YOU are going to have a president who will rule for 12 years, PF secretary general Davies Mwila has told easterners. And Mwila has said the UPND should not be allowed in Eastern Province. Meanwhile, Mwila says he is going to crack a whip on all PF members who are disturbing incumbent members of parliament by embarking on early campaigns. Meanwhile, PF Eastern Province district chairpersons say the working relationship among party members, district commissioners and members of parliament is very bad.

Launching the Eastern Province intraparty elections at Crystal Springs Hotel yesterday, Mwila said easterners should be very proud, being the area where President Edgar Lungu hails from.

He advised easterners to be voting like the way Southern Province votes.

“This is the only province which has managed to have two presidents in 20 years, maybe you don’t know. After Chiluba, it was Mwanawasa, then Rupiah Banda from Eastern after that Northern, president Sata, after that Edgar Lungu and you are going to have a President who will rule for 12 years. President Lungu was elected in 2015, so he ruled for about one year seven months which is almost two years, again from 2016 to 2021 that will be seven years then from 2021 to 2026, 12 years, so you have to be proud you people,” Mwila said.
He urged party members to stand up as the registration of voters commences to mobilise people and ensure that the province registers more than one million voters.
“For us to win, for us to beat Southern Province, we had to combine three provinces; Lusaka, Copperbelt and Luapula, which was not good. Eastern Province is supposed to be at par with Southern Province and the game is over. Why do we allow even the UPND here! Colleagues, if the UPND cannot be allowed in Luapula and Muchinga, why here? This is the only place where I hear ba UPND tuma pockets (pockets of UPND),” Mwila said.

He urged those who want to stand in the party elections to follow guidelines.
“The guidelines are very clear; we are not going to allow people from the street to jump from ordinary member to come to the district or constituency or the province,” Mwila said.
He also reacted to Kelvin Bwalya Fube’s assertions that he declined late president Michael Sata’s appointment to be the party’s secretary general.
“Someone issued a statement, this guy is found in Lusaka, he says ‘Michael Sata appointed me to be secretary general then I declined’, you cannot be a secretary general if you have never been a member of the central committee! First you have to be a member of the central committee. Even if I am removed, anyone who is going to become secretary general, he must be a member of the central committee bushe kufumafye mu street? This is serious business,” Mwila said.

He also mentioned all the positions that he served in the party before he became SG. And Mwila urged party members who want to aspire as members of parliament to give the incumbent space to work.

“I thought I should make this very clear; all those who want to stand in 2021, allow the incumbent MPs to work, don’t disturb them! I know that’s why you have not clapped because you are disturbing MPs. Mr chairman (provincial chairman Andrew Lubusha) if you are not going to take action, I will take action. Anyone who is campaigning in those constituencies now, disciplinary action shall be taken against them.
If you fail to write a letter, I will write it myself,” Mwila said.
He pleaded with MPs, council chairpersons and councillors to regularly visit people.
“We have only two years in between, 2019 and 2020, then will go to another election; PF will only win with good members of parliament, councillors and council chairperson. Moreover, you council chairpersons and mayors, you are full-time, you are always in the districts but don’t fight MPs; MPs don’t fight the council chairpersons. We want
unity,” Mwila said.
He said district commissioners could not claim that they were civil servants because they were appointed by a politician, who is the President.
Mwila commended the Eastern Province party leadership for the discipline that had been exhibited in the party. Meanwhile, Lubusha said intraparty elections were meant to build the party and not to divide it. Lubusha said his committee had endorsed President Lungu as party president and Mwila as SG during the party’s general assembly that would be called in 2020.
Earlier, Katete district PF chairperson Moses Phiri who represented other districts said the working relationship among the party and some district commissioners and and members of parliament was very bad.

“Some DCs have completely distanced themselves from your party and are busy working against your elected officials due to insecurity. Sir, we feel some DCs are tired and they need to be retired as they have become a hindrance to the growth of our party. In some constituencies our own MPs whom we adopted after assuring us that they will be loyal to the party have become untouchable, these MPs are in the habit of working with parallel structures and boast that the SG has already adopted them,” he said.

Chipata mayor Sinoya Mwale, who represented council chairpersons, complained over the delay to pay council workers and the salary arrears that councillors were owed. Mwale, whose speech was punctuated with a lot of unpleasant running comments from some party cadres who were seemingly against him, also said the province was faced with water challenges. Among the MPs who attended the event were Eastern Province minister Makebi Zulu who is also Malambo MP, Margaret Miti for Vubwi, Listead Tembo for Kaumbwe, Whiteson Banda for Milanzi, MMD’s Peter Phiri for Mkaika, Sinda independent MP Masautso Tembo, Lundazi independent MP Lawrence Nyirenda and Salatiel Tembo for Lundazi.