Kambwili Has No Right To Reject Dora Siliya -Chama

PF SECRETARY general Davies Chama says Chishimba Kambwili has no right to reject Dora Siliya in the party because he too spoke ill of President Edgar Lungu prior to his election, but was forgiven.
Kambwili on Saturday said he would rather sell his soul to the devil than accept Siliya in the Patriotic Front because, according to him, the former MMD spokesperson had insulted PF founder Michael Sata. This was after Siliya announced her defection from the MMD to the ruling PF in Petauke on Saturday. Chama said even the PF said bad things against Rupiah Banda but the former head of state had forgiven the party. “Even people like Honourable Kambwili, for instance, they weren’t supporting President Lungu when president Sata died, but [Lungu] has embraced them, he has appointed them.
Honourable [Miles] Sampa, they were on the other side. I don’t want to say what they used to say, okay. People called President Lungu a lot of names when we were competing before the general conference. They called him all sorts of names, but he has forgotten all that and he has given then positions of responsibility and we have moved on as a party. So for us to have grudges of what somebody said in 2011 or yesterday, then it means that’s not leadership,” he said.
Chama said Kambwili was not the spokesperson of the PF. “I am the spokesperson for the party, so I am speaking on behalf of the party, and Honourable Kambwili is spokesperson for the government; he is not spokesperson for the party,” he said. “If you are talking about what [Siliya] said in 2011, we were in the opposition and we called a lot of people names. We called president Rupiah Banda a lot of names but Mr Banda forgave us for all the bad things we called him.”
Chama accused Wynter Kabimba of defending violence in the PF when he was secretary general. “When someone is in the opposition, you expect them to say anything bad about you because they are trying to promote their political party. Look at Wynter Kabimba, he used to defend everything in PF. Even the violence, he used to defend it. But now that he is in the opposition, he is condemning everything,” he claimed. “Look at HH (UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema); do you expect him to say anything good about us? …I am the chief executive of the party, and even the President (Lungu) is a forgiving President.
I have never heard him rejecting anybody, even if Hichilema today turns around and says he wants to join the PF.” Asked if President Lungu had told him that he welcomed Siliya’s defection, Chama said: “I don’t want to put the President on the spot but I believe that he is going to welcome everybody wanting to join the party.”
He said Kambwili was wrong to say he could not accept Siliya in PF. “I don’t know whether what you have quoted Honourable Chishimba Kambwili saying is true, but if that is the case, then it is not correct.
Because Honourable Siliya and every Zambian wanting to join our party are most welcome to join our party. So as far as the party is concerned, we have no problem with Honourable Dora or any other person joining PF,” said Chama.