By Isaa M Mwanza

If not handled well, the PF elections taking place across the country may leave the PF more divided than ever before. While President Lungu has, without prejudice, shown the courage of embracing every member – new or old – and different camps from the last party elections, it seems those who have overstayed in party positions and whose leadership has become unpopular at the grassroot are resisting change and new ideas of running the party. They still want to hold on to the party as if the party is a personal personal property.

There is no doubt that there are some people who have been in leadership since the PF was formed that can add value to the new type of politics that require all voters to be embraced. But there are many more who just should have stepped aside and give way to new ideas. You cannot hold on to Ward positions as if it’s a personal property.

Within all political parties, people must never be scared of internal democracy expressed through elections. I was one of the people who challenged President Lungu to go to the Convention rather than get hand-picked by top PF Party leaders and MPs whose only interest was to keep their jobs and positions. Am glad President Lungu did. I will remind the UPND of the same but for now, let me focus on the elections going on in PF.

With the current election going on in the PF, the party is steadily witnessing the emergence of camps within its grassroot structures, with each camp coming up with its own line-up of preferred leaders to work with. It is no longer about individual candidacy but its now about group candidacy. If u you are a candidate and your name doesn’t appear on the printed line-up in one group, just know you are not welcome to that group. You must belong to another. When one asks you why you belong to the other camp, the only answer you can have is, “nanga ndine mwana wa nyoko?” Or “nanga PF ni party ya nyoko?”

And then, there seem to be two fees for candidates vying for the same positions in some PF Wards. For example, on ward level, the PF has set K10 as Nomination Fee for every candidate. Some who are collecting these K10 have found a way of stealing from the party and candidates by charging K30, against what the Party has set. No top official has condemned this daylight theft among those collecting nomination fees.

And wanting to go unopposed, some camps with leaders who currently hold positions in the party structure have gone a step further to use that power to create new structures such as Branch Executive Committees e.g. Davies Chama Branch, Inonge Wina Branch, Edgar Lungu Branch, etc, for purposes of having numbers to win the vote and flushing out old members who are on registers. These new but adhoc Branches formed from tapping into the membership of parties like NAREP, persons with no voters cards or any trace of having belonged to the PF at any time in history, have purely been established for the sake of current Ward leaders securing a vote for themselves and their preferred colleagues. They are adhoc. They are more like political rallies we witnessed across the country that had more numbers than actual voters.

In some branches in constituencies like Matero Constituency where some genuine PF members supported Miles Sampa and others supported President Lungu in the run-up to the PF convention, those that supported President Lungu are almost flushing out genuine PF members who supported Miles Sampa in favour of the new adhoc members they have brought in so that they can get an unanimous vote for their group. What is making the situation worse is that some leaders from top structures of the party seem to be divided in favour of one camp against the other, making it difficult for the top structures to unite the camps that have formed within the lower organs of the PF.

WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD?

Going by the last Presidential by-election, the PF must realise they don’t need to lose any one vote from either old members or new members of the party, including those original members that went away and have come back to ensure the PF values are not lost in the process. The PF need the old leaders just as they need new leaders of their party.

One way to avoid the headache that has characterised these ward elections is for top structures such as Provincial and District Executive Committees to refuse to be ones to determine the electoral college i.e. persons that shall vote but to direct Constituencies to have meetings with the current Ward Committees (before they are dissolved) to iron issues of acceptable registers of the party. The Constituencies must not be Judges in these matters but facilitators among the 24 Ward Committee members to say which register they accept and which one they won’t accept to to be used for purposes of Ward Elections. The 24 Original Ward Committee members must vote, if need be, on maintaining a register or doing away with the register of voters.

At the end of the day, the entire leadership of the PF must emphasise the need for unity among the camps that are forming because of these ward elections. These elections must not be about the group of people who agree to work together but individuals who give themslves up to the party to work with whoever is elected into leadership.

The biggest danger that I see is that in an event that top leadership does not promote unity or are seen to be biased against one side, these divisions will create discontent among some PF members and it’s the party that will ultimately lose out as each vote counts. There are lots of parties that are eyeing for one camp against the other and are waiting for the outcome of these elections to make their next move in their membership recruitment drive. The PF doesn’t want to push it’s voters away to other partys. It’s an undeniable truth that most current Ward Chairmen and their people are in touch with Rainbow Party because the allegiance of most of these Ward Chairmen was to Wynter Kabimba, but they stayed in the PF because the PF is in power and they are in positions of authority for now.

The PF must amicably resolve the issue of the electoral college. And when proceeding to these Ward Elections, the standard practice has been to dissolve the Ward Executive so that old leaders don’t pose an undue influence on the voters.

Those who want to use an excuse that one belonged to the Miles Sampa or Edgar Lungu camp must also remember that PF has not been the same since its formation and breakaways. While others temporarily left the party because of some disagreements and are back, others that stayed including some leaders are known to have two legs in PF and the Rainbow Party. Granted, others can be said to have supported Miles Sampa against Edgar Lungu but who is better, one that supported Miles Sampa who is PF or one who is a PF leader in name and title but having allegiance to Rainbow Party/Wynter Kabimba and NAREP?

Good luck to all those contesting!