FORMER Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Edward Mumbi has filed a court notice which is seeking PF president Michael Sata to produce bank statements and audited accounts of the opposition political party and his business.

And some PF cadres-cum-hooligans yesterday insulted Mr Mumbi, his friends, and his lawyer Keith Mukata within the Lusaka High Court premises.

Mr Mumbi also wants Mr Sata to account for K35 million, which the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) gave the PF during the 2008 Presidential elections.

This is in a case where Mr Sata has sued Mr Mumbi for defamation of character on grounds that the former PF secretary general accused him of stealing money, which some people donated to the party.

In his ‘notice to produce’ filed in the Lusaka High Court, Mr Mumbi wants the PF president to produce bank statements relating to his accounts maintained at Standard Chartered Bank, Finance Bank Zambia Limited, and Zanaco for the period January 2001 to December 2009.

“Take notice that the defendant (Mr Mumbi) shall at the hearing of this matter require the plaintiff (Mr Sata) to produce the following documents…bank statements for Patriotic Front for the period January 2001 to December 2009, relating to its account(s) maintained at Finance Bank Zambia Limited…

“List of names, addresses and phone numbers of observers deployed in the nine provinces during the 30th October 2008 Presidential elections and an account of how the K35 million released by the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue was applied,” the notice reads in part.

He further seeks Mr Sata to produce the PF’s audited accounts from 2001 to 2009, and audited accounts for M.C Sata Business Consultants and Manufacturer Representatives for the years 2001 to 2009.

When the matter came up on Monday this week, the said documents had not been produced and Mr Sata’s lawyer Wynter Kabimba was of the view that there was a procedural irregularity in Mr Mumbi’s request.

Later the parties resolved that a formal application under a relevant order should be made after which Judge Evans Hamaundu will make a ruling on whether Mr Sata should release the documents.

After the case was adjourned yesterday Mr Mumbi said he will immediately re-file the application through his lawyer Keith Mukata.

[pullquote]“This man, who is vying for the highest office of the land, hired street kids from the markets to escort him… those were not PF members but street kids who insulted me, my lawyer and my few friends who escorted me to court after the chamber hearing was adjourned.[/pullquote]

“I will re-file this application immediately as a matter of urgency. I would like to see this matter come to its logical conclusion,” Mr Mumbi said.

Meanwhile, some PF cadres, who included youths and elderly women, unleashed insults at Mr Mumbi, his friends and Mr Mukata after the case, which was in chambers, was adjourned.

Mr Mumbi accused Mr Sata of hiring hooligans from City and Soweto markets to escort him to the court.

“This man, who is vying for the highest office of the land, hired street kids from the markets to escort him… those were not PF members but street kids who insulted me, my lawyer and my few friends who escorted me to court after the chamber hearing was adjourned.

“We all belong to political parties but we did not have any cadres at the court. So I want people to make their own opinion as to which party is decent or which person is better than other because this matter does not need the presence of cadres or that kind of hooliganism,” Mr Mumbi said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

The National Youth League (NYL) has challenged expelled Kafulafuta Member of Parliament and former Defense Minister George Mpombo to come out in the open and declare himself a Patriotic Front (PF) member.

And the NYL says it is happy with the manner in which President Rupiah Banda in has maturely handled criticisms by sections of society .

The organization’s Secretary General Lucky Soko charged that Mr. Mpombo is being used as a pawn to smear propaganda exhibiting traits of hatred, bitterness and jealous on President Rupiah Banda’s government.

Mr. Soko says it is unfortunate that Mr. Mpombo who had a good time during the tenure of government would like to blind himself to the fact that there has been a change of leadership style in the country to that of President Banda.

In a press statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Soko said It was very interesting to note that Mr. Mpombo who has been portrayed by the Post as ‘Brave’ has actually proved to be a coward.

“It is an open secret that Mr. Mpombo was favoured by the late President Mwanawasa’s administration but it could be wise enough for him to realize that status quo has changed for him. Let Mr. Mpombo come out in open and declare himself a PF sympathizer,” Mr. Soko said.

He claimed that Mr. Mpombo has been portrayed by the Post Newspaper a ‘Brave’ but actually proved a coward who is dead afraid of running for a by election on PF ticket of which he is currently a member.

Mr. Soko reminded Mr. Mpombo that he was expelled from the MMD Party for gross indiscipline and failure to respect party rules and procedures and the NYL finds it immature for Mr. Mpombo to comment on MMD issues.

“The National Youth League finds the behavior of Mr. Mpombo to be childish and immature which is nothing short of that of a toddler. Mr. Mpombo at his age is expected to show maturity and not bitterness as a result of loss of pecuniary benefits as a result of change of government. Mr. Mpombo needs to realize that Mr. Banda is the Head of State for 12 million Zambians” he said.

