindfolded’’ the op-position party.
He explained that it did not matter to the UPND whether Mr Mwamba had the political experience to run the party, and that he would be sidelined based on ethnicity.
Mr Monde pointed out that the UPND had failed to embrace the then vice president of the party Mr Sikota after the death of founding leader Anderson Mazoka based on ethnic-ity.
He reiterated that evidence of ethnicity in the UPND could clearly be seen from the suc-cession lineage that the party had undergone thus far.
