Mumbi Phiri’s Fake Defections Have Flopped – MMD East

Claims by Patriotic Front (PF) Deputy General Secretary Mumbi Phiri that the PF received hundreds of UPND and MMD defectors in Eastern province are a total fabrication and typical of their lies. Ms Phiri and her team have been terribly embarrassed by the pre-emptive unearthing of her fake defection plans by the vigilant MMD mobilization team and our structures on the ground in Eastern Province.

We informed the nation recently that Ms Phiri was planning to use expelled MMD Sisinje Ward Councillor Samuel Lugomo to organize these fake defections. The PF is wasting millions of tax-payers’ money on these evil schemes which they are doing everywhere to buy poor people.

I was recently privileged to be on Party President Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba’s team in the Lubansenshi by-election and we were shocked to see PF no longer bothering to campaign but just dishing out money openly. A few days before the election date, the PF came with 6 brand new Nissan Navaras and in the evening lined up villagers and openly started dishing out money. This continued right up to Election Day.

What I witnessed in Lubansenshi is exactly the same thing we have seen here in Eastern Province when Ms Phiri came. She arrived in the province with huge amounts of money which her team was dishing out to compromise the suffering people. When it became clear to Lugomo that he could not lure genuine MMD members, he started to round up the innocent poverty-stricken villagers to come and pose as defectors after offering them money.

The so-called defectors included Chembe Daka, the disgraced former party official who who has been on indefinite suspension in MMD and who had urinated in the council chambers during counting of presidential election votes in January 2015.

The other is Susan Ngoma, Provincial Women’s Chairlady. Lugomo has been promised the position of PF Chipata District Chairman, by-passing the current Chairman who has been in that seat for only 3 months. If Lugomo had succeeded in bringing enough MMD members as defectors, he would have replaced the current Chairman.

This PF government has turned the people of Eastern province into beggars by destroying the only livelihood they had which is agriculture. Ms Phiri is capable of doing anything to win votes but we Easterners shall never be deceived again. She and her party PF must accept that their diabolical plans to destroy the MMD structures by using RB have backfired against them because the people of Eastern Province are not children to be cheated.

We, the wise men of the East send an alarm warning to the entire Zambia. Beware of PF. Don’t allow them to cheat us again.

Jacob Mwanza
MMD PROVINCIAL CHAIRMAN – EASTERN PROVINCE