Sworn Patriotic Front supporter Father Frank Bwalya says he decided to quit his Zesco board chairperson position to reclaim his voice.
Featuring on Muvi Television’s Assignment Programme on Sunday evening Fr Bwalya apologized to opposition leaders Hakainde Hichilema of UPND and Nevers Mumba of MMD for not publicly condemning their arbitrary arrests.
Fr Bwalya said the PF was slowly falling in the same trap of the former ruling MMD that had got drunk with power.
“I resigned so that I can be free to commend the PF government where they do well and also criticize where I think they are not doing well,” he said.
“With my position at Zesco some people were beginning to think that I had become compromised and if I said something they could say he has been bribed so I wanted to be free.”
He said he had given up on engaging the government quietly as they had not heeded his advice.
“Do not think that I was not engaging government on many of these issues. I was using quiet diplomacy but I discovered that quiet diplomacy does not work otherwise we would have seen a change in the manner the president conducts himself,” Fr Bwalya said.
“I would tell ministers why is this happening unfortunately some of them were saying you want to create an atmosphere to resign. I used to raise these matters why these useless by-elections.”
Fr Bwalya said he quit his position because people were beginning to shun him on the pretext that he had become compromised.
“I resigned because people want to use this Zesco issue to make me keep quiet. People are now shunning me saying I am compromised even international people that used to quote me, have second thoughts saying they are not sure,” he said.
Fr Bwalya revealed that the only favour he had asked from the PF once they get into power was a scholarship to study law.
“It was not a favour but you see that is why I am not minister the only favour I asked of the PF government was that I should be given a scholarship to study law to help the poor but that has not happened maybe they are still thinking about it,” he said.
He said he had decided to publicly speak about wrongs in government.
“I want to apologize to Hakainde Hichilema for not speaking out publicly when he was arrested, I apologize to Nevers Mumba when they arrested him when he was visiting chief Mushili because now I am back I want to speak from a pedestal I spoke but I spoke using a different mode now I am back in my mode,” he said.
Fr Bwalya warned the PF government not to delight in the arrests of opposition leaders.
“Ba PF muchenjele, abantu nabacha (PF be careful people are now sharp), do not forget that the people you arrest have relatives and that is why people are telling me kuli Banda walelanda (in RB’s time you were talking). What about Sata?” he said.
Fr Bwalya said the President was complaining about drying grass when there was no oxygen in the University Teaching Hospital, people had no mealie meal and was lumping money in by-elections.
“What about the stupid by-elections? The president is concerned about drying grass at State House when in ordinary people’s homes it is mealie meal that dries up, there is no oxygen at UTH,” he said.
He said President Sata had done nothing on judicial reforms.
“On judicial reforms there is nothing Mr Sata has done do not even ask me about it,” he said.
Fr Bwalya was a staunch PF supporter and even took leave from his Catholic priestly position to help campaign for the Michael Sata led party in the build up to the 2011 elections.
In the PF’s 19 months in power the country has seen a deterioration in the governance system with opposition leaders suffering constant arrests, public gatherings have been curtailed using the defective Public Order Act law while the judiciary has seen a number of state sponsored prosecutions that have embarrassingly have to be halted under the guise of nolle prosequies due to ill preparedness on the part of the DPP’s office.
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