A Conversation with the Nation : A Case of the Lukashya by-elections

By Nevers Mumba: MMD President

INTRODUCTION

Today, I choose to speak to the core and soul of our Nation. I further choose to bear my soul to the nation and hopefully define my long-held vision of Zambia Shall be Saved. This is not a political slogan but a vision God gave me long before I joined politics.

World history has clear examples of bad governments and good governments. We all know what a bad and failing government looks like when we see one. We also know what a good government looks like when we see it.

Our responsibility as a people cooperate is to ensure that our nation Zambia which we have by choice, clothed with a Christian name does not become a failed state. We do this not for ourselves but the generations that shall come after us.

So, my statement today seeks to demonstrate how far we have fallen and what needs to be done to restore our dignity and image as a nation.

The case of the just ended Lukashya by-election is a good place to start.

LUKASHYA BY-ELECTION

I choose to use Lukashya as a case study of how we have fallen as a people because MMD participated in the by election and I personally spent six days on the ground.
This election revealed the worst in us as a people. It showed the rot and corruption we have embraced as a way of life. Until we choose another path of self-respect, integrity and adherence to the rule of law, our country shall not be saved and shall not prosper.

I wish to address members of the MMD nationwide and assure you that your party is getting stronger by the day after the November 5th 2019 court judgment which restored the legitimate leadership of the party.

The election results as announced by the Electoral Commission in Lukashya do no reflect our performance in the just ended by-election. We did not get 114 votes. The privileged information we have has revealed that MMD was targeted for humiliation by use of pre marked ballots and the swapping of ballot boxes. The strategy of our colleagues in government has been to destabilize the MMD and find a way to take the nationwide structures of the MMD. It is against this background that a group led by Raphael Nakachinda against court judgements continues to claim to represent the MMD, a party to which he no longer belongs with a view to destabilize it.

NEED FOR HONOR

For the past four years since Raphael Nakachinda chose to fight against me and the MMD party, my team members have always reminded me never to answer Raphael back. I have kept this advice because it resonates with my personal position. However, we have now reached a stage where my silence on Raphael’s behavior could be interpreted as recklessness on my part. If he gets the counsel I give him today, he shall save his life and that of his family. I know that he understands the spiritual implications of his conduct. He understands better than many that I am not just a politician, I am God’s servant. He understands that I am not just a pastor, I am his spiritual father.

Over the weekend, Raphael released a statement in which he called me a fool and by implication a failure in leadership. Before I respond to his words, I wish to confirm that yes, Raphael was brought into the political space by myself. From the spiritual side, I can even call him a son.

On that basis, as a father, I am happy with how he has improved his life to own what he owns now and to land a nomination from President Lungu. Especially that I know where I got him from. I am happy for him and his family. That’s what a father does.

It is however not a secret that his presumed success has been built at my expense. The more he insulted me the more support he got from those whose mission has been to stop my God-given destiny. My advice to him however is that, the end result of his actions will not be different from those who did the same thing in the Bible. When Absalom rose up against David his father. When Judas Iscariot rose up against his master Jesus and when Lucifer rose up against God the creator. Their end was the same.

LEADER OR A FOOL

Let me now address Mr. Nakachinda’s statement that I am a fool. Not knowing who he is comparing my leadership to, let me state as follows.

I do not think the Pentecostal/Charismatic Church in Zambia will agree with Raphael that I am a fool.

I don’t think my highly objective wife of 35 years will agree with him that I am a fool.

I don’t think my five children all educated with university degrees would agree with him that I am a fool.

I do not believe that the multiplied millions who got saved through the Zambia Shall be saved television broadcast will agree with him that I am a fool.

I do not think Pastors and young families we have trained and sent all over the world as missionaries would agree with him that I am a fool.

I don’t think the diplomatic community in Canada which elected me as the first african President of the diplomatic association would agree with him that I am a fool.

I don’t think our first President who sought prayer and guidance from me when he restored Zambia as a multiparty state will agree with him that I am a fool.

I don’t think the late President Chiluba who for the first time in Zambian history honored me with a diplomatic passport as clergy would agree with him that I am a fool.

I don’t think Raphael’s own wife who knows where I got him from would agree with him that I am a fool.

In fact, there seems to be no history of failed leadership in my life. I fulfilled all my obligations with diligence. As Pastor, Vice President, and Ambassador. I gave it my all and my best. I am proud of the record I have left behind.

ATTEMPT TO CHANGE MMD HISTORY

There has been an attempt to change the recent history of the MMD to suggest that the current state of MMD is as a result of my lack of leadership. To the contract, my role since I took over has been to bring it back after the humiliation loss of 2011.

Let me be clear. Without our strong leadership after the loss of the 2011 election, MMD was on its way to extinction. A group of MMD leaders led the party into a devastating loss in 2011. Many abandoned the party and joined the new ruling party. When I took over we gave it a new face and began to win by-elections again.
The same group came back and destabilized the party in 2014. This led to poor performance in 2015. When the party was back in its strength in 2016, the same group came back and high jacked the party for three years. Ten months ago, we got the party again and started to rebuild it from the injury caused by the same group. Only strong, proven leadership can rebuild and organization after three assaults.

The constant interference by the same people created an image of instability which in turn affects voter confidence. It is for this reason we have decided to deal with this group once and for all and prepare the party for next year’s election.

Yes, they are those who feel are better than we and MMD can only work under them. Unfortunately, God chooses who he wishes at any particular time. At this time he has entrusted me and our team with the responsibility to lead the MMD.

