By Isaac Zulu
Patriot Front presidential aspirant Greyford Monde has said that in the event Edgar Lungu gets back to active politics and declares that he would contest for the position of party president, he would not challenge him, saying the successes he, Chitalu Chilufya, Chishimba Kambwili and others scored were on account of the former president’s tutorship.
In an interview with Daily Revelation, Monde said that Edgar Lungu remains a guiding leader and is the biggest factor in the Patriot Front, adding that he is held in high esteem.
Monde said that the achievements scored by individual ministers that served under the leadership Lungu are as a result of “the tutorship and leadership of president Edgar Lungu.”
“The achievements I scored when I served as minister of agriculture and livestock, the achievements Honourable Dr Chitalu Chilufya scored in the Ministry of Health, the achievements Honourable Chishimba Kambwili scored in the Ministry where he served, the achievements Honourable Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba scored, the achievements Honourable Mutotwe Kafwaya scored and all these on the list (of presidential aspirants) are as a result of the tutorship and leadership of president Edgar Lungu. He is the one who was at the helm of Cabinet and in charge of government. Therefore, president Edgar Lungu gets the highest credit for the successes recorded by the PF government when he was Head of State,” Monde explained. “President Edgar Lungu is guiding leader, our principal and the biggest factor in the Patriot Front. So the question of whether I would challenge him in an event that he comes back, I can tell you that my answer is a big no. Remember that he is supposed to be substantive party president until 2026. So he would be coming to take up his position. And I personally can’t contest and challenge him. I would stay back.”
Monde, however, ruled out possibilities of Lungu coming back on the political platform, saying that the former Head of State has made it clear that he “has quit his party position and active politics and that is why there’s a vacancy of party president.”
“You and I know that president Edgar Lungu has on several occasions said that he has quit his party position and active politics. Outside that, the president has not made any statement. So for me it is neither here nor there,” Monde, who also served as Itezhi-tezhi member of parliament, said. “Let us not discuss things that are not there. Let us concentrate on real matters affecting the people in the country and not to fear what is not there.”
And Monde said that the UPND leadership is creating a narrative that Edgar Lungu wants to get back on the political platform in order create some level of animosity in the Patriot Front, saying “the UPND are threatened by Lungu’s would-be candidature.”
“This is emanating from people who want to the party… they are creating some level of animosity in the Patriot Front so that they can unsettle the Patriot Front. It is a scheme by the UPND. This is the position of those that are threatened by his candidature. And I can tell you that the people who are threatened are the UPND… they are the ones creating this narrative. They know that if president Edgar Lungu came back on the political platform, they will not have it very easy,” said Monde. “Remember that president Edgar Lungu has a track record of things he can be able to point at and say I did this, I did this. So when comparing with Hakainde Hichilema people would prefer president Lungu because of his genuineness and the manner he managed himself and how he ran the government. This is not take away the fact there were no mistakes made by the president (Edgar Lungu). But this one (Hakainde Hichilema) has made more mistakes in a very short time. So there is fear in the UPND that if president Edgar Lungu contested the 2026 general elections, he would give them a far fiercest battle compared to a new person, probably like myself. But while they are doing that, they are de-campaigning themselves.”
