More Calls For PF To Drop Kambwili Over Tribalist Comments

President Lungu is facing yet more calls from within his own party to expel former foreign minister Chishimba Kambwili from the Patriotic Front over his repeated tribalist remarks. 

Mwenya Musenge, a former Copperbelt minister who worked closely with Kambwili in establishing the National Democratic Congress before rejoining the PF this year, told The Mast newspaper that Kambwili was “morally insane” and should be dropped from the party immediately. 

“He has extremely embarrassed the PF and President Edgar Lungu. For me having worked with Kambwili, I know deep down my heart that he was deliberately doing so to destroy the reputation of PF and President Edgar Lungu,” he said. 

It comes after Kambwili was suspended from campaigning by the Electoral Commission of Zambia last week for repeatedly making tribalistic remarks on the campaign trail. In particular, Kambwili was heard telling a PF rally in Chilalabombwe that Tonga people ‘belong’ to the United Party for National Development and have no place in the Patriotic Front. 

The UPND subsequently complained the the ECZ, saying that Kambwili’s comments incited tribal hatred and were against the law. 

Edgar Lungu now faces mounting pressure from within his own party to pull Kambwili back from the front lines. PF party members Victor Kalesha recently wrote to the president urging him to condemn Kambwili for his disgraceful comments. 

“I want to request President Edgar Lungu to tame our college Kambwili against the words he is using against the Tonga.” 

However the president remains unwilling to rebuke his former minister, even sending police to arrest those who question his judgement. In Luanshya, the NDC’s media director Emmanuel Malite was arrested after publicly urging the president to expel Kambwili from the Patriotic Front. 

Mr Malite accused Kambwili of going on a “rampage cruse of tribal remarks”. He was subsequently arrested and moved to a prison in Lusaka.