Kambwili breathes fire

PATRIOTIC Front national youth chairman Chishimba Kambwili yesterday spoke against what he called “divisive elements” in the ruling party as he called on party secretary general Wynter Kabimba to apologise for alleging that tribalism and ethnicity existed in the party.
Mr Kambwili’s concerns came as Kasama Member of Parliament Geoffrey Mwamba said he enjoyed good support in the party.
During a press conference in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Kambwili expressed concern that the ruling party could suffer a proverbial death if divisions were allowed to continue even after President Sata called for a cease-fire.
He warned that the ruling party is “dead unless the secretariat works on respecting and building the grassroots (the lower ranks of the party)”.
Stating that he only fears God, the President (Sata) and his father, Mr Kambwili called for an end to bickering on non-issues such as who will be president after 2016, saying elections are three years away.
He restated that the PF would suffer irreversible damage, “unless the secretariat gets organised to go to the grassroots, respect the grassroots, be with the grassroots and start re-organising the party, then we have a problem.”
Mr Kambwili said the buck stops at the secretariat in bringing about unity and integrity.
Mr Kambwili said he suspects that the evidence of indiscipline recently seen in the party could be as a result of senior party officials using cadres to fight each other but he named no one.
He appealed to members to remain united and focus on how the nation can be developed instead of fighting each other.
“My appeal is in earnest. Some of us who started the party…we feel so bad that the party that we built, the party that we suffered for has become a battlefield where people can exchange bitter words. Let us be united as PF,” he said.
Mr Kambwili said it is important for members to guard against indiscipline and stop being arrogant and listen to what the people are saying.
He said it is unfortunate that the party’s chief executive officer (secretary general) Wynter Kabimba has labelled the party as the most undisciplined when he allowed the same cadres to demonstrate against Kabwata member of Parliament Given Lubinda.
Mr Kambwili said Mr Kabimba should have condemned such actions in the beginning and that this would not have happened to him.
“Remember they said they will demonstrate against Mr Lubinda and they demonstrated everywhere. We allowed the indiscipline from the beginning and now that they are on us, we want to say that there is tribalism,” Mr Kabimba said.
He said it is also not right for Mr Kabimba to state that there are tribal elements in the party because the party has embraced all tribes and is taking development to all parts of the country.
He said Mr Kabimba should apologise to the people and that he should work to instil discipline in the party, unity and tolerance.
“Let us be united and this idea of saying that there are tribal factions is a lot of nonsense and it should come to an end. I do not think PF has any tribal faction,” Mr Kambwili said.
Mr Kambwili said members should concentrate on developing the nation instead of who will be president because the time for that will come when the party goes to the convention.
And Mr Kambwili urged the party cadres to desist from further demonstrations because the party has heard their calls which would be addressed by the central committee.
“The central committee has heard your calls; the President has heard your calls. Let us stop this and stop the party from being described as the most undisciplined party,” he said.