The Mutati factor

IS the Patriotic Front an organisation that thrives on controversies?

THE PF has just come through, or is still reeling from the confusion arising from the expulsion of two senior members – Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili and former Chimwemwe MP and Copperbelt minister Mwenya Musenge

For sure there ought to be something wrong somewhere when from nowhere, the nation just wakes up one morning and find that there are spontaneous public demonstrations in several parts of the country – and all centred on one theme.

We are referring to the public protests held in Lusaka yesterday in which PF members are demanding the resignation of the Minister of Finance, Mr Felix Mutati. Other demonstrations were held in Solwezi, the North Western Province admininstrative capital and Kasama in the Northern Province – also clamouring for Mr Mutati’s resignation.

News from the grapevine has it that more protests are lined up in other parts of the country.

And interestingly, these protests are coming against a background of the country enjoying economic stability – a strong Kwacha, good impressive credit rating, a bumper maize harvest, the list is endless.

What is interesting about the Lusaka protests is that it was supposedly orchestrated by PF members from the Eastern Province. They were accommodated at a lodge in Chawama Township. It is anybody’s guess as to who paid for their transport and accommodation to Lusaka.

Mr Mutati is not being asked to resign because he has failed. The protesters want him to choose between the PF and the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD).

For the uninitiated, Mr Mutati is president of one faction of the MMD that formed an alliance with the PF in the run up to the August 2016 general elections. The other faction is led by Dr Nevers Mumba.

Mr Mutati’s faction enjoyed the backing of former Republican President Rupiah Bwezani Banda, the country’s fifth president who came to power after the death in office of Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. And with that backing came the Eastern Province vote that helped President Edgar Lungu scoop the presidency.

It should be noted though that the MMD was a party divided. One faction that was headed by Dr Mumba aligned itself with the United Party for National Development (UPND). Thus we had former ministers in Mr Banda’s administration, especially those in the Western Province applying for adoption to stand as parliamentary candidates on the UPND ticket.

Then there was the Mutati faction, with the endorsement of Mr Rupiah Banda, that elected to work with the PF. That endorsement also saw some former ministers in the MMD government being adopted as parliamentary candidates by the PF, and delivering seats.

It was from this genesis that President Lungu appointed Mr Mutati as Finance Minister. Mr Mutati came with political and professional credentials that made him the ideal choice to be in charge of finance. There were also several MMD ministers who were co-opted into the PF government.

Back to the present. What has now happened that Mr Mutati should be hounded out of the PF government - Petty jealousies or is there some grand prize somewhere?

There is a school of thought that these protests are being masterminded by some very “big fish” in the corridors of power. For how else could one explain the protests being held without even a police permit and right in the central business district of Lusaka – oblivious of Article 31?

Is the PF Secretariat so detached from its affiliates that it did not have wind of what was happening:

The issue is that they believe, rightly or wrongly that Mr Mutati is positioning himself for the 2021 presidential election and has been rebuilding the MMD structures on the ground. It is a fact that the MMD and the PF entered into a political alliance. Each party retained its party structures.

This school of thought thinks it is time Mr Mutati came out clean. For sure, Mr Mutati has a high profile position in the PF government and they think he could be a big challenge to the governing party.

Is it his position as MMD president that is the issue? After all, there are other ministers from the MMD but they are not an issue?

Whatever is happening in the PF should be investigated. It is not by accident that Mr Mutati is being asked to resign.

Who gains with his departure or the confusion, who is the puppet master?