By Agness Changala
Information has emerged that MMD leader Nevers Mumba will be cementing his partnership with UPND, despite opposition from Batuke Imenda and the alliance.
But when contacted by Daily Revelation to speak to this information, MMD leader Pastor Mumba said he has
[pp-logged-users] been working with UPND for the past two years.
Operation Save MMD leader, Gaston Sichilima, who also served as former Home Affairs deputy minister in the Levy Mwanawasa and Rupiah Banda administration, said they have information that MMD leader pastor Nevers Mumba will be cementing his alliance with the ruling UPND and that Chitenge materials were being prepared for the same.
Sichilima said they have been told in their interactions with UPND secretary general Batuke Imenda that he does not want to admit pastor Mumba until the court processes have been finalised.
He said they have no problem with pastor Mumba joining UPND as an individual but he should not take the former ruling party there.
His colleague, calling himself as MMD founder member, from the save Operation Save MMD which has sued pastor Mumba to hold the convention, said the faction had information that some senior officials in the UPND are helping Pastor Mumba to cement the alliance with UPND.
“We are aware of the maneuvers they are trying to make. Because Imenda is unwell, there is this move that they are trying to print Chitenge material in Malawi for Nevers Mumba to portray the picture that he has now come to join as alliance partner with the UPND,” Mulenga explained.
“So they are going to have what they are going to say announcing that he has now joined the UPND as alliance partners. So Chitenge as I am talking to you is being printed in Malawi. And this information I am giving you is classified. It was sent to me last evening to say… and I verified with a number of people.”
Mulenga said the faction is not against a working alliance with the UPND, but MMD in its current form is fragmented and has some matters before court.
“As members of MMD, we are not against the idea of forming alliances with well-meaning political parties. But what we are against is people with opportunistic ideas. Wanting to take advantage of members in their quest to solicit for jobs,” he said.
Mulenga said the faction had gone to court to challenge the legalities of the March 2021 MMD convention, and that before the party goes to the convention, no other step must be taken.
He said those who want to work with the UNDP are free to do so in their individual capacity saying the planned move to showcase that MMD is working in an alliance with UPND is a political comedy as no member or political party structures have been consulted.
Mulenga further said he was told that in 10 days there will be a demonstration on the working relationship with the UPND.
He however said, when the faction contacted Imenda, he told them that it would not work because matters were before court.
Mulenga said there was a time the faction met Imenda who confirmed that Pastor Mumba had approached UPND to work with him.
“He wanted himself to work with the UPND not with alliance partners because there Mr. (Kaluba) Simuyemba, the UPND alliance secretary, guided him that it was not possible. We have got your friends that have brought this letter explaining that you are fragmented and the matters that have made you fragment are before the courts of law. So let’s wait. They are saying can you give us time we hear from the announcement of the court,” he said.
Mulenga said during the Kabwata by-election, Pastor Mumba and group exhibited interest to join the alliance but they were advised to follow the right procedure.
He said Pastor Mumba later wrote a letter to apply for accreditation under the UPND alliance.
“So when he took that letter to Mr. Simuyemba, luckily we found him in the office, he looked at the letter and said Mr. President, what you have done is good. Except my observation here we don’t accept presidents to write to us. We accept secretary generals or national secretaries to write to us on behalf of the party because those are chief executive officers of the party,” he said.
Mulenga said Pastor Mumba was told it was an anomaly in his application as it should not have been written by him but by his national secretary.
He said Pastor Mumba was also informed of the counter reaction from the other faction, because it is split and there are matters before court which are not yet resolved.
“That was the guidance from Mr. Simuyemba,” he said.
Mulenga said Simuyemba later circulated Pastor Mumba’s letter to all secretary generals and national secretaries of political parties who are partners to hint to them that there was a letter and the counter argument.
“I think they met as secretary generals and national secretaries according to his explanation. So they made a standoff that what had been provided for is evidence enough that we also … for contempt of court because these matters are before court so let them resolve these matters then we can come and look at them in their united form. But not in the state they are,” he said.
“That’s how he saw that I am losing out. That’s how he went to apply as a partner with UPND, not an alliance partner now. He should be a partner with UPND that’s how he wrote another letter taking to Mr. Imenda for the second time. So Mr. Imenda also looked at it having prior information which was circulated to all secretary generals as alliance partners, so he had a background of it.”
Mulenga said the faction also wrote another letter in reaction to his letter where they stated that they were split.
He said when they finally met with Imenda, he explained that Pastor Mumba went there and he guided him that he could not apply to them.
“Us we don’t work in isolation we have got partners who we marshaled votes with in the 2021 elections. So if you bring it to us, you are putting us as UPND in a very awkward position because now, we are going to sideline the secretariat for the UPND alliance partners who are supposed to handle these issues,” he said.
He told them that he had put his foot down and could not admit pastor Mumba based on the matters before court.
Mulenga also said Imenda told him that the secretariat handled matters. “So now, he is taking advantage because Mr. Imenda is unwell as I am talking to you,” said Mulenga.
When contacted, pastor Mumba said he does not know who is making the allegation and where they got the information from.
“I can’t give any comments. I don’t know who that one is. You know our situation in MMD. Everybody stands up and says I am a member so I don’t know who that is and where they are getting that information,” said pastor Mumba. “We don’t comment on those, they are not members of our Party. You notice that we don’t talk about them anymore. They are not members of our party so we have moved on. That story was left a long time ago so they come up with those stories, we don’t answer them.”
Pastor Mumba said he does not know any of “that scam” and where the person got it from.
“That’s too much information for me, I don’t know where they are getting it from. I am also learning from you. I think what they need to do is to give you information on where they are getting it from and you can ask the UPND then, because we don’t deal with that group,” pastor Mumba said.
He said the faction has been talking about his group and that they are the ones who crippled the MMD from the beginning.
“So any time, they bring up any news they want just to make themselves relevant so we don’t really deal with them anymore,” he said.
Asked if he was intending to form an alliance with the UPND, pastor Mumba said, “We already work with the UPND and that announcement was made two years ago. We have always been working in partnership with the UPND so what alliance are they talking about? We have been working together since 2021. So I don’t know what they are talking about,” said pastor Mumba.[/pp-logged-users]
