Lungu Lost Control Of The Presidency He Was Seeking -Kabimba

Edgar Lungu has allowed himself to be held hostage by criminal elements that have committed offences against the people of Zambia, says Wynter Kabimba.
And Kabimba has condemned the violence that occurred in Shiwang’andu, where PF cadres attacked a UPND campaign delegation. Kabimba said Lungu had already lost control of the presidency he was seeking. “Edgar is a hostage today. He is now being held hostage by criminal elements.
It is the criminal elements that are directing him what to do on an hourly basis and daily basis,” he said. “They are the people that have committed offences against the people of Zambia and they know that without Edgar, they will end up in jail. They are the beneficiaries of Edgar’s presidency, if at all it will come.
That is the matrix around Edgar’s presidency.” Kabimba said Lungu did not have the capacity to stop the violence that had engulfed the ruling party. “So on that account, he cannot have the capacity to control the people that have held him hostage; he can’t control them.
A hostage cannot control his kidnappers. He has been kidnapped, he is a hostage; kidnapped by the criminal elements in PF who are purporting to support him,” he said.
Kabimba also wondered how Lungu had allowed former president Rupiah Banda to arm-twist him by dragging him into a pact that would compromise his presidency. “History actually repeats itself under different conditions. What we are seeing today about Rupiah Banda is exactly what we saw with [Frederick] Chiluba. Rupiah today is facing criminal prosecutions in the courts of law. You do not need to be a person of average intelligence to know that he has entered into a pact with Edgar today so that in the event [that] Edgar wins this election, he can pardon him,” he said.
“That is the pact that Chiluba entered into with Rupiah in 2008. All of a sudden, Chiluba who had joined PF, became MMD again. We saw what happened when Banda won the election. All his cases were dropped, just like that. Rupiah wants the same favour returned to him. He wants one person to decide on behalf of the judiciary and the Zambian people and grant him a pardon.” And Kabimba condemned the violence that occurred in Shiwang’andu, where PF cadres attacked a UPND campaign delegation.
“I am on record, many a time when I was secretary general of the Patriotic Front, of condemning any form of violence, whether it was intra-party or inter-party violence. Violence must be condemned in all its forms and style, especially when that violence is directed at suppressing the people’s will to make a choice in a democratic dispensation. I think that violence is contrary to the tenets of democracy,” he said. “But also what this does, and I hope the Zambian people are following these events, it is also a reflection of the leadership in a particular political party.
It is a reflection of a leadership that thinks violence can be rewarded. So the two incidents this week, the one in Mongu, where suspected UPND cadres went to invade the election command centre of the PF, is a bad act of violence.
The Shiwang’andu incident where Honourable [Stephen] Kampyongo wanted to act like he is a warlord there, as if Shiwang’andu is a state within a state, must also be condemned.” Kabimba commended UPND’s Choma member of parliament Cornelius Mweetwa for condemning the violence attributed to his party. “I notice that there is a difference between the two in the sense that Honourable Cornelius Mweetwa came out quickly to strongly condemn that act of violence in Mongu.
We need leaders who can bring discipline and social order to this country and respect the democratic institutional framework,” said Kabimba.