PF won January polls through borrowed MMD votes – Mumba

MMD president Nevers Mumba says the PF won January’s presidential election because MMD loaned them votes.

Speaking to party members in Sinda on Tuesday, Mumba said the party will get back all the votes it loaned to the PF and UPND in the last presidential election.

“All the votes from MMD which where given to PF and UPND are needed in next year’s elections. We were divided and that gave PF chance to form government, but I want to assure you that all the wrangles, all confusion which was in MMD is no longer there. We are now united. As it states, ‘United we stand, divided we fall’. That is enough for us to get back all our votes we loaned ba PF and the few we gave ba UPND. Those are our votes. PF wouldn’t have formed government if it wasn’t for MMD, so let’s unite ourselves and get our votes back,” Mumba told the cheering members.

And Mumba wondered why government agents kept following him if he was not a factor in politics.

“If Nevers is not a good leader, why do they follow me? Why can’t they give me space to meet my people? My friends met their people but whenever I want to, it’s an issue. Why?” he asked after Sinda police attempted to stop his meeting with the party members in the district.

“What is happening now used to happen before independence when [Dr Kenneth] Kaunda, [Simon Mwansa] Kapwepwe and others could meet under the tree, running away from the white police. Today I am running away from black policemen, manje nithamangisiwa na Phiri, Sakala na Tembo who are my fellow Zambians. But I shall never give them an inch to disturb my freedom and peace as a Zambian citizen, neither should you be intimidated by them.”

Mumba also castigated MMD councillors who support other political parties, and asked them to resign or risk being expelled.

“You were all voted on the MMD ticket because the members trusted you and gave you the votes. PF didn’t make you councillor; UPND didn’t made you councillor, the voice you have is because of MMD. I hear some of you support UPND, but I shall not work with double tobelas, uku batobela uku batobela. Be a man, be in MMD or if you think MMD is dead, then go to the party you think is alive,” he warned the five councillors who attended the meeting.

And provincial chairperson Jacob Mwanza said despite speculation that the MMD has been ‘swallowed’ by PF, the party will never lack members or manpower.

“MMD will never be short of members or manpower; they can get as many as possible and many will still come. They know – ba PF – that they don’t have the manpower they need, they don’t have the inteligent people they need and they don’t have hard workers. All these are found in MMD, but poaching of some members isn’t an issue to us because we have a lot and we are proud of the members we have,” claimed Mwanza.

And during a media briefing at Chimwemwe Lodge in Petauke the same day, Mumba said the police were notified about his party mobilisation tour of the province almost two weeks ago but wondered why his meetings in Petauke and Nyimba were disrupted without proper reasons.

“The police in this province have decided to stop all our meetings in all the districts of Eastern Province and I think that it’s totally immoral, unacceptable and it’s unnecessary because all that it’s going to create is unnecessary violence because our people will not continue to bow at the foot of the policeman who wants to behave like he cannot read. We came to Petauke, they disrupted our meetings and came and scattered our people. We were in Nyimba, the police went there and dispersed our people,” he complained.

But Mumba assured party members in the province that his meetings would go ahead as scheduled.

“We are on the road, we are on the move and nobody should stop us. So I want to assure all our members across Eastern Province that all the meetings will continue as scheduled. There will be no deviation from our programme and we will do what we did when Mr Sata was alive. He tried this to stop me everywhere, but we still fought a good fight of faith and we have enough energy left in us to continue to fight for the freedoms that are given to us by God and not just by the Constitution or by a president,” he said.

And Mumba also said the 50 per cent plus one vote threshold passed in Parliament last Friday was good and that the MMD was instrumental in coming up with the clause.

“The 50 plus one, we pushed (for it) because we think and still believe that it is very good for the Zambian people and it is good for democracy,” said Mumba.

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