SCIENCE and Technology Minister, Gabriel Namulambe has been told to publicly apologise to President Rupiah Banda or resign on moral grounds.
Copperbelt provincial MMD publicity and information secretary in charge of youth affairs Morgan Ntankula, said in Kitwe yesterday Mr Namulambe should apologise for raising what he called false alarm which had created unnecessary tension between the Lamba people and other tribes.
Mr Ntankula who was speaking in his capacity as a concerned Lamba person, said in a statement it was unfortunate that Mr Namulambe who recently said that Lambas were hurt and frustrated, did not even consult the Lambas.
He said Mr Namulambe should have handled his grievance with maturity than implicating the innocent Lamba tribe.
When contacted, Mr Namulambe who is Mpongwe Member of Parliament (MP) said, he would not apologise because his statement was not targetted at President Banda but at those that had continued to attack the late Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy.
“Let the people read my statement and they will find out that at no time did I direct that statement at President Banda,” he said.
He said Mr Ntankula was not one of the people he represented as Mpongwe MP and he should just concentrate on organising the party.
“It is sad that people have decided to take the smoke out of my statement leaving out the fire,” Mr Namulambe said.
Mr Ntankula, however, said it was shameful of Mr Namulambe to even boast that he was strong politically and could not be pushed, instead of humbling himself.
“I strongly feel Mr Namulambe should apologise publicly or resign if he has any morals. What we have noticed in his attitude is that he is exhibiting the worst levels of indiscipline and disrepect to the authority, something very unfamiliar to our tribe.
Failure to publicly apologise to the president and the nation at large, will compel us the concerned Lamba speaking people, to earnestly request the president to fire him and consider other people that are eager to work with the president,” Mr Ntankula said.
He said Mr Namulambe had dented the image of the Lamba speaking tribe.
Mr Ntankula said it was sad that Mr Namulambe should create an impression that President Banda had become unpopular in Lamba land when the president was enjoying massive support in the area.
Meanwhile, Kafulafuta Constituency leadership in Ndola, is against the expulsion of area Member of Parliament, George Mpombo from the party because the move is not a solution to the current stand off with the MMD.
Constituency chairperson, Abraham Mwape said the party in the area was still hopeful that the issue concerning Mr Mpombo could still be resolved amicably.
Mr Mwape said in an interview in Masaiti at the weekend that calls for the expulsion of the former Defence minister would not solve the problem but compound it.
“Calls for Mr mpombo’s resignation is not a solution to the problem but he should instead be called for a meeting so that all outstanding issues can be resolved,” he said.
He said the party in the district still wanted Mr Mpombo to avail himself at the forthcoming constituency conference scheduled for January 8, 2010 in Ndola, where he was expected to explain in detail his position following his unwarranted attacks on President Banda and the MMD leadership.
Mr Mwape said Mr Mpombo had not responded to calls by the constituency to go and explain his position on the matter since he resigned from Cabinet in September.
But provincial party chairperson, Joseph Chilambwe maintained the earlier position taken by the party in the province to recommend to the National Executive Committee (NEC) to expel Mr Mpombo from the MMD.
[Times of Zambia]
bwafya bwebantu.
Do we apologise for telling the truth? Bwafya chachine.
Maybe Mr Ntakula should explicitly offer his services to the president to be considered to takeover Mr Namulambes position,doesnt he have any ambitions to be a minister and show his unflinching solidarity to RB and popularity to the Lambas.,Maybe the president should lead by example by apologizing to the zambians over his tribal remarks
BaNtankula mwebo maboni yanga mwafola kwaba Lupiya,solini, baRupiah? Mwatukatasha nekubwatabwata kwenu. Findo mukolabila mwebo,pakuti imfwa yabamwisho baLevy ichili ilesomena ukwakuti namwebo kamujoiner abakubasalula nelo tabakwetepo impindi yakwasuka.Twamipapateni ikaleni cabe. Mulipuneme???!!!??
LT EDITOR, I SEE YOU HAVE DELETED MY LAMBA RESPONSE TO NTAKULA. OKEY!!I WILL SORT YOU OUT THRU DPP MCHENGA
This Ntankula chap watuchawa ka? Kapoto alelwisha nangula ni chinshi?
Why should Namulambe be forced to resign? Who is this ntankula chap? Who is he to call for nalumambe’s resignation. It’s high time he shut his beak. nalumambe simply wants mwanawasa’s legacy to be kept.
If this is the trend of the MMD, then it will lose even the small questionable support in the CB rural. Why should GN rsigne for delivering to the public what is on the ground? Why should GN resign for being truthful? Next you will hear that Hon Lwipa has been petitioned by Chieftainess Shimikunami of Lufwanyama. Lamba chiefs are not happy with the GRZ of RB, period! And this is what GN was trying to tell these deaf ears of chi RB and others in GRZ. Surely alerting the party that he loves is no crime. Viva GN
Ba Moderator @ 5, bwafya pa Zed. Anything to be considered for a job, ka. Ntankula is proper bootlicker. RB must surely be impressed for someone to come to his aid. Advisor in the Presidents office maybe??
