Kachingwe Says NEC Is Being Unfair To Mumba

Nevers Mumba has asked for prayers from Copperbelt pastors and churches.

And Major Richard Kachingwe says the MMD’s national executive committee (NEC) is being unfair to Mumba.

Addressing pastors at Kaniki Bible University in Ndola yesterday, Mumba said he was ready to drop his last blood for the sake of the party and the country and was on the Copperbelt to seek prayers.

He said he was not moved by his suspension by the MMD national executive committee.

“When I stood as MMD party president, I was told that I will not win because I was Bemba and a pastor and that no one will vote for me. I stood and won and today they want to take that away from me! The problem we have in our party is that people want to change the constitution because they hate Mumba and because Mumba is a Bemba and a pastor. I have come here with a message of SOS; I am asking for your prayers, from you pastors, your families and your churches,” Mumba (below) said.

The MMD’s NEC suspended Mumba two days ago for alleged gross misconduct.

MMD national secretary Muhabi Lungu on Tuesday evening announced that Mumba had been suspended for ‘indiscipline’ and that Rupiah Banda had been adopted as the party’s candidate in the January 20, 2015 presidential election.

“When I was told that I was suspended, I faced down and prayed…. This suspension is illegal because I refused that Rupiah Banda should come back in the system. I am ready to drop my last blood for the sake of my party and my country,” he vowed.

Mumba said he could not be disciplined for believing that Banda was not the best shot for the country at the moment.

Mumba said he was ready to pay a price for his decision.

“I think this thing will pin up in the next few days,” he said, hinting at legal action over the decision. “I believe that this is a constitutional misunderstanding and I do not want to blow it out of proportion like there is war in MMD. We have solved bigger problems like this one, so I don’t want to add fuel to it to make it look bigger than it is. The only thing I know and I am sure about is that president Banda’s coming is not in the interest of the party and the nation; that I know.”

Mumba said being suspended for not agreeing to Banda’s return had become a moral issue.
“I can’t be disciplined for believing that president Banda is not the best shot for the country at the moment, so that is why I am ready to pay a price for that one,” he said.

Mumba said he was more than ready to face people causing injustice in the MMD, and that now he had seen that politics could be dirty.

He said he did not join the political process to be a politician but to change politics.

Mumba said said he was standing on firm ground and was still going to stand on the MMD ticket as presidential candidate.

He also confirmed that talks between the MMD and the UPND parties on forming a coalition government had reached an advanced stage.

Asked if it was true that UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema was going to be the president in the coalition government and himself vice-president, Mumba said the issue of who would be president would have to be discussed between the two of them.

Some MMD members have accused Mumba of wanting to hand over the party to UPND, hence their support for Banda.

And Maj Kachingwe says what is happening in the MMD is simply disgusting.

In 2012, Mumba expelled Maj Kachingwe, who was MMD national secretary for invalidating his election as party president. MMD youths physically kicked and threw Maj Kachingwe out of his office at the party secretariat following his announcement that he had suspended Mumba as president and replaced him with Michael Kaingu.

But in an interview yesterday, Maj Kachingwe said: “The MMD is supposed to be a party which is very mature because it is a party that brought about multi-party democracy and it has had a lot of intra-party experiences. They (MMD) are supposed to do things better than they are. All these other political parties are supposed to learn from them. Whichever way you see it, it doesn’t matter.”

Maj Kachingwe said it was clear that Mumba had been unfairly treated by the MMD NEC.
He said it would have been better if Banda had negotiated with Mumba, rather than the way the party had gone about the selection of the presidential candidate.

“I know there is a principle that an enemy of my enemy is my friend but principles are also principles. The wrong things cannot be the right things. I don’t think it is a correct thing to do. Mumba may have done something wrong, but I don’t think it is right for them to do what they are doing,” he said.

And Maj Kachingwe said there was need for the PF to put their house in order because they were the ruling party.

Posted by Kunda on November 21, 2014. Filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.