Patriotic Front officials in Chipata have rejected the appointment of Lameck Mangani as the party’s Eastern Province chairperson.
And Chipata Central youth chairperson Cosmas Mwanza says Mangani is not a factor in the province.
In an interview yesterday, Chipata Central Constituency vice-secretary Essaya Chirwa wondered why President Michael Sata appointed Mangani, saying the man was a non-performer in the province.
Chirwa said party members in the area had misgivings over the appointment of Mangani as provincial chairperson as he was not popular in the area.
“Why have they given us Mangani as a provincial chairman? There was no way the President can appoint Mangani… In Eastern Province, we have our own genuine members who have stuck together since 2000. We are asking our President to allow members of PF in the area to choose their own leader,” he said.
Chirwa advised President Sata to subject Mangani to an election to prove his popularity.
“Mangani should be subjected to an election as PF provincial chairman and prove that he is the right person and popular candidate. We should follow the party constitution because it tells us what to do,” he said. “If the constitution tells us that somebody has to be imposed, or somebody should be dictated on the people, then let us do that.”
Chirwa claimed that there were people who wanted to defect to the PF but were not comfortable working closely with Mangani.
“There a lot of members in the province who want to join the PF but they have refused to do that because of Mangani. Now, if we impose Mangani to be the provincial chairman, it means that we are hindering those people,” said Chirwa.
And Mwanza said Mangani was not a factor in the province.
He said there were many staunch PF supporters who were more deserving of the position of provincial chairperson than Mangani.
“If somebody fails to win an election two times, it means that he is not popular in the area. Maybe he was trying to portray a different picture in Lusaka, that he will mobilise the party structures in the province. That is not true. He is going to destroy the party in the province. People didn’t vote for him, meaning that they don’t like him,” said Mwanza. “A lot of members here have complained bitterly. Mangani is not a factor here anymore.”
On Wednesday, President Sata appointed Mangani as provincial chairperson for Eastern Province. President Sata also recognised Robert Chikwelete, who recently led a gang of supporters in calling for the resignation of party secretary general Wynter Kabimba, as the new chairperson for Lusaka district.
Source: The Post
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