. Chama

By SYLVESTER MWALE and CHUSA SICHONE –
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) secretary general Davies Chama has charged that the MMD is a finished party trying to gain political mileage by making wild allegations aimed at scandalising the ruling party.
Mr Chama said the PF was not in the illegal schemes of buying off opposition political party members from MMD because doing so was like buying Poor People’s Party leader Alex Muliokela who had no member.
Mr Chama was reacting to MMD leader Nevers Mumba who accused the PF and its leadership of bribing the former ruling party’s candidate Fordson Museli to withdraw in the Solwezi West by-election.
“All those are wild allegations coming from a party which is finished. We have more important things to do than to go and hunt for a finished political party,” Mr Chama said.

“How do you go and buy off people who don’t matter in politics? We cannot engage ourselves in those illegal activities and we are not in the business of buying off political party candidates and we cannot be scared of MMD.”
Mr Chama said politics of lies and innuendoes were long gone and if the MMD was in the business of buying off candidates while it was in power, it should not implicate the PF in such illegal activities.
When he featured on one of the radio stations in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Mumba accused the PF of bribing its candidate for Solwezi West after realising that he was the favourite to scoop the seat.
Dr Mumba claimed that President Edgar Lungu offered money and other incentives to MMD Solwezi West candidate Mr Musele who withdrew from the race at the last minute during the filing-in of nomination papers.
Dr Mumba said the former ruling party had evidence of bribery and would not accept the outcome of the results of the polls.
“I am not playing politics, this is serious. Both the PF and the UPND knew that we had the best candidate who was headed for a victory,” Dr Mumba said.
“The President himself was involved. Our candidate was flown from Solwezi direct into State House where he was offered money and other things for him to withdraw, and this is a poor man and he could not have said no.”