The growing rift inside the Patriotic Front top leadership over concerns of President Michael Sata’s health is becoming more and more public with top Cabinet ministers Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba and Wynter Kabimba publicly differing.
Mwamba, who is in charge of defence, is leading a group of people in the ruling party that have embarked on countrywide endorsement of President Sata for the 2016 general elections which his justice counterpart Kabimba and his supporters are opposing.
Both Mwamba and Kabimba have hidden presidential ambitions to take over from Sata. Mwamba says he has commenced an endorsement campaign for President Sata in 2016 and called those opposing his strategy as riffraffs.
While Mwamba’s basis for the endorsement is that some people within the ruling party were campaigning to take over from President Sata because they believe he will not reach 2016 or if he did he would be indisposed, Kabimba says such concerns were mere speculation that dates beyond 2011.
Mwamba, commonly known as GBM, made the startling comments through the national broadcaster ZNBC today alleging there is a clique of senior PF party members who are against President Sata to stand for presidency in 2016.
Mwamba said the clique had already started positioning itself for the position of president and the same people wanted to derail President Sata’s plans to continue ruling and developing the nation.
The Kasama lawmaker, who hugely funded the PF campaign in 2011, has threatened to expose those in the clique saying they knew themselves and if they continued with their opposing views and left unchecked, they could cause unnecessary divisions in the PF.
He said it was an open secret that some senior party officials were positioning themselves for the 2016 presidency, a situation which was disturbing to President Sata.
Mwamba also said that there were many people in PF who he described as riffraffs, but he refused to name for fear of causing divisions, hate and confusion in the party.
“Well, there are many riffrafs in our party but I will for now not mention any. However, the moment you see them getting concerned about my endorsement for the 2016 presidency, then just know that they are the ones,” Mwamba, who has recently toured provinces anouncing that President Sata will be the Presidential candiate on the PF ticket in 2016, said.
PF Lusaka province chairman Geoffrey Chuumbwe, who is a Kabimba stooge and puppet, has through The Post Newspapers opposed the endorsement of President Sata saying it was unnecessary. The Post, who owner Fred M’membe is backing and sponsoring Kabimba to take over PF from Sata, is also opposing GBM.
Kabimba featured on the popular Crossfire Blogtalk Radio on Tuesday and speculations of President Sata was propaganda by the opposition which goes beyond the 2011 elections and therefore defeated the purpose for campaigns, a contrast of GBM’s position.
President Sata has been sneaking in and out of the country for medical treatment. His health has been a source of concern with a recent report on a local online news outlet, the Zambian Watchdog, stating he collapse at State House following a medical trip to London.
His condition apparently prompted state machinery to mount unexpected State House security as the situation was monitored overnight.
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