By Isaac Zulu
Bowman Lusambo has charged that MacDonald Chipenzi is a UPND stooge.
In an interview, Lusambo, who is former Lusaka Province minister, charged that Zambians should be very watchful as President Hakainde Hichilema works towards rewarding party sympathisers with positions even in institutions that are clearly supposed to be apolitical.
He said that the appointment of MacDonald Chipenzi as Commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia is testament that the current Head of State wants to appoint his party members to key institutions of governance, which he said is aimed at perpetuating Hakainde Hichilema’s stay in power.
“The appointment of MacDonald Chipenzi as Commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia is not amazing to us. If you remember MacDonald Chipenzi had applied to contest for a Parliamentary seat in 2016 in Siavonga on the UPND ticket,” Lusambo explained. “So he is not a UPND sympathiser, but member of that political party called the UPND. For those of us that know Chipenzi he was, and still is a UPND stooge.”
He said that the appointment of the Governance Elections Advocacy and Research Services (GEARS) Initiative executive director to the position of Commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia would compromise the operations at the electoral body.
“Even a one year old baby knows that Chipenzi was actively involved in ensuring that the UPND gets the Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary by-elections. So he is just being rewarded for being a staunch UPND member. And it goes without saying that the appointment of MacDonald Chipenzi to serve on the ECZ will compromise the operations of the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” Lusambo, who is also former Kabushi member of parliament, said. “The ECZ is an electoral body that is supposed to be neutral and not succumb to any pressure from the appointing authority. We need people of high integrity and non partisan at the Electoral Commission of Zambia. But the appointment of MacDonald Chipenzi as a commissioner at ECZ will certainly compromise the operations of that governance institution.”
He urged Zambians, across all political spheres, to take keen interest in the appointments of individuals to serve on institutions of governance.
“I can appeal to the Zambian people that they should open their eyes and ears and keenly observe how these appointments, these questionable appointments are being made,” said Lusambo.
Efforts to get a reaction from Chipenzi proved, as his mobile phones went unanswered.
