“Go To Hell!” – MMD North Tells Mutati

The Northern Province Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Executive Committee has told outgoing  Lunte Member of Parliament Felix Mutati to “go to hell” as the province no longer considers him an MMD Member of Parliament because of his blatant betrayal of the party.

Provincial Chairman Noah Mulenga said Mr Mutati betrayed the MMD during the January 2015 Presidential by-election when he openly campaigned for the United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate Mr Hakainde Hichilema and also in the 2011 General Election when he decampaigned President Rupiah Banda in Lunte constituency. Mr Mulenga said that although Mr Mutati won Lunte, Mr Banda however lost to Mr Michael Sata in the same constituency. Mr Mulenga said that Mr Mutati clearly contributed to the devastating loss of Mr Banda in the presidential vote in that constituency.

“Mr. Mutati should understand that unlike the one-man dictatorial culture of the party where he has gone to [UPND], the MMD is governed by strong grassroots democratic practices strictly guided by the party Constitution not by power-hungry Members of Parliament. He said that in the MMD, aspiring candidates for parliamentary and local government seats are selected and recommended by the grassroots matched by their good standing in the party. So an MP is accountable to the structures and we are waiting for him if he has courage,”  said Mr Mulenga.

Mr. Mulenga says the party in the province will not miss Mr. Mutati because he is a coward, double-tongued and a dangerous opportunist who will say one thing in daylight, but will be slippery and deceptive like a snake at night.

“We are very relieved that people are now seeing Mr. Mutati for who he really is. We have been telling the leadership of the party to be careful with  Mr. Mutati but they wanted to be fair to him and said they were giving him the benefit of doubt. Mr Mutati was the shadow behind all the calls for a convention for a very long time. That convention has had only one agenda item which was to remove Nevers Mumba as President of MMD.”

“What we know is that Mr. Mutati, including his group who stood against Nevers Mumba, never recovered from the devastating loss they suffered at the hands of Nevers Mumba during the 2012 Convention when he won a landslide victory. From that time, Mutati and his group have harboured jealousy and hatred against an innocent man who happens to be one of the greatest leaders of our time and the best politician this country has ever had.

“Since that defeat, Mr. Mutati has been underground plotting how to get rid of Dr. Mumba. We can confirm that  Mr. Mutati has made countless trips to Northern Province  for a long time to try to mobilize and corrupt our party structures to agitate for the removal of Dr. Mumba as MMD president, but we have solidly stood behind our president. After corrupting so many people and his plan failing, Mr Mutati has been forced to overcome his cowardice and come out in the open instead of hiding behind the likes of Professor Lungwangwa and Bradford Machila.

“We know he is now frustrated and has lost a lot of money and is running out of time to deliver the MMD to UPND for an alliance as he promised them. He is hell-bent to ensure that the MMD is completely neutralized and its value destroyed to ensure that it is not a viable option as an alliance partner with any party. We in Bemba say, ‘twalafilila munsenga’.  In other words, ‘If I can’t  have the MMD, then no one will,’” said Mr. Mulenga.

“As Northern Province Chairman and a member of the MMD NEC, I was at the January 30th 2016 meeting and there was an overwhelming vote against holding a convention this year. Mr. Mutati had wanted to sneak in Professor Lungwangwa who is not a NEC member to try and present a petition for holding a convention but he was not even allowed in because he did not qualify to attend. When it is clear that everything has now failed, their only option is a futile court injunction,” said Mr. Mulenga.

The MMD Provincial Leadership has further warned anyone thinking of allowing Mr. Mutati in their ranks to constantly be on alert  and to be very careful of Mr. Mutati as he is an unprincipled, power-hungry and over-ambitious politician.