Zambians don’t want old and tired faces on the ballot – Nevers’ Boy

It has become evident over the last few weeks that people misleading Rupiah Banda are hell-bent on forcing him on the ballot paper despite the fact that Zambians have loudly made it clear that they do not want to be ruled by an old and tired leader anymore.

The Rupiah Banda camp is getting desperate by the day as they sit and watch Dr Nevers Mumba’s well coordinated campaign machinery rolls into action.
The way the RB camp has reacted to Dr Mumba’s successfully held rallies goes to confirm that these people harbour so much hatred for Dr Mumba.
We find Dr Michael Kaingu’s assertions that people turned up at the MMD Kitwe rally because they went to be entertained by Gospel artistes and not merely to listen to Dr Mumba’s speech as nonsensical.

We always find it difficult to make sense of Dr Kaingu’s political judgements but by criticising the hiring of prominent artistes, Dr Kaingu has just confirmed that he is still a novice in politics.

Political observers will confirm that musical performances are an integral part of any political campaigning. At the height of the ‘Yes We can’ campaign, Barack Obama regularly appeared with star artistes Jayz and Beyonce who spiced up his rallies with performances.
We are also taken aback by machinations by the International Institute of Democracy and Conflict Resolutions to portray Dr Mumba as untrustworthy person after a purported reconciliatory meeting with Mr Banda failed.

As MMD youths, we want to put it on record that Dr Mumba never agreed to attend any of such meetings because the organisers were vague about its objectives.

Moreover, reconciliation can only happen if at all parties involved have fundamental differences but in the case of Dr Mumba and Mr Banda, we believe Dr Mumba does not need to reconcile with anyone because he is not the aggressor.
If Mr Banda needs to genuinely reconcile with Dr Mumba, he should take the first honourable step to publicly apologise for his recent actions and seek Dr Mumba’s forgiveness.

What we can guarantee him is that Dr Mumba, as Man of God has always forgiven him and still considers him as his elder brother.
As correctly pointed out by our party Director of Communication Mr Raphael Nakacinda, Dr Mumba cannot ignore any genuine reconciliatory processes.
The recent events in the MMD have forced us to draw a few conclusions.

Mr Banda’s purported return to politics is devoid of principle and real conviction to serve the Zambian people. This is a decision driven by the selfish desire to satisfy inflated egos of people that surround the former President.

We further conclude that Mr Banda could be compared to a man who sneaks into your house through the window and wants to claim ownership of the house. We are allowed to call such a man a thief.

We wish to remind Mr Banda that Zambians are focused on giving themselves an energetic, God fearing, young and morally upright leader with integrity.
Our analysis shows that Mr Banda is not anywhere near all these characteristics of a good leader that Zambians want.
The principle that governs our lives as human beings is that a good deed begets a good deed. We recall how Mr Banda was invited to be Vice President by the late Mwanawasa from his humble farm in Chipata where he was found wearing dirty gum boots and eating ground nuts while sipping on Tobwa.
The Zambians we talk today to as we canvass for votes across the country are telling us that they do not want an old and tired leader on the presidential ballot.

Mr Banda’s claim that the MMD lost the 2011 general elections because it had overstayed in power is a cheap and desperate attempts to twist facts and distort history.

We believe Zambians voted out the MMD because they had become disenchanted with the arrogance of leaders such as Mr Banda. MMD lost power because Mr Banda was simply the worst MMD President in the history of the party.

To claim otherwise is an insult to the collective wisdom and intelligence of Zambians.
Mr Banda should be reminded that the ruling parties in Angola, Tanzania, Bostwana, Zimbabwe and South Africa have been in power longer than the MMD’s 20 year rule.

Issued by:

Mr Bowman Lusambo-MMD Die Hard National Youth Coordinator