By Patson Chilemba
Southern Province minister Cornelius Mweetwa says he is not aware of any alliance meeting of presidents from which a statement has been issued condemning him.
But UPND alliance spokesperson Daniel Mvula Shimunza said that was the same arrogance he was talking about saying Mweetwa could not have known about the meeting because he is not in the group of alliance presidents.
Mweetwa sarcastically started his response to Shimunza by saying that “I can’t respond to him, he has said I am not at his level. So I can’t respond to someone who I am not at his level. He’s too higher up. He’s a president of a political party. Me I am just a spokesperson of the UPND and so I can’t begin to exchange personal discussions as such.”
“The only thing I would advise him is to listen through my entire conversation I had, there is nowhere were I demeaned any political party. And people should desist from reacting to hearsay. People should react to what they have heard with primary evidence,” he argued.
Mweetwa argued that there was nowhere where he demeaned anyone and that was not even part of his initial submission as it only came up when someone asked a question on the same that one of the alliance presidents Nason Msoni had suggested that all the presidents should have been in cabinet.
“And I said it will be asking too much to expect that a cabinet of about 20something people then you have 12 alliance presidents. I think that would be demanding too much,” he said.
Mweetwa also said he made mention that there was no written agreement that every alliance president would have a ministerial appointment.
“From what I know there was no such written agreements because the alliance chairperson Charles Milupi indicated that those who were joining the alliance are joining unconditionally,” Mweetwa said to Daily Revelation Media, adding that from that statement a conclusion could be made that there was no written agreement that every political leader should have a position.
He said he made clear that the UPND respected all the alliance partners as having made a contribution, “except we must be clear here that whereas we ran an alliance, the biggest alliance was with the people of Zambia using us as a vehicle to bring about change in this country.”
He said it was shocking that Shimunza could expend all such valuable time coming up with such a long statement reacting to something he said he did not say.
Mweetwa said he was not aware of any meeting the alliance presidents had from which Shimunza issued that statement.
“Because I am a party spokesperson of the UPND and when there are meetings, even if I don’t attend we get to know, and also get to know discussions because it is us with the responsibility of answering questions on these public issues. So I am not aware,” Mweetwa said. “But whether anybody, or any group of people met to come up with such a statement they were reacting to nothing because I didn’t say those things that are being said. And let’s be clear I do not even think that that statement was written by Mr Shimunza. I don’t think so. And we must all be careful because we could be answering from fiction. Because when I read that statement I felt that it was more a PF generated statement to do propaganda than an authentic statement because there is a lot of demeaning language describing me in that statement. And no one can afford to do that. No genuine member of the alliance can take liberty to begin to characterise me in a manner as depicted in that letter, even to begin to attack me to say I am making comments on government policy. I am a minister of government.”
Mweetwa said all the ministers of government were government spokespersons, falling under the chief government spokesperson.
“So statements of government ministers are not statements from ministers. They are a collective agreed positions of cabinet. They are not statements that an individual comes about from. So a genuine alliance member cannot begin to attack me when I make statements about government. I am a minister of government and therefore entitled to make comments about policies of this government because I sit where those policies are debated and agreed upon and I hear and know beforehand what policies of government are being promulgated,” Mweetwa said.
He said at the provincial level, he supervises all the government ministries in the province to do with the application of various policy measures of government, saying he was a general player.
Shimunza issued the following statement:
MWEETWA’S STATEMENTS IMMATURE AND NAIVE – UPND ALLIANCE PRESIDENTS
The UPND-ALLIANCE COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS, has no time to indulge ourselves in petty issues, with those not at our level. Ours is seeking being relevant, and a commitment to assist His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, to deliver the change and Prosperity, to the People of Zambia, as we promised during the 12th August , 2021 General Elections. As an Alliance, we joined forces with our colleagues, to foster both the change, and afterwards serve in government together, what we promised to:
1. Restore the rule of law.
2. Re- construct the broken economy.
3. Re- Unite the country.
4. Restore the broken down social order.
The UPND-ALLIANCE COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS, is greatly dismayed, alarmed, and shocked by the; unsolicited, unmeasured, unfortunate, irresponsible, overzealous, false, naive, insensitive, and immature statements, attributed to one Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa, against the Alliance Partners, on Friday, 24th June , 2022, at the UPND secretariat in a Press Briefing.
It is such irresponsible and immature statements, which made some of our Alliance Partners ,to be apprehensive, because of the inadvertently insidious; deception, propaganda, and betrayal of the sacred trust, reposed in this Alliance.
Whereas, the said Provincial Minister, for Southern Province , should have confined himself to his functions as; Spokesperson of the UPND, as a Party, and matters related to his Provincial functions , but rather in a strange fashion, has recently exposed his ignorance and unmeasured utterances, by overstepping his commentaries on matters related to government policy, which is the role of the Chief government Spokesperson, sadly . Furthermore , he has also been over- stepping the roles of the Presidential Spokesperson, which are not his lane and functions, sadly. We urge him to forthwith restrain himself, before he destroys the image of the Republican President, by seeking relevance in an; undue, careless, and immature manner. For a man of his Stature, as a learned Counsel he should have had a more measured approach, to politics, which he lamentably has failed.
Whereas, the UPND Spokesperson, demeaned and minimised the contributions of the ALLIANCE Partners, as little in the 12th of August, 2021 General elections, the contrary is true.That it’s Members came only three months before the elections. That there was no contracts, for Cabinet or government jobs. That the Zambian people had already decided to change government, even without the alliance. All this is further from the actual truth, that he is ignorant of, and not privy to, at the Council of Presidents level, to which he does not belong, at his level as Provincial Minister, or as a Member of Parliament.
Therefore , the Council of Presidents, of the UPND-ALLIANCE, and all its Partners, hereby, for the record state the following:
1. That all Partners gave the UPND, a required National Character, which was marred, by tribal proclivities.
2. That we answered the call of the Zambian people, to Unite, as Opposition Political Parties, against a brutal regime of the Patriotic Front ( PF).
3. That political Alliances exist for power -sharing, everywhere in the world.
4. That it was not a popular decision, to support the UPND at the time we joined the Alliance.
5. That each Partner contributed overtly and covertly, to dislodge the PF government, and generate the extra 1 million votes of the 2.8 million votes.
6. That the Republican President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, and his Running Mate, now Republican Vice President, were both Alliance Candidates.
7. That to insult or demean the Alliance Partners, is invariably to do it to both the Republican President Mr . Hakainde Hichilema and the Vice President, who are Members of the Alliance.
8. That agreements, as to power- sharing and Apointments, were discussed at various meetings, before and even after the General Elections, at Presidential level, which Mr. Mweetwa must respect if he is loyal to his Party President, and if he is a disciplined member thereof.
9. That his statements, are misplaced and misleading, making the President and Vice President, as deceptive towards Partners, and the entire Country, if as he stated that is their position as a Party.
10. If we contributed very little, why has the Now Republican President, Vice President, and entire Cabinet, continued to recognise the Alliance Partners in State functions? Is it not because we are Principals of this New Dawn government administration?
CONCLUSIVELY, LET ALL THOSE IN UPND, WHO PEDDLE THE NARRATIVE THAT THE ALLIANCE PARTNERS, ARE NOT PART OF THIS NEW DAWN GOVERNMENT, BECAUSE THEY CONTRIBUTED VERY LITTLE, ASK THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT TO SAY THAT PUBLICLY. THEN THE PARTNERS WILL GLADLY OBLIGE, BUT LETS SEE THE GHASTLY CONSEQUENCES, THEREOF, COUNTRYWIDE.
restrain himself, before he destroys the image of the Republican President, by seeking relevance in an; undue, careless, and immature manner. For a man of his Stature, as a learned Counsel he should have had a more measured approach, to politics, which he lamentably has failed.
