By Staff Reporter
There is nothing that has changed with the election of Hakainde Hichilema as Republican President, says Chishimba Kambwili.
And Kambwili said he will be going to Kaumbwe next week where a by-election will be held in October, in what his supporters may view as him being a de facto PF leader, but may be viewed as being overambitious by his opponents.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kambwili addressed the foreign service recalls currently taking place, some announced while others have silently followed through, saying President Hichilema vehemently opposed late president Michael Sata for doing the same when he came to power in 2011.
He said he was especially taken aback that such was happening despite the President saying he inherited empty coffers from PF.
“That’s what should give you ntwenu that there is absolutely nothing that has changed. We need a leader who is going to come and change this country so that what everybody has been condemning should stop. So the major fact that Hakainde Hichilema condemned Mr Sata for recalling people from the foreign service and he said it was very expensive for the country,” Kambwili said, “that time Zambia’s reserves and financial standing was very very good. But today our President is saying there is no money, we found an empty coffer, and he is doing the same recalls which are very expensive. To recall and replace people in the foreign service is extremely, extremely expensive.”
Kambwili said President Hichilema’s position over empty coffers, while going about to undertake costly ventures meant that “we are still in the same situation where people only want to talk about things when they suit them. And it’s unfair to the people of Zambia and also to the treasury of this country.”
He said given the situation, there was therefore urgent need to truly professionalise the foreign service to avoid the idea where whoever came in as president wanted to send in their own people and cadres in the diplomatic service.
He said the diplomatic school in Lusaka must be utilised to serve its proper function.
“But this idea of every government that comes, recalls, sends their own is counterproductive and is eating up into our meager resources,” Kambwili said.
But asked if he felt some diplomats called this on themselves because of their own clearly cadre and partisan behavior, including engaging actively in political campaigns, Kambwili said he would not discuss individuals but only stick to the fact that the country should have professional career diplomats.
Asked how the PF would handle the Kaumbwe by-election, the first since they were voted out from power, and who would lead them into the campaigns, Kambwili said the central committee had not sat to look into that
“They haven’t opened up to general members to ask who should go there and who should not,” Kambwili said, but added a sentence that may be interpreted otherwise by both his sympathisers and opponents alike. “But as an individual I am going there on Wednesday next week.”
Asked if he felt the party should hold their conference now or later as suggested by some of those opposed to him to allow the party to properly reorganise the lower structures and do a postmortem on their loss, Kambwili said that was up to the central committee to decide in consultation with the people.
“This party is for the members, and it’s the members to decide. No single individual or single grouping must impose anything whether that we should go to the convention today or tomorrow but the general membership must direct what should be done,” said Kambwili, who also responded sarcastically to immediate past PF Chifunabuli member of parliament Ponde Mecha’s statement that people must scrutinise the character of Kambwili, who claims to have founded PF and NDC. “Which Ponde Mecha?…I cant waste time to even respond to him. I will leave it to the PF members to answer him back. I cannot waste time to answer him back because first and foremost that one is not on my political level and he’s just too junior to describe me like that.”
