By Staff Reporter
PF presidential aspirant Chishimba Kambwili has described PF members who are calling for the postponement of the general conference as being unreasonable, and as people who don’t like the party and whose “aim is to destroy PF.”
And Kambwili says Chilubi member of parliament (PF) Mulenga Fube is being used, and that party chairperson Davies Chama is being sarcastic and disrespectful to those calling for the holding of the convention, saying it is the responsibility of the leadership to raise funds and not ordinary members.
Meanwhile, Kambwili suggested that inspector generals of police and those they serve in command with must be arrested on leaving office for their abuses while in office, saying Kakoma Kanganja is still a free man today despite his “abuses” and that Lemmy Kajoba has carried on with the same button.
Speaking with Daily Revelation on Chama’s statement that all the views, including those calling for postponing the convention would be entertained and that those who were being too vocal in wanting the convention must provide the resources rather than just talking, Kambwili said the PF needs a conference like yesterday.
“Let me tell him, those who are calling for the postponement of the convention are being unreasonable, they don’t like the party and their aim is to destroy PF. I have always refused to comment on this but I think we are losing it. We need the convention like yesterday,” Kambwili said, saying some people were using others to call for the postponement of the convention to create a basis to achieve their aspirations. “We know those are cheap politics. What my brother did, Fube ehe! We know politics, he was just being used…you ask someone to go and issue a statement and see the reaction. But I want to tell my brother Fube, that if you love PF, you should be calling for the conference to be held like yesterday.”
He said there was no way the party could run without a substantive president, eight months after losing power.
But Chama challenged party members who were showing too much emotion to provide the money rather than just talking, Kambwili in response said “tell Chama that you don’t operate like that.”
“There is no way you can say those who want the general conference should bring the money. That is not actually respecting other people or views of other people. And I am sorry to say that is sarcasm. Let’s respect one another. Whether they are junior members of the party, let us respect their views,” Kambwili said. “It is the responsibility of the leadership to raise money for the conference. It’s not the responsibility of a ward chairman or an ordinary. I respect Chama very much, he’s a good friend of mine but I think the way he has been answering people, particularly those who are calling for the conference is not right.”
Kambwili said PF lost the elections partly because of arrogance and that now was the time to change that attitude, saying the party must be pleading for members and not sending away people.
“Look how many people we have lost since we lost the elections. When people talk you tell them they are rebels, and that’s why I have refused to comment on this issue,” Kambwili said, adding that Chama was chairman of the party and if he had anything to tell the members about the conference, he should go to provinces than answering people of-the-cuff in the media.
Some PF members have in recent months defected to other parties, especially the Socialist Party (SP) of Dr Fred M’membe. Asked if he feared the same, Kambwili said it was unlikely for a party as new as SP to make major gains for the 2026 general elections.
He said the most the SP could get was around five members of parliament, and aspirations of taking over power might not be realised in the next 15 years.
On the K5 million earmarked for the convention, Kambwili said he felt the figure was way too much.
He said a general conference could be held for less that K2 million. However, he avoided calling the K5 million as an overestimation, saying he had not seen the budget, but insisted that a conference could be held for K2 million or less.
Kambwili said certain things could be cut off by only focusing on the necessary aspects, saying when the PF held their first conference under president Michael Sata, people did not even have where to sleep as they just went there because they loved the party.
“They slept in unfinished buildings. They slept in the arena where the conference was taking place. There were no mattresses,” he said.
Kambwili praised Miti for denouncing the practice where people are being arrested and being ferried to far flung areas for prosecution, saying he has always urged Zambians to just stop being praise singers just because they belonged to a certain organisation.
He said now that Miti has been appointed to serve at the Human Rights Commission, these are the things they should be confronting without looking at the political affiliation.
“This thing must come to and end, it’s not making sense and it’s only denting the image of the current government and the image of the sitting President,” Kambwili said, adding that whoever was planning such mischief must be ashamed of themselves. He said it cannot be a deliberate move where cadres just report someone for a crime in far flung area where those accused did not even reside.
He said tax payers money was being wasted in the process.
“But the only thing I can say myself is to ask the Inspector General of Police to resign on moral grounds. He should reign and apologise to the people of Zambia,” he said.
Kambwili suggested that the country must start prosecuting Inspector generals of police and those they serve in leadership with to end the abuse in the police service.
“The only way out is that every Inspector General of Police must be accountable. When they leave office they must be arrested and prosecuted for abuse of authority. That is when they are going to be scared. Look at what Kanganja was doing. He’s free. Look at what this lady in Ndola was doing, Charity Katanga. At one time I was arrested in Luanshya, they brought the mattress and blankets for me. She refused for the police to give me the mattress and the blankets,” said Kambwili. “She stayed at the police station until 01:00 hours just to make sure that I was not given a mattress and a blanket and today she is freely walking the streets…they should be punished to know that when we leave office or when government changes we will be arrested. Then they will stop this kind of unreasonableness and misuse of their position.”
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