United Party for national Development (UPND) national chairperson Mutale Nalumango has rubbished reports of a rift in the party and that she was ever talked down by a Senior UPND official.
Reacting to rumours created by her absence the press briefing which was attended by Mr Hichilema, his deputy Geoffrey Mwamba and former Commerce minister Bob Sichinga as well as other senior party officials, Mrs Nalumango said it was normal for her not to attend every press conference the party held.
She said she could not make it for yesterday’s briefing but would be present at the next briefing.
Mrs Nalumango said what mattered was that she was a senior member of the UPND and had her duties to perform and that speculation about her being ‘‘dressed down’’ by one of her colleagues were unfounded.
“It is normal for me not to attend every party event or press conference. If one was called tomorrow, you will definitely see me. So it is not correct to impute that there are problems in the UPND and your speculations are certainly unfounded.
“Whatever you are insinuating are your own imaginations. For me what is important is that I am UPND and I will remain so,” Mrs Nalumango said.
The Daily Nation recently revealed that Mrs Nalumango was verbally abused by a senior leader of the UPND and even threatened with physical harassment at a national management committee meeting, the story she said was not true.
THE absence of UPND national chairperson Mutale Nalumango at a press briefing to welcome defectors yesterday led to people to suspect the insults she endured from a top party official recently could have been the cause.
Mrs Nalumango was last weekend allegedly “dressed down” in the party’s management meeting when she questioned why a named top official was dissolving grassroots committees and putting in place new ones without her knowledge as a chairwoman.
A UPND official who attended the press briefing but sought anonymity said Mrs Nalumango’s absence at the press briefing yesterday gave an idea of the tension between her and her fellow senior party member.
The official said Mrs Nalumango as party chairman was rarely absent during such important events of receiving new members.
“Was Mutale there? What does that tell you? Because you know Mrs Nalumango is always present at such events,’’ the official said.
He said the apparent ‘‘animosity’’ between the two senior members had become a source of concern to UPND president Mr Hakainde Hichilema as he did not know how to deal with the situation.
“The situation is simmering but it is still under the surface, you cannot see it. It is now bottled up. Everybody is cagy and people are just watching each other now. It is very worrying especially for Mr Hichilema as president,’’ the source said.
The official said it was worrying that the party had not taken any measures to reconcile the two parties.
Why did 47 members defect to FDD as reported?
UPND please tell us the truth, and nothing but the truth.
Whatever Emmanuel Mwamba and Daily Nation are trying will just land them in trouble with like of Fr. Bwalya who are fighting to clean up smear campaign.
Mutale. We have always told you and other non-tongas that towards and after Aug 12 is when you will know that there are no vacancies for non-Tongas in UPND period. They are using you now but will throw u like a used tampon later
My dear friend, UPND is not like PF, m when Sata took over, all Tonga speaking CEOs were fired. This trend continued under Lungu. Take a survey of all government institutions and departments, 90% of the management personnel are Bembas. Skilled Lozis, Tongas, Luvales, Nkoyas, Kaondes etc were and are still be fired under the guise of being supporters of the opposition Mainly UPND.
What should happen when UPND takes over is to correct that anomaly. All Zambians are equal under the law and as such all deserve to be given same opportunities.
PF PROPAGANDA.
Yes, PF propaganda and profitaganda
Ba Nalumango, just face the facts. I spoke to a friend who was at the meeting and he confirmed what was reported in the press.
Oh yes me too. My friend was in the meeting with Obama and Putin. He confirmed everything!!
PF has no direction and they are the ones wanting to bring conflicts because they have failed to settle down their own dust.
Whatever way you may put it madam UPND is not your home. They just wanted to use you to win elections. Thank God you are going home with HH for this is your final year.
No jostling for the top most slot. We know who it belongs to.
Whether this is a rumour or not is immaterial and not of interest. What is certain is that UPND will implode very soon. The mix of characters recruited into the party in order to swell the numbers or to do a cosmetic balance of the tribes has ensured that UPND is no longer the professional party that it was. Do you hear them talk about economic manager anymore? No! Do you hear them talk about fighting corruption? No! If they do they must also explain whether the corrupt who have joined have renounced their corrupt practices which UPND condemned other parties for. The party has become a motley combination of all sorts of characters thieves, womanisers, corrupt, liars, ruffians etc. As correctly observed in the article, HH no longer has control of the party as these elements have taken…
….taken over the party that seemed to have so much promise as the party of economic management, the future of Zambia. Now it is a party where corruption has regrouped. Do you disputes that? Well how can you, when the new UPND is being filled by all manner of crooks from MMD, PF and its own?
That’s why I say we’re better off continue with pf because the vultures have now left it and are still leaving. In Zambia we don’t support individuals but party. As zambians we will still support pf2 as our known devil. What new things will other parties going to bring because they are equally engulfed by plunderers and if you analyze theirs promises its what we are seeing under pf.
Daily Nation Is a partisan publication. They do not push a people’s agenda but their survival.The paper is quite shallow and embarrassingly so. A paper that begs for Government business, how can they be objective?Sad.
Check them they are wolves in sheep’s skin…
As the election date draws nearer, its now the time to expect all sorts of propaganda across the political divide in an attempt to repulse numerical advantage. It will now depend on the ability of the affected person(s) or party to demystify the allegations or succumb. Whether the case at hand is a fact or fiction, such allegations are long overdue.
Ikusunga imbwa maano.People are coming to UPND because HH is a good leader.
@Terrible, you don’t make sense my friend. UPND has never been professional in your eyes because you have always been lambasting either HH or the party itself. You are just grasping at straws, anything to discredit UPND. Reminds me of PF zealots who keep on saying Mazoka was a better leader than HH, and yet they sent the man to his early grave.
If you look at Kaunda’s UNIP, they did not tell the truth. Chiluba, Mwanawasa, Banda, Sata, Lungu and all opposition are just the same; they don’t tell the truth. They relish lies and call themselves leaders? Can we have new politicians please who will not deny facts? We want truth tellers like Trump who will tell it as it is.
I can hardly tell the difference between her and Kambwili or even Hakainde
Comment:correct see what happened in namwala shameful they want others to demonstrate love while they applying their famous formular, mapatizya