Dora, Kaingu, Chituwo Out Of MMD NEC

Being in NEC under Nevers Mumba is useless, says Dora Siliya.
Reacting to the decision by the Party’s National Executive Committee to strip her, Michael Kaingu and Dr Brian Chituwo of their positions as party spokesperson, vice-president political and vice-president administration respectively, Siliya said calls for Mumba to leave the party and the need for a new leadership would not go away.
“With Nevers Mumba, NEC positions are useless,” Siliya said in an interview shortly after an emergency NEC meeting held yesterday at Chrismar Hotel.
“NEC member or not, the people of MMD want new leadership to be elected at the convention and voices of those calling for the convention won’t go away. Only a convention can inspire the real MMD in districts and constituencies. Current NEC cannot elevate MMD. UPND is filling the vacuum left by MMD.
“This is why people like Levy Ngoma were telling me last night, a night before the NEC meeting, that, in fact, we would rather even have RB back. So you can see that these calls will not die. Are these (NEC) the people that Nevers thinks will take him to 2016 elections? Nevers Mumba is a sitting duck. The likes of Ngoma, (Sydney) Chisanga are saying ‘we are keeping him in order to keep the party together’, so whether I am expelled or not, it is irrelevant. I have had people calling me on my phone complaining about the leadership. Today there is a defection in Muchinga of the district executive to the UPND,” Siliya alleged
Siliya warned that defections from the party would be the order of the day in MMD.
And Kaingu said he was better off as an ordinary member of the party than being in a defective leadership.
“They have decided to remove our titles; I am no longer the vice-president political of the party. Dr Chituwo is no longer the vice-president administration. All our positions have been stripped off,” Kaingu said.
“For me, even if they did not do that, I would have resigned myself. I was fed up. I am a member of parliament for the people of Mwandi, so I will continue serving as an ordinary member. I think it will be very good for me.”
Others that were stripped of their positions are chairperson for tourism Lucky Mulusa and national youth secretary Tobias Kafumukache.
MMD national secretary Muhabi Lungu announced that the party would soon commence the process of filling the vacancies.
“They have been stripped of their positions as members of the national executive committee but they shall continue enjoying their full rights as members of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). There would be a period of observance by the national executive committee and that if there will be no responsibility exerted, in regard to their membership, authority has been given to the national secretary to take immediate action towards expulsion,” Lungu said. “They were invited in the meeting and this decision was explained to them. I believe that decision has been accepted. Dr Kaingu has indicated that we have given him an opportunity of what he was going to do (resign).
Party national chairperson Kabinga Pande said in an interview that NEC had made a decision that it thought was in the interest of the party.
Bradford Machila, who is the legal chairperson of the party, said the decision was in line with the constitution.
“The national executive committee is the ultimate authority in the party between conventions and therefore the NEC has powers and rights to take the decisions that were resolved upon today. The two vice-presidents were elected to those positions by NEC,” Machila said.
Kaingu, Siliya, Kafumukache and Mulusa were part of the meeting, until they were asked to leave when a discussion to either expel them or relieve them of their roles in the party came around midday.
They then went to sit in the hotel lobby while their fate was being decided.
Siliya and Mulusa, however, left before a final decision was passed at around 13:00 hours after they were asked to go back into the meeting, saying they had other duties to attend to.
Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane was also spotted leaving the NEC meeting as soon as it started.
Mumba refused to comment on the decision made by the NEC.