…only President Sata can fire me, says ex-Defence chief
By ALVIN CHIINGA
FORMER Defence minister Geoffrey Mwamba yesterday scuppered mounting speculation that his days in the ruling party were numbered by publicly announcing that he is in the PF for a long haul and no-one will make him quit the party he helped found.
Mr Mwamba made one exception nevertheless – President Sata – whom he singled as the only one who can make the decision on whether he continues serving the party in any capacity or not.
He made his announcement in fashion, too – on his widely-followed personality Facebook page that has a following of more than 12,000 Zambians, local and foreign, who frequent his page daily.
“To paid-up calls for my resignation from the Patriotic Front (PF),” Mr Mwamba, known by his moniker of GBM, announced, “I will wait for President Michael Sata to ask me to leave the party. I am not going to be moved by those paid to call for my resignation from PF. I am not going anywhere…”
Mr Mwamba added: “The same way the President has kept Kabimba [Minister of Justice, whom he recently made up with], that is how he is going to keep me. I have not done any wrong in the party unless a resignation from a Ministerial position is now wrong-doing in the PF.”
Mr Mwamba maintained that he would not be separated from his family.
“I recall once when the late President Mwanawasa had a problem with me when I invited President Sata, then in the opposition, to the wedding of my daughter,” said Mr Mwamba.
He said when he was asked why he had invited President Sata, he responded that “blood is thicker than water”.
He said that if God so wishes him to be President of Zambia one day, that wish would come true and if God on the other hand does not wish him to become President, it will not happen.
The former Defence Minister said he had a clear idea regarding who could be paying people to criticise him for resigning his position as one of the most powerful ministers in Cabinet and he is watching the situation but singled no names.
Mr Mwamba initially said he may seek traditional leadership counsel to see whether he must retain his parliamentary seat under PF or not but that appears to have changed with the latest pronouncements of remaining a PF member no matter what.
President Sata has replaced Mr Mwamba with lawyer-turned-politician Edgar Lungu, who moved a notch up over the weekend to become the second Minister of Defence under the Sata government.
Mr Lungu told the Saturday Mail that he would not betray the confidence President Sata had shown in him and shall serve the party to the best of his ability.
He said poverty reduction through job creation is one thing he would focus on together with his party colleagues in the PF as per campaign promises.
Mr Lungu joined the PF in 2001 and first contested the Chawama seat – which he finally won in 2011 – in 2002 while he also heads the PF’s disciplinary committee.
He was Minister of Home Affairs before President Sata moved him to the Ministry of Defence.
And Patriotic Front Matero member of Parliament Miles Sampa says he is in full support of the decision taken by Mr Mwamba to resign from his position because it is his democratic right.
Mr Sampa, who described Mr Mwamba as a strong man, advised PF members to stop admonishing him saying he has a right to exercise his democratic rights.
“I fully support the decision that was taken by Mr Mwamba. He is a strong man because he came out frank on this matter. He didn’t pretend that things were okay.
“Even President Sata himself fully supports party members or ministers who have divergent views to leave the party. He encourages that. So, I commend Mr Mwamba for the step he took,” he said.
Another member of the PF central committee, Jean Kapata, said those with grievances against Mr Mwamba should put them in writing.
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