By Staff Reporter
I am the PF front runner for the presidency, says Lusaka lawyer Makebi Zulu.
Asked in an interview yesterday if he viewed himself and his fellow PF presidential aspirant Brian Mundubile as front runners for the PF presidency, Zulu said there was only one front which he occupied.
“So far we know we are the front runners. There is only one front. So there is only one front and we hold that position. We hold that position but that does not in any way mean that we are not united as a party,” Zulu said. “We are just trying to pick the first among equals. We are all equal and we are going to choose the first among equals to be able to lead this side for the independence 2.0 of our country. That’s what we are doing. We are a united front. No one should think that PF is divided. They will be making a very big mistake.”
Asked if Lungu had intimated to him that in the event anything were to happen to him, he wanted him to assume the presidency of PF, Zulu said he would not want to delve into that as it would be unethical for him to do so “at this particular moment.”
“And that discussion I would shelve it for later. At an appropriate time, yes we can discuss that,” he said
Asked if he had the support of the former first lady Esther, Lungu’s daughter Tasila and the other Lungu family members, Zulu said he would not delve into that, especially now.
“Like I told you, the Patriotic Front party is one,” he said.
He said leaders in the PF would be elected based on their potentialities and capabilities to serve the Zambian.
Zulu said he enjoyed support from a broad spectrum of people from all walks of life, and therefore it would be wrong to itemise the same support.
In a recent interview with Daily Revelation, former Foreign Affairs minister Stanley Kakubo specifically pinpointed Zulu and his PF presidential colleague Brian Mundubile as having no vision for the country as they served as ministers in the PF administration that was voted out of office in 2021.
Kakubo further wondered how Zulu could claim countrywide popularity when he failed to defend his own constituency seat in Malambo in 2021.
But reacting to Kakubo, Zulu said people got into electoral races because they believed they had a chance of winning.
He said the question of popularity was not synonymous to one’s ability, but what one had to offer the country.
He said Kakubo had a very myopic way of looking at things, as the question right now was about the current state of the country.
He said the issue now was about what the country needed, and if the UPND was offering any policy moves to address the high cost of living in the country, and also in terms of how they were governing the country.
He said the UPND should be focussing on the fact that they were being opposed by Zambians over their failures.
“You can’t then be saying these are are not offering anything else before you look at what you have failed to do. You have to give a reason to Zambians as to why they should not look outside and what you are offering them,” Zulu said.
He argued that those in the UPND were not competent enough to talk about the competence of the opposition.
He described the UPND’s performance as dismal, something he said Kakubo should be advising the UPND candidate.