Although MMD issues are probably for the party and its structures to deal with, the leadership ought to show maturiity in the way they talk about issues coz we all want to get the best of lessons from what the party is doing to itself and inevitably to Zambia as a whole. The party ought not to rely on what is written down alone but it should be open to principles of democracy such as Toralence, freedom of expression, open door policies and the need to allow for divergent views which can be harmonised through occassions like national conventions. In a democracy Namulambe and Mpombo are allowed to talk and do as they please. An insult(perceived or not) to RB is not an insult to MMD!!!!!
Mr Ntankula, pipo in RB’s govt do not resign no matter how much pressure you put on them. Ask the likes of Konga, Kunda, Mchenga,Siliya and Sikatana if you like. So you are just wasting your time. The best option for you is to ask RB to fire Namulambe.
Why asking him to resign when you have power to fire him? D.ull creatures indeed!!!!!!!!
Am suprised that this is still an issue. The legacy will haunt MMD forever
Kasama and Solwezi defeats have humbled Banda and you will never see him firing anybody triggering a by election he has no chance in hell to win!. He knows only too well that if he triggers any by election and losses, the task of winning the party presidency at the convention would evaporate instantly. Give the old man a break guys, its hard enough trying to keep this MMD boat afloat already as it were especially that even his own tribesmen like Ken Ngondo have declared him incompetent. Anyway, Ken’s stance gives Zambia hope that Bwezani’s tribalism hasn’t torn us apart because wise men from the East have seen him for what he is, INCOMPETENT!
Morgan ninchito fye ulefwaya. Being Lamba you think RB will will replace Namulambe with you. Mawe nakatasha
Ya, let RB fire this boy and appoint a real unwavering ngoni man like me!
This is al petty at the expense of te whole zambian nation and other things that these people could focus oin to benefit the Zambians or improve their lives. Why do our politicians enjoy bickering of all things? You wonder what goes on in their minds to stay focused on trivial issues? Legacy, legacy, lets move on and deal with what is happening now, THERE IS ONLY ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION. Stop this tribal BS and grow up. Its sad that these are the people we have entrusted to lead us, Shame on all you politicians spending government time bickering and attacking each other , if people don’t want this guy who ever it is let the elections do justice. You don’t make any political mileage by attacking each other all the time in the press. Grow Up you all!!
Ntankula,kani webo uliwamwenso kanshi ufume muchiloganino icho pantu Numulambe ali mukati emuli inchinto yaku shololola MMD.Tapapo umushobo waku weba ati RB alufyanya kani chachine abantu bakubona,kabili ifya kulya ubushiku fila boneka kumalushi….MMD is cracking at the seams….
Our government is becoming useless, does the truth need to be apologized for ? You people were is this government driving us to, the government that does not need the truth.
Fire both of them.. stop wasting peoples time and set a good example to lead. Tuchawa, mwachilamo ba cadre imwe, if you are not confident of your position and skills, you end up doing tu chawa to the leader; instead of working on what you need to work on you become a walking stick to keep you employed. These broke offcials who have got nothing else to land on once their positions are erased and they end up attacking each other in the media to show support for the one in charge. The people of Zambia are not interested in your bickering they want you to deliver the goods to them and thats why you are there. If you are there to speak on someone else’s behalf get another position that justifies you or take up this guy by competing in elections period. Ba cadre aba bachilamo ifyongo
#10 Honorable Sikatana is not in RB’s GRZ..!!!!!
iwe ka morgan, ikalafye. bu board member bwa ku nkana water bwakukola? ulenwafye pa changa na mai iwe mwaice.
Bantakula,kaponokenu mwinsho!, Endo mwatatika kabili?Mulichungwasana mwebo.Nindo bamulisheni pakwebati mutatike ukupunameifi?.Mwekesapo Kumishikishi, Tukamupameni Ichakuiti.Headman Tankula.Mishikishi mu ndola Kabwe road,
But Ntankula is right. The bloggers here are so polarized. That is why Zambia risks making change for the sake of it and send the country many years back rather than to rationally correct an under-performing situation with minimal risk. Mr. Namulambe uttered a very careless unsubstantiated statement – let us accept that. As a Cabinet Minister why did he not address those grievances in Cabinet? He actions are against collective responsibility – what Major Chizhyuka did – irrespective of whether one is right.
# 4 Hahahahaha! lol That lamba’s kewl 🙂
Leave Mpombo alone, he knows what he is doing.