NDC Vice President Insists Party Is Part Of UPND Alliance

The vice president of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Rikki Joseph Akafumba, has insisted that his party remains a part of the opposition UPND alliance, despite protestation from the NDC’s ousted former president Chishimba Kambwili.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka’s Four Pillars Lodge on Sunday, Mr Akafumba - who now holds the title of acting-president - affirmed his commitment to the opposition alliance and said the NDC would soon unveil its roadmap to electoral victory. 

The announcement follows a split in NDC leadership over the decision to join an opposition alliance led by Hakainde Hichilema’s UPND. On Friday, the NDC announced that it had expelled party President Chishimba Kambwili and would be joining the alliance with immediate effect. 

However, on Saturday Kambwili maintained that he alone had authority over the party and suspended Vice President Akafumba, as well as secretary general Bridget Atanga. 

During Sunday’s press conference Mr Akafumba was adamant that Kambwili had no control over the party, insisting that his name is not recorded as president in the party’s constitution. He added that only the party’s secretary general had the power to convene party meetings and discipline members, not the president. 

Akafumba denounced Kambwili’s press conference on Saturday as illegal but said that the pair had agreed to meet on Monday to resolve the dispute. 

In concluding his remarks, the vice president said he could not understand why Kambwili wanted to contest August’s elections as an independent NDC candidate when his party had been accepted into the UPND alliance. Akafumba said this would essentially create an opposition within the government.

He added that the purpose of the alliance would be to unite Zambia and that Kambwili was working against this objective.