As Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), we wish to dispel false rumours being circulated by Zambia Reports that 34 MMD Members of Parliament have resolved to suspend their monthly contributions until the party leadership agrees to hold an extra-ordinary party convention.
This story is the complete opposite to the true picture which is that many of the MMD MPs who supported other political parties in the recent presidential election have already appeared before a Disciplinary Committee led by Dr Peter Machungwa that was appointed at a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on 31st January 2015.
The MPs have expressed remorse to the Committee for their actions and have pledged to come back into the fold and support the party going forward as most of them were misled by some of our former leaders such as expelled former National Chairman Kabinga Pande and former National Secretary Muhabi Lungu.
If there is any MMD MP that feels they can hold the party to ransom using their monthly contributions, they are sadly mistaken and the party shall not hesitate to take appropriate action against them. The party is ready for any MP who wishes to withdraw their monthly support because we also reserve the right to withdraw the membership of such an MP.
The MMD is not for sale. The New Hope MMD has sufficient funding to run the administration of the party for the next two years. So if some MPs wish to manipulate democracy by withholding the K2,000 monthly contributions, they shall fail. The contributions of the MPs make up a small fraction of the total monthly budget of the MMD and we receive the bulk of our money from other MMD members that include the party leadership. I and others as individuals have made contributions equivalent to several months of what the MPs make in a month, combined.
There is no short cut to the MMD presidency. Any one interested should offer themselves at the constitutionally scheduled convention in 2016. There will be no back door to the leadership of the party and we are determined to follow our constitution to the letter.
Some misguided so-called “big-wigs” of the party have held the party at ransom for too long and time to halt such mischievous machinations has come. We have vowed to cleanse the party of the impotence of the old MMD and we shall not tolerate indiscipline.
This latest article is just another malicious story by Zambia Reports in their ongoing crusade to destabilize the MMD. For example, the claim that Elizabeth Chitika-Molobeka is a signatory to the MMD bank accounts is completely false. In the last four months or so, Zambia Reports have exhibited some of the worst forms of “yellow journalism” in Zambia as they have consistently written false malicious stories about our party president Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba and the MMD.
They have totally ignored any positive news items about MMD and kept churning out nothing but malicious propaganda against the MMD. We know the individuals behind these evil schemes and we are aware they have been working with some of the leaders who rebelled against the leadership of Dr Mumba.
We wish to inform Zambia Reports that their propaganda against the MMD shall not succeed. Zambians are now much wiser after seeing the “political adultery” exhibited by some of our members in the last election. No one, not even Zambia Reports, can stop us from regrouping and reorganizing and becoming a political force to reckon with again.
Raphael Nakacinda
MMD SPOKESPERSON
Well it sounds like whichever side of the MMD you are on, it is still coercion when options are disallowed.
I thought he is supposed to be Raphael “Sikacinda” going by the Mambwe traditions!!!!
Who are the ‘we’. Looks like the drama continues. What about Nevers’ statement about dialogue.