- Stay Connected
Socialize
Masumba: It Would Have Been Embarrassing. Am Grateful To PF Hierarchy For Cancelling Mufumbwe ‘Primaries’
STEPHEN Masumba says he is grateful to the PF hierarchy for cancelling the primary elections conducted in Mufumbwe, where he was beaten by Elliot Kamondo for adoption to stand for the ruling party in a by-election on November 8.
But PF Mufumbwe Constituency chairman Keddies Mangongo says the party should not impose a candidate on the people as results of the primaries From front page
were only a reflection on the ground that Kamondo was more popular than Masumba.
Meanwhile, Kamondo says he will respect the position of the central committee but has maintained that he is the most popular candidate for the ruling party in Mufumbwe.
In an interview in Solwezi yesterday, Masumba said losing a primary election to Kamondo was not an issue because it was a decision of 20 people in a committee that had sworn to punish him for events of last year’s general election when he won the seat under MMD where PF candidate Bert Mushala performed poorly.
He complained that PF structures in the area had continued showing him bitterness and still considered him MMD rather than PF and that was why they had ganged up to deny him votes in the aborted primaries.
Masumba argued that it was only logical for PF to adopt him for the by-election because it had arisen by virtue of him crossing to PF, saying it did not matter whether he lost the primaries or not as the final decision would be made by the central committee this Saturday.
He denied that his sympathisers had violently disrupted a PF meeting in Mufumbwe, saying they were only trying to protect Anne Kayula, a PF member of the central committee and other women who were being harassed by a district party official.
And Mangongo said the PF structures were disappointed by assertions that they were bribed to vote for Kamondo, saying the result was a consensus decision from the PF lower organs.
He accused Masumba of bragging that he had already been adopted by the party and that Kayula and North Western provincial political secretary Febby Nalishuwa were campaigning for him (Masumba).
“The reason why the CEC Constituency Executive Committee and DEC District Executive Committee recommended Kamondo is because he is a very, very popular or winnable candidate in Mufumbwe. Our wish in Mufumbwe Constituency is that the central committee should not impose a candidate but follow what the people in Mufumbwe want for us to win the seat,” Mangongo said.
Kamondo welcomed the decision to cancel the primaries, saying he never bribed any official to be recommended for adoption.
He said the intra-party polls were just a sampling to guide the central committee on adopting a candidate.
He reiterated that his popularity was based on his performance in three most recent parliamentary polls in Mufumbwe.
“In 2006 general elections as an independent, I got 47.5 per cent against Mr. Misheck Bonshe MMD who got 47.9 per cent…I lost by 64 votes. In 2010, under UPND, I got 50 per cent and I won the election. Mulondwe Muzungu MMD got 47.9 per cent. In the last general elections, I got 48.5 per cent.
From the three results, it shows that I have an average of 48.5 per cent and meaning that up to now I am very prominent there. People still want me,” Kamondo said, “We are going to respect the party’s decision. But I can assure PF that if I was given that seat I am going to win without difficulties.”
And PF official Newton Malwa said the party in Mufumbwe was not yet strong enough to start creating divisions in the ranks but that it would need to ride on the personal popularity of either Masumba or Kamondo.
Malwa charged that if Kamondo and Masumba harmonised and worked together, they could beat the opposition “pants down”.
“If we can turn tables in Mufumbwe, it will mean the whole province will turn tables,” said Malwa, the losing candidate for the Solwezi Central seat in 2011.
PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba has described the primaries in Mufumbwe as “unconstitutional”.
Posted by
7DAYS
October 3, 2012 at 4:38 pm
PF MASUMBA IS NO GOOD CHOICE FOR YOU.YOU WILL LOSE THIS SEAT
Comfort
October 3, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Booooring…………..Zzzzzzzzzzz
Jube
October 3, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Hahaha…. You hold primaries, one person wins, then you cancel them! What does this mean fellow bloggers?
Katwa
October 3, 2012 at 5:52 pm
There you go men of integrity. PF is a good party because when someone wins primaries, the results must be cancelled. That is good democracy in PF. Masumba made a good decision to join this party.
genius
October 3, 2012 at 6:56 pm
masumba just stand as an indepedent candidate if you think you are popular
kakolwe
October 3, 2012 at 7:24 pm
@jube. To me it means the PF are shooting themselves in the foot. I see the Masumba point anyway. 20 old guns ganging up against the new ‘outsider’ Masumba. fear. Just like the fear in HH to hold a convention without that ‘ONLY A TONGA’ rule for the UPND presidency
Shameless
October 3, 2012 at 11:36 pm
PF just have to be fair enough and pay back Masumba in kind. He sucrificed this seat and he must have been promised the same seat on a PF ticket. Masumba kept his part of the deal and it’s the PF to keep their part now.
Cha. Cha Cha
October 4, 2012 at 1:18 am
Democracy rejected. Manipulation endorsed. Chisokone bane Chisokone!
mosquito
October 4, 2012 at 9:59 am
Country men honestly speaking this masumba has no qualities of being a leader at any level,this guy has no manners not even bad ones kamondo has won and you cancel, DEMOCRACY at its biggest test in PF. Central committe adopt kamondo not this chap without integrity.
mbuya
October 4, 2012 at 10:50 am
NDALE ZAPA ZAMBIA!!!!
Mwanamfumu
October 4, 2012 at 11:48 am
Let Justice prevail,that seat must given back to Masumba Period!!! There is no way you can grab it from him like that after all his sacrifice!!
The Gaurdian
October 4, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Mwanamfumu has a brains..Musamba deliberately caused this by-election which will now cost billions of kwacha so what sacrifice has he made???People lets think before we comment.. The PF are so short minded. They are doing the very things that made the MMD unpopular. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot
Mpangula Mputyu
October 4, 2012 at 1:29 pm
PF has NO moral right to contest this by-election they created by poaching Masumba a fraudster. Someone who forged a diploma in accountancy.
Mwanamfumu
October 4, 2012 at 2:28 pm
@ The Guardian, bwana we talking about politics here. Well masumba caused the bye yes,so what!? He must now go to parliament as PF Mufumbwe member of parliament.
mosquito
October 4, 2012 at 2:56 pm
ba tumfweko if thats how you are going to operate then am sorry, when we write facts about something you with hold our articals come on you just want us to be siding to one of these political parties if thats where you belong am sorry you just publish my etical it doesnt side with anyone me am non aligned ok
chiwelu
October 4, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Kamondo is the man of the pipo here.If you will mess up,it wll be suicidal for PF.