Press statement

It has become apparent over the past few weeks that some elements in the MMD would rather see the Die Hard Youth movement banned.

The statement attributed to Deputy National Secretary Chembe Nyangu threatening to ban the existence of our vibrant group goes to confirm that there is an evil scheme within the MMD to annihilate us from the political scene.
The attempts by Mr Nyangu to write us letters threatening to ban the MMD Die Hard are nothing but laughable.
It is almost comical for Mr Nyangu to issue threatening statements against the very organisation that he personally used to his benefit when it suited him.
The MMD Die Hard has existed to protect the party’s interests against individuals with questionable, narrow and selfish interests.
Any keen follower and supporter of the MMD will appreciate the amount of sacrifice that members of the MMD Die Hard have had to endure to ensure that the MMD remained a strong and resilient political party.
Mr Nyangu and all those wishing to see us banned went into hiding in the aftermath of the 2011 general election defeat, the MMD Die Hard went out to convince the general MMD membership that we shall bounce back. The MMD Die Hard participated in every available platform to reassure Zambians that the MMD was still relevant and vibrant.
When everybody including Mr Nyangu did not want to associate themselves with the MMD, we went out and sang MMD slogans publicly, risking our lives and those of our members.
We were threatened with death but we soldiered on using the very platform that Mr Nyangu and his cronies today want to see banned.

The MMD Die Hard is a legitimate movement within the broader MMD family with shared democratic ideals and values. The MMD Die Hard has been around since the days of late President Levy Mwanawasa and shall never cease to exist.
Our humble advice to people like Mr Nyangu is to simply encourage us to play our role of protecting our beloved MMD.
Mr Nyangu will do well to concentrate on party administration which includes disciplining truant members who are causing divisions by calling for an illegal extraordinary national convention.
We find it odd that Mr Nyangu who appears keen on meting disciplinary action against the MMD Die Hard appears disinterested in bringing to book cantankerous members causing anarchy in the party.
We wish to reaffirm that our role in the MMD is not destructive but constructive. The MMD should concentrate on rebuilding ahead of 2016 and that demands that all members contribute and that goes for the MMD Die Hard too.
Mr Nyangu and other leaders opposed to our existence should do a little self-introspection to find out how they personally benefitted from the existence of the MMD Die Hard.

We again wish to reaffirm in clear terms that we will never die because we are MMD Die Hard.

By: Bowman Lusambo
National Coordinator-MMD Die Hard

Muzo AKA Alphonso released the video for his single “Unasheko Insele” 

BY KAPA187

Government has directed the police to deal firmly with Patriotic Front (PF) and other Zambians found invading private property before the situation gets out of hand.

Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba said people grabbing land illegally should be stopped and brought to book and to ensure sanity .

Mr Kabimba has since described the move by some people to grab private land by force as criminal trespass and advised the police to deal with perpetrators of such acts.

Speaking when he featured on KNC Community Radio in Kabwe on Sunday morning, Mr Kabimba who is also PF secretary General said there was need for the police to deal with land invaders firmly regardless of which political parties they came from.

He said the tendency of grabbing land should come to an end and that those found wanting should face the law what the owners of the land should be protected.

“We cannot allow such a trend of people just waking up and wanting to grab land or property illegally which is the reason why the police should firmly deal with such acts to ensure the trend is stopped immediately, “he said.

And Mr Kabimba called for discipline in the PF and ordered the cadres to stop locking offices for civil servants.

He said there was need for discipline to prevail in the party and urged the party cadres to desist from locking offices for government officers every time they were aggrieved.

He said he was not happy with cadres who went to lock the office for Mkushi Council Secretary and asked for the trend to stop saying they should use their time to bring new members to the party.

“It is not your job to start locking offices, there are channels to follow in the party and PF members must spend time explaining Government programmes to the people and not engaging in squabbles” he said.

The ruling PF has urged the opposition MMD to quickly resolve its internal divisions because its death is a direct threat to the basis of the country’s multiparty system of governance.

PF Media and Communications Director Chanda Mfula has charged that like UNIP, the MMD is indispensible from the political history, independence and development of the country.

Mr. Mfula said in a statement that being the largest opposition party with experience in government, the MMD is an integral part of the democratic system on which the country’s governance is based.

He said the PF therefore believes that MMD leaders have a greater responsibility to save the party from extinction in the interest of the democratic fundamentals of the country.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mfula has also urged MMD President Nevers Mumba to re-examine his stance of externalizing the problems of his party and address the real internal issues that threaten its existence.

He reminded Dr. Mumba that the PF is led by honorable men and women who recognize that the survival of the MMD is in the interest of the nation’s democracy and cannot put partisan interests ahead of such an issue.

Mr. Mfula said the PF desires to compete with a stronger and well led, managed and organized MMD on the political platform, bearing in mind that a very competitive political landscape is capable of producing the best quality leadership for the country’s continued development.

MMD founder member, Mbita Chitala has said the current uncertainty in the party can be contributed to it being managed by non founding members.

Mr Chitala said the insecurity in the major opposition political party was as a result of senior party officials’ lack of understanding of the party’s basic principles on which it was founded.

He said the only remedy to sustain the MMD was to call for an urgent convention and oust out all those who hijacked the party.

Mr Chitala who joined concerned senior party officials on the need to hold a convention said the MMD risked being swallowed by other political parties and that electing new crop of leaders would settle the wrangles..

“The need to go for a convention is ripe so that it can get rid of non founding members of the party who did not understand the founding principles, the manifesto as well as the constitution, this is what has contributed to current squabbles,” said Mr Chitala.

He said MMD’s challenge is that it was being handled by outsiders hence the need to get back to its roots and focus on re-branding it by changing the party manifesto, constitution and concentrate on developing it.

Mr Chitala said the current wrangles should not be taken lightly because they had potential to contribute to the collapse of the party and ensure that non founder members were gotten rid of immediately.

In an interview today, Mr Chitala said the MMD had been hijacked by people with different divergent views, a situation which had exasperated the founding members.

He said confusions in the party started when former President Levy Mwanawasa who left a good legacy died and the party was left in the hands of non founders who started embracing non founders and allowed them to start frustrating old members.

He said people like the current party president Nevers Mumba, former Lusaka chairperson, William Banda and others were allowed to harass old members they found like, Catherine Namugala and Major Richard Kachingwe without considering the repercussion.

“The current leader had a political party, it is common knowledge, cadres came in after Dr Mwanawasa left a good legacy, after his death party cadres came and were allowed to embarrass senior party officials, the risk of continuing with this scenario is that the party will be swallowed in other parties, it has 50 Members of Parliament (MP) and sustenance is the convention,” he said