THE MALPRACTICES

Our claims are based on first-hand intelligence information and the consequent illegal activities which surrounded the just ended the by-election.

While in Kasama I heard a knock on my door at the lodge our team had camped for the Lukashya campaign. A senior member of the PF who is also a committed Christian came to see me at midnight. He looked worried and uncomfortable. He told me to the face that PF under normal circumstances stands no chance of winning this election as there is no goodwill on the ground. A decision has therefore been made to rig the election. He further indicated that MMD was targeted for humiliation so that our political opponents could use our loss as a license to further destabilize the MMD. He advised that the best thing is to compel the ECZ to postpone the election because the levels of malpractices were too excessive. He advised me to sound the alarm about the pending rigging, a thing I did the following day on Radio Mano and Rally on our last day of the campaign.

1. He confirmed that the pre-marked ballots had arrived in Kasama. He confirmed that 4,500 people had been recruited to stuff the ballot papers in ballot boxes in all the polling stations.
2. He confirmed that mealie meal was being distributed in the different wards by DMMU and that the PF camps were being supplied by taxpayers’ money with foodstuffs. This alone is sufficient ground to nullify the election.
3. He provided information on the many GRZ vehicles being used in the campaign which we had also seen.

We are unable to provide the whole list of malpractices to allow the team we have mandated to travel back to Kasama to do an effective forensic audit of all the malpractices to do their job undisturbed.

Further, the extent of violence experienced in the campaign could have caused a working ECZ to have suspended the election or disqualified the culprits. The police for the most part stood helpless as they watched people being beaten and vehicles being broken into and destroyed.

Two PF cadres were nabbed by the police for being in possession of pre-marked ballot papers. When this information reached the senior leaders of the PF, the duo was released privately.

A PF cadre was arrested by the police for taking a picture of his ballot paper before casting his vote. When interrogated by the police, he stated that the PF leaders were suspecting him that he would vote for another candidate and therefore was not going to be given promised money if he did not provide proof. A vote is a secret matter in a democracy. To intimidate members of the public to vote a certain way based on financial gratification is illegal and enough ground to nullify the election.

Based on all these and many other irregularities the ECZ should have suspended this election. It is an illegitimate election and the outcome is also illegitimate. It’s for this reason that the MMD cannot on moral grounds congratulate the PF as having won the said election. Neither do we agree that the number of votes allocated to MMD are genuine. How can our candidate get TWO votes at his polling station where he voted for himself with his family and his church members? Our numbers in one ward are reported by our agents at 1050 votes for MMD and the PF had 400 votes in that same ward. (One policeman who raised this matter was removed from that polling station) How then can we end up with 114 votes for the whole constituency? Our verification team is on its way to Kasama to collect all evidence and witnesses to all these malpractices. It is at this point that the party shall decide on the course of action to take.
I wish to state that these are our preliminary findings and we await the whole report from our verification team.

THE ELECTORAL PROCESS

It is a proven fact that electoral commissions in Africa are the source of conflict and national insecurity. A few decades ago, coup de tat’s were responsible for illegitimate take over of governments. The AU however addressed this matter adequately and coups are no longer fashionable. However, the new juntas of keeping ruling parties in government against the wish of the people are electoral commissions across the continent.

The Lukashya case can be called the “2020 ECZ scandal.”The fact that against all these malpractices, the ECZ is quiet and gone ahead to authenticate the elections confirms our fears that the ECZ is defunct and impotent. Our concern as a people should therefore be how do we even think of facing the 2021 election under such a regime?

Based on these flawed elections a narrative has been formed in the media that the people of Zambia are in love with the PF and that the UPND is a social media-based party that is absent from the grassroots while no one in Zambia wants MMD. This narrative is furthest from the truth and any PF member who believes it risks having a heart attack in August 2021. The Americans would say that ‘PF are drinking their own cool-aid.”

We also wish to announce that we are aware that an IT center has been set up which will permanently hack into the ECZ server to manipulate the numbers in the 2021 election. We are following very closely as to how the recruited South African IT guru shall achieve this goal. The good news is that we know where these facilities are and who is responsible for it.

As a Pastor Politician, my heart tells me we are on a wrong path. Manipulating the electoral process to remain in power is the most evil act anyone can do. This changes the whole reason for an election. It should never be that the most corrupt should win elections but the most qualified and the most favored by the electorate. Very few african countries have this privilege. Zambia can start afresh and divorce itself from the list of african failed states in as far as the electoral process is concerned. Give ZambianS, leaders of their choice and see Zambia get united and develop in leaps and bounds.

IN CONCLUSION:

To the members and sympathizers of MMD both at home and in the Diaspora, don’t lose hope. Some people may call us underdogs as we head towards the 2021 election. In August next year we shall not be the first underdogs to win. History has demonstrated that underdogs have won more contests than those who call themselves front runners. The Bible which never lies assures us with these words, “And the last shall be first…”
Let’s unite and fight like we have never fought before. The future is bright.

To the general public, Let’s gang up and dismantle the current electoral commission and replace it with a functional and patriotic institution. The current ECZ is a danger to peace.

To the Church, Let is rise and speak for equity and justice for all. Let us demand that the PF adheres to the rule of law. As of now citizens are doing their best to keep the law, but the PF has chosen the path of lawlessness. They are holding huge rallies in the COVID-19 season. Campaigns have not been announced by ECZ. We MUST all hold the PF government accountable to the rule of law. The power to change our fortunes as a nation is in our hands. All of us together.

May God bless the New Hope MMD and may God bless the Republic of Zambia.