By Patson Chilemba
Suspended PF national chairman Davies Chama is wondering what sort of human being Edgar Lungu is that he is still accepting deception while in the opposition in the same manner he accepted deception which led to him being booted out of State House in 2021.
And Chama said the “schemers” are very determined to destroy PF and “destroy it with a passion” because “they hated president Michael Sata with a passion but
they couldn’t say it.”
But member of the PF central committee, Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) said the suspension of Chama, Miles Sampa, Robert Chabinga and Davison Mung’andu will strengthen the party.
Asked if his suspension has come about because of his insistence in interviews with Daily Revelation that former president Edgar Lungu must take a backseat and allow others to serve the PF, Chama said although it was difficult to insinuate that, but one could be able to decode that, saying he gets a lot of information, and that there was a discussion somewhere where they wanted to remove him completely without even a suspension and put somebody else in his position.
He said he got this information about a week ago, adding that there have been schemes to that effect, insisting that there have been strong sentiments from some leaders in the PF urging Lungu to come back when he clearly stated that he had retired.
Chama said at the rate PF was going, even this dream they had of coming back to power in 2026 will just be an illusion, a mirage.
“And I have been one of those who has said please give space to president Lungu. Give him chance to rest. And that’s why we have not implemented the resolutions of the central committee because there are people who are scheming to bring back president Lungu in active politics,” Chama said. “And president Lungu has said you guys I have retired just go and choose a president. But you know someone can say something but they mean something totally different. But time will tell and the truth will come out in due course because nothing can be hidden under the sun.”
Chama said “those who want to scheme, to destroy the party they will not be allowed to do so.”
“I will not accept people to destroy the party that we have labored so much for. And it’s also up to the general membership of the party because you know I have seen a lot of cowards, people who come to me say something else and they go, they are summoned either in Ibex Hill (where Lungu resides) or they are summoned somewhere and they change positions,” Chama said. “What they tell me and what they go and smile balelanga amafupa ku muntu (showing their teeth to someone else), is totally different and it saddens me that someone is being deceived. You had instruments of power and people were deceiving you, now you are in opposition people are still deceiving you and you are still accepting the deception. It’s very, very sad. How do you operate like that as a human being?”
He said the schemers were determined to hound out those associated with Sata, saying all the founder members were being sidelined and that even internal democracy was not being promoted, stressing that he has always advised that if people like Miles Sampa, Robert Chabinga and Davison Mung’andu had issues, it was better to sit down with them and resolve issues.
Chama said his suspension by the Given Lubinda led central committee was a desperate move aimed at destroying the party, and that it was not even in the interest of the party.
“Like I have said before and will say it again, you know desperate people do desperate things. Because when you are an interim president, he’s an interim president, he’s actually vice-president of the party. His role is to facilitate a number of resolutions that have been made by the central committee,” Chama said, saying in 2022 the central committee had almost six central committee meetings and that at every agenda there was the general conference item.
He said even when PF lost power, former president Edgar Lungu chaired a meeting where a resolution was made after indicating his decision to resign from active politics and that it was that meeting he chaired which set the date for the convention.
He said in 2023 alone, the party has had five meetings including today’s meeting which suspended him, saying two years plus, the meetings have been discussing going to the general conference which has not materialized.
“Then there is absolutely something wrong which should worry a leader of that political party. The one who is presiding as president of that party, it should worry you because if you are a managing director of a company and the board makes a resolution that will make that company to be profitable then you don’t implement the resolution of the board on a number of times then you have failed in your KPI’s. You are supposed to be fired,” Chama said. “So to put it simply, this decision is very saddening and worrying in the sense that it will destroy the party.”
He said it was now up to the members of the party to take it up to make sure that they protect the interests of the party from people he said were desperate and were determined at all costs to divide the party.
Chama said in every organization, people don’t think the same, hence the need to sit when there were differences in opinion.
“But every time you quarrel for instance with your wife and you rush in sending her back to her parents it means you are not properly taught,” Chama said, saying Lubinda’s management style was not ideal especially for a political party that was in government and now back in the opposition. “Your management style must be very different. If you want to have the arrogance of when you were in power you were very arrogant. Again you are in opposition you want to be arrogant the results will be very devastating.”
He urged the people who were making decisions to reverse their decisions before it was too late.
But Mwamba said the decision to suspend the four members will strengthen the party in the same manner the suspension of 26 members of parliament by Michael Sata strengthened PF after 2006.
He described the suspension as a good lesson to all the members that they should be careful with the statements they make outside the central committee.
Mwamba said every party has got its own rules not to discuss party matters outside the party structures.
“This is the beginning of the party getting stronger,” said Mwamba.
The PF central committee yesterday suspended Chama, Sampa, Chabinga and Mung’andu.
One thing common to all is that they have been speaking against Lungu coming back into the political fold to take over the PF presidency he resigned from.
