By Daily Revelation Reporter
Socialist Party national youth chairperson Kelvin Kaunda says PF members are joining SP in numbers, claiming that they are now doing the rebranding in their new found home.
And PF Kanyama Ward chairman Kelvin Mwaba, popularly known as Papa Gunasi says he is leaving the PF to join SP because of “bunkosa mutwe waba Lungu (Edgar Lungu’s hard headedness)”, but said he would return to the party if Kambwili were elected leader.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kaunda said the ones who are announcing their defections from the PF were in the minority as the majority were actually quiet but were joining in numbers.
He claimed that the majority of the PF was now in the Socialist Party.
“The PF members are just rebranding. Because rebranding means change of names. So they are rebranding in Socialist. That’s it,” Kaunda, who resigned as PF Lusaka provincial chairman before joining SP, said.
Kaunda said PF members were defecting to SP “because we share the same ideologies”, saying socialism was a pro-poor agenda and that the PF manifesto was anchored on the same pro-poor agenda.
He said the advantage of joining SP was that the party has a much more enhanced pro-poor agenda, and therefore PF members were only upgrading themselves.
Kaunda claimed that there was no more PF.
“So if there is no PF anymore and our leaders have asked us to rebrand, that is exactly what we are doing. So there is no PF anymore and the issue of saying PF will come back is neither here nor there. So that’s the more reason why our members continue to rebrand themselves according to what our leaders have told us,” Kaunda said. “I am sure our leaders are on record that we need to rebrand. So we are actually doing exactly what we have been guided by our leaders.”
Kaunda said there were many who have followed him to SP, including senior PF members of parliament and central committee members, and other members from the other political parties.
“Some of them may not have the courage to come out in the open but I want to tell you that the majority of the members are with us… and it’s not only the PF by the way, we are receiving people from all political parties,” said Kaunda. “And we are receiving members from different political parties. Senior members, ordinary members of various political parties.”
The latest known PF cadre to join SP is Mwaba, popularly known as Papa Gunasi, who was recently photographed with SP leader Dr Fred M’membe and other party officials, including Kaunda.
Mwaba said he was leaving, but has not formally done so yet because as a leader he would need to write to the party to announce his departure.
In an audio recording, Mwaba said the PF will be surprised to find all the structures gone because members are leaving in numbers because of what he claimed as leaders refusing to listen to the general membership on things like the holding of the general conference.
“I am leaving because of bunkosa mutwe waba Lungu,” Mwaba said.
But asked in the recording by his friend and sympathizer Monta, who is still in PF, if he would return in the event Chishimba Kambwili were elected as PF leader, Mwaba said he would return if Kambwili became leader.
Monta also told Gunasi to tell Dr M’membe that he would also join SP if things continued to be handled in the same manner by the leadership.