According to Mr. Soko he named education, road infrastructure, the Farmer Input Fertilizer Programme as some of the notable economic development achievements set in place by the MMD government’s good policies.

ZANIS

Among these is the former ruling but now renamed as United National Independent Party (UNIP) which rates its chances of scooping the seat very highly asserting that no other party is as popular in Chilanga as it is.

UNIP Secretary General Jemimah Banda told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that her party is confident of victory adding that it would leave no stone unturned to ensure it grabbed the Chilanga seat.

Mrs Banda said her party has embarked on a vigorous preparation exercise since area MP Ng’andu Magande was expelled by the ruling MMD.

“Immediately we heard that MMD had expelled (Mr ) Magande from the party and he accepted the expulsion, that was the time we started preparing ourselves for the Chilanga by-election”, she said.

She said the party’s internal organs have been to all the wards in Chilanga identifying possible candidates that are to be adopted to contest and out rightly win the elections.

Mrs Banda has since revealed that the party has so far received two applications from would be candidate but stressed that many more are in the process of applying.

She said UNIP has done its homework and would continue doing so until the by-elections are held to ensure a landslide victory.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has set October 28 as the date for voting in the Chilanga parliamentary by-election, necessitated by the expulsion of Ng’andu Magande from the MMD.

[ ZANIS ]

UPND cadres marched to Parliament on Tuesday to air their demands, charging that Major Chizyuka is not a member of parliament claiming he has continued insulting the party president Hakainde Hichilema.

The cadres who were led by UPND Lusaka Province Chairperson Shell Mulyata demanded that the UPND Namwala MP joins the ruling MMD.

Police in riot gear, however, blocked the irate placard carrying cadres who wanted to meet the embattled MP at Parliament buildings.

Major Chizyuka has fallen out of favor with his party for strongly opposing the UPND/PF pact.
[ MUV TV ]

Members of the government’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy has threatened to “physically harm” the bishop if he does not apologize for his remarks, while the Zambian bishops’ conference and individual priests have defended the prelate.

Bishop Paul Duffy of Mongu said Sept.3 that the general feeling of the people he interacted with in his diocese was that Zambian President Rupiah Banda’s government should be voted out of office next year because it has failed to improve their living conditions.

“Here in Western province, people think it is time for change,” Bishop Duffy told a reporter from the Post, the country’s leading daily tabloid.

Government spokesman Ronnie Shikapwasha accused the bishop of “being used by opposition political parties” to campaign against “a popularly elected government,” and others asked him to apologize.

On Sept 13, senior Movement for Multiparty Democracy officials, referring to themselves as the “MMD crack squad,” threatened to travel to Mongu to “physically harm” Bishop Duffy.

Bishop Duffy, 78, said he owed no one any apology over the statement because he was merely voicing the people’s feelings.

“Why should I apologize? Moreover, I have received a lot of solidarity messages over my statement,” said Bishop Duffy, who was born in Norwood, Mass., and has worked in Zambia for 26 years.

On Sept. 13, Bishop George Lungu of Chipata, president of the Zambian bishops’ conference, said the president deserved to know the truth about the state of the nation through listening to credible people like bishops who are in constant touch with the people.

“I deeply sympathize with my brother bishop with regard to reactions which his statement has elicited … but as bishops and shepherds of the people, our prophetic voice is motivated by our divine obligation and wish to see (the) government do better and succeed,” he said.

“This has nothing to do with any perceived dislike or preferences for any particular sitting president or government,” Bishop Lungu added. “The collective voice of bishops, speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church in Zambia, is always clear … when we speak as bishops, our message is distinct.”

Oblate Father Godfrey Mpundu, the order’s treasurer general, said the government was using the “so-called ‘crack squad'” to wage violent attacks on people with divergent views and those who wanted to promote the common good in the nation by criticizing the wrongs of the movement.

He urged the police to take seriously the threats on the bishop’s life, and he called on Catholics in the Mongu Diocese to be on alert and ensure that Bishop Duffy is protected from disgruntled political cadres.

Meanwhile, Caritas Zambia condemned the ruling party’s threats on Bishop Duffy’s life and expressed shock at the police’s lack of action on the perpetrators of such criminal acts.

“Caritas Zambia will not sit and watch ruling party officials insult Bishop Duffy, who works tirelessly to uplift the lives of people in the diocese,” said a Sept. 17 Caritas statement. “Every person has the right to expression, which should be respected as contained in the laws of Zambia.”

Milimo Mwiba, the head of Caritas Zambia’s justice and peace unit, said the threats demonstrate “the growing intolerance to divergent views as we approach the 2011 general elections.”

“It is a fact that Western province still remains one of the poorest provinces in Zambia. Yes, people are tired, and someone has to stand up for them; this is what the bishop has been doing and will continue to do,” Mwiba said of Bishop Duffy, who heads the board of Caritas Zambia.

[Catholic News Service]