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By David Kapoma
For some time now I have been observing the confusion and in-fighting within the MMD. Sometimes it gets confusing and looks like one is watching a thriller or suspense movie. You can’t predict who next is going to do what within the MMD. Just recently, the National Secretary of the party who has been close enough to party president Dr. Nevers Mumba pulled some quick ones on the party’s National Executive Committee and surprisingly expressed ignorance about the court case in which he has been sued by Mutati and two others that were suspended by the party, a resolution that came from a NEC meeting.
The MMD NEC sat a few weeks ago and resolved to suspend some members that include Lunte Member of Parliament Felix Mutati. And by the way, Mutati is the one that has been doing rounds making headlines in the media regarding the MMD convention. Just thought of making sure we know who we are talking about here.
Just a reminder, Mr. Mbulakulima, the MMD National Secretary is a secretary to the committee that suspended its MP’s and he was in that meeting when the decision was reached. He is also Chief Executive Officer of the party that suspended its members. But like I have already said, in the MMD at the moment it’s like you are watching a thriller or a suspense movie for that matter. The E.C.O of the party has denied having a meeting with the party lawyers. In short what the National Secretary is saying is that he does not agree with the lawyers who are representing him in court.
Mr. Mbulakulima has disowned lawyers representing the party saying they were putting words in his mouth. He said he never saw the affidavit which was submitted to the courts and that the arguments pushed forward were too weak to have come from him. He went even further and challenged the lawyers representing the MMD to tell him and the public at large were they met and what they discussed as he was sure that such a meeting never took place for them to be using his name in vain. Surely this does not sound like it came from a senior member of the MMD who is also E.C.O of the party for that matter.
The statement from the MMD national secretary raises serious questions. Is he really biting his ‘boss’ on the back? Why did he take such issues to the public through the media? Does it mean he never saw the need to talk to the lawyers before going to the media? Did he express the same concerns to the party president? What really is the honourable National Secretary of the once mighty MMD trying to achieve in all this? could this be another case of betrayal? Are we yet to see more action in this episode or maybe it was just a statement?
One can indeed have a lot of questions about the happenings in the MMD. Where did all this start from and why has it continued? Few years ago in 2012 to be precise, we witnessed a few kicks and slaps on the then National Secretary Mj. Richard Kachingwe who was thrown out of office brusquely by my good friend Bowman and his friends. That was not the end though. Just last year I remember a picture on the front page of the post newspaper when the former National Secretary of the MMD Muhabi Lungu was hanging in the air at the high court grounds in the hands of huge Bowman. Muhabi was later suspended and he decided to leave politics altogether after the humiliating exist. And of late we have seen Mutati making headlines fighting his own party. I can go on and on citing more examples.
One would think that the bad eggs are no longer in the MMD. Kachingwe, Muhabi, Bowman and yes the man William Banda are no longer in the MMD. The party has however continued experiencing the same problems only that different people are the ones involved now. We have now seen the National Secretary starting a new episode not very long after the suspension of party spokesperson Raphael Nakachinda.
Will the fights in the MMD come to an end? Strange enough Dr. Mumba has been a leader of Victory Bible Church for so many years, the church he started when his life was still in the morning and managed to make it an international ‘brand’. I have so much respect for Dr. Mumba and as much as I know him the man has great leadership qualities, a gentleman who is also very wise. But why is it that almost every decision Dr. Mumba makes in the MMD seems to haunt him? For such a good man I think he deserves better than the deals he keeps getting from the MMD.
The fights almost came to an end until the republican president expressed interest in working with the MMD in an alliance. Since then we have seen everyone including those who never thought had the strength to fight wanting to fight Dr. Mumba. Others want to help in uniting the party, something they have no done since.
The MMD suspends or expels those who go against the ethics of the party. But won’t we see everyone kicked out of the party at the end. Am sure Mbulakulima could be knocking on the exit doors going by his latest statement.
After observing for some time I think that the rout the party is taking may not be the best. The party president must use his leadership skills and deal with those opposed to his decisions and that of th party administratively and serenely. Who knows maybe the concerns of those members are genuine. Or maybe someone could be paying those members to cause confusion in the party. Whichever the case Dr. Mumba can only know the truth if he listens to what they have to tell him. He has to get himself closer to the very people who seem to be fighting him. “Keep your enemies closer than your friends”
In the interest of democracy I think that the leaders within the MMD should look beyond their personal gains and put their differences aside and resolve whatever could be the problem the party is facing. Its difficult to stand when you are divided and at the moment the MMD is a divided party. Bitter truth indeed, but to correct the mistakes we have to first accept that things are not right. But we have to realise also that the MMD is facing these issues because the party is still big and the senior members of the party know this fact.
But what is Dr. Mumba fighting for in all this? This question we shall leave for the suspense.
Bye for now and God bless Zambia.
