By Esther Chisola
Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe says if those who have left the party, were the cornerstone of the party, the party would have crumbled by now.
And Dr M’membe has pleaded not guilty to one count of seditious practice.
Speaking with journalists at the Magistrates’ Court premises yesterday, M’membe said his party had received more people from other parties stressing that most of those members come from the UPND.
“The Socialist Party has received more people from other parties than other parties have received from the Socialist Party. We have more members who have come from the UPND today in our party. Some of our provinces the entire leadership is either from UPND or PF or from other parties,” he said.
Dr M’membe said this party could not parade everyone who joined his party.
“We don’t parade everybody who joins the party. They don’t talk about the people who are leaving their party. People leave, and the number that has left compared to the membership of the party is so small. If those who have left were the cornerstone of the party, then the party will crumble,” he said.
Dr M’membe said most of the people who left found the party moving.
“They joined just a few months ago and they have left. People who went to other parties have also left those parties. There was a big story when a certain group of comrades went to join, my brother Mr KBF (Kelvin Bwalya Five), ask him if they were still there with him? They want to come back, some of them are scared of coming back because of the things they said about us. We have no problem with them,” said M’membe.
And Dr M’membe pleaded not guilty to a charge of seditious practice contrary to section 57 (1)(c) as read together with section 60(1)(b) of the penal code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
It is alleged that Dr M’membe on July 16, 2024 in Lusaka, published an article on social media namely twitter and Facebook pages that,
“It is very sad that Mr Felix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), can no longer hide how he has extended his corruption and other abuses in the Congo DR to the whole region. We are worried about these revelations. We are worried that if nothing is done, the bells toiling on the people of the Congo DR will tomorrow toil on us in this region, especially us in Zambia whose proximity to the Congo-DR is much more and whose leadership seem to have an insatiable appetite for Dollars, and are also in a hurry to become big millionaires or if possible, billionaires.
The article further stated that if a leader of a country can receive a sum of US$ 20 million of unearned money as a personal gift from a leader of another country, whose people are very poor and the country is in turmoil, and engulfed in an intractable civil war, what does that mean?
It went on to state that, but today, our leaders are stuffing their bank accounts with millions stolen from the poor Congolese people. This is what happens when principles are lost. This is what happens when values are lost. This is what happens when greed reigns supreme.
He further wrote that the likes of Tshisekedi and those he is bribing are not leaders.
“They are something else but not leaders. But as they say, it is just a matter of time before the chickens come home to roost. Those involved in this evil scheme shall pay the price and regret their greedy actions someday soon,” M’membe stated.
M’membe finally stated that, “we demand that the Zambian authorities come clean on Mr Tshisekedi’s huge pay out claims.”
