By Staff Reporter
NDC leader Saboi Imboela says the moment she asked United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) chairperson Sakwiba Sikota to step down from his position for running down the alliance, he wrote a letter accusing her of owing him K30, 000 legal fees for the “free” legal representation he offered her last year.
And Imboela said Sikota wants to be UKA’s flag bearer instead of just retiring from active politics as he has no energy.
On Thursday, Sikota expelled Imboela from the UKA.
In a letter dated May 7, 2025, Sikota stated that further to a letter of May 1, 2025 in which Imboela was asked to exculpate herself or face expulsion, five days had expired without her exculpating herself.
“This letter serves to formally expel you from the United Kwacha Alliance. We wish you the best in your future endavours,” the letter read in part.
However, Imboela rejected the expulsion on the grounds that Sikota had no powers to expel her.
In an interview on Thursday, Imboela accused Sikota of acting unilaterally.
“In an organisation for example, if you want to charge someone, call for a meeting, charge the person and tell them to exculpate themselves. You can’t just be on your own and make a decision no!” she said.
Imboela said when she asked Sikota to step down as chairperson of UKA, the first thing he did was to write her a letter of “blackmail” because he represented her for free last year. “Imagine from last year, nonilembela apa (wrote to me now) this year that I owe him K30, 000 thinking when he writes me that letter, I will stop talking but I continued talking,” Imboela said.
“No! Exculpation this, No! Expulsion this and he sits alone and writes these things. For me, there is a reason why Zambia has got 65 retirement age. The man should retire not only from active politics but from the UKA as well. Not just from the UKA but active politics and his party also,” she said.
Imboela also urged Sikota to go home and rest because he had no energy.
“This thing of forcing things and all he wants is to be flag bearer of UKA. The man has got no energy. I have got nothing against him. Just that he is incapable of being the flag bearer. Even as chair, he has totally failed. He has run down the organisation,” she said.
Imboela insisted that Sikota should step down as a chairperson of UKA and not flash out the letters that he was flashing out.
She also said Sikota had no powers to expel anyone from UKA as a result, she would not recognise the expulsion letter.
Asked why she was asked to exculpate herself, Imboela said although she could not remember the contents clearly of the said letter, it had something to do with what she said in the media which Sikota felt she should not have said.
“For me for example, I was the chairperson of media in the UKA and was forced to go to the media because they were making me feel lazy. UKA had promised the Zambians that they were going to have a flag bearer by the 31 of March and people were waiting.
“So when we did not do that … it has always been my job to talk to the media and I told them why we did not have a flag bearer. And I told them what had been happening in the UKA including the fact that they sabotaged the process of elections,” she said.
Imboela said this angered some, especially that she explained to the media why they were not having elections.
“They said I shouldn’t have gone to the media to explain. And I told them that unless I said anything that was false. If I said any lies from that explanation, then you can say whatever. But if everything I said was correct, then I was in my rightful mind to do that,” Imboela said.
She said their tactic was to frustrate people out of the UKA so that they remained alone as weak links and she told them she was going nowhere.
“I told them I am not going anywhere. They frustrated (Citizens First leader Harry) Kalaba out and next, they expected me to leave and I just said I am not going anywhere,” she said.
Asked how many members were still in UKA after others left, Imboela named New Heritage Party leader Chishala Kateka, Golden Party leader Jackson Silavwe, Robert Chansa leader of RDC (Revamp for Development Change) and her party NDC.
Efforts to get a comment from Sikota failed as his mobile phone went unanswered and messages sent to his line were not responded to.